Product Details

• Actors: Ben Kingsley, Brenda Blethyn, Hanna Taylor-Gordon, Tatjana Blacher
• Directors: Robert Dornhelm
• Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC, Special Edition, Surround Sound
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Disney Educational Productions
• DVD Release Date: March 30, 2009
• Run Time: 180 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• ASIN: B00246VKEI
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #121,293 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Based on the critically acclaimed book by Melissa Müller, Anne Frank explores the stirring tale of one of the most influential young women of the 20th Century. The re-release of this Classroom Edition DVD contains all-new educational material such as an updated printable educator's guide and a showcase of other diaries written during this history-altering era. Includes Public Performance Rights for classroom/educational use only.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A must-have film and class resource for educators, January 13, 2012

By 

Z Hayes (TX, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Anne Frank Classroom Edition [Interactive DVD] (Interactive DVD)

"Anne Frank - the Whole Story" is a well-acted and beautifully filmed movie based on Melissa Muller's biography of Anne Frank.It basically recounts how the Frank family comprising father Otto, mother Edith and daughters Margot and Anne chose to go into hiding in Amsterdam after the Nazis stepped up their persecution of Jews [and Margot got a summons for deportation].Their hiding place is a secret annex located in the factory run by Otto Frank. The Franks' trusted Gentile friends help them and soon the hiding place is opened to accommodate the Van Pels' [husband, wife and teen son, Peter] and a dentist, Mr Pfeffer. The Jewish refugees spend about 2 yrs in hiding, from July 1942 till Aug 1944 [when they were betrayed].

This was a difficult movie to watch because I was already familiar with Anne's story [having read "Diary of a Young Girl" more than two decades ago] and knew what happened to Anne, her family and the rest of the hidden Jews. The movie was beautifully filmed with great attention to period details and the excellent casting choices made this the best movie on Anne Frank I've ever watched.

Ben Kingsley is very credible as Otto Frank, the stoic WW I German veteran who is initially optimistic that the war will soon end. His intense bond and love for Anne is very real in this movie, as is his portrayal of a protective family man who is determined to keep his family together, no matter what. Hannah Taylor-Gordon plays Anne Frank, and her resemblance to the real-life Anne is quite uncanny. Her portrayal of Anne is simply amazing - strong-willed, impetuous, candid, ambitious, and yet, underlying all that fierceness of spirit is a young girl on the brink of womanhood who yearns to be thought of as a woman and not a girl, and longs for freedom and love. When I read "Diary of a Young Girl", I always had a picture of Anne in my mind and thought that Hannah Taylor Gordon played the role flawlessly.

The supporting cast is also well-played - Tatjana Blacher plays the role of Edith Frank , the unassuming mother who has an abrasive relationship with Anne[ who feels her mother doesn't understand her] yet loves her daughters very much. The loud and aggressive Auguste Van Pels is played to perfection by Brenda Blethyn and her husband, Hermann is credibly portrayed by Joachim Krol. Jessica Manley plays Margot Frank with a quiet calmness that is tinged with sensitivity.

The "Righteous Gentiles", those who helped Anne and her family throughout their hiding are well-portrayed as well, especially Lili Taylor as the courageous and devoted Miep Gies.

The narration of the story flows smoothly from Anne's joyful childhood at the beginning of the movie to the fearful period when the Nazis invade and later start their persecution of the Dutch Jews to the awkwardness of the people in hiding [all the tensions between individuals who are forced to live in close quarters], and finally to their betrayal, arrest and deportation. The scenes in the camp are horrific [caution: there are scenes of female nudity] and the squalor in which Anne, Margot and Edith find themselves after being deported to Auschwitz [from the transit camp Westerbork] is terrible to watch. Margot and Anne are later transported to Bergen-Belsen, where conditions are inhuman - starvation is never ceasing, diseases are rampant and hope is dim.

What stayed with me at the end of the movie was the final dialogue between Anne and Margot, where they struggle to remember their hopes and dreams that they once had, trying to imagine a life after the war and how those hopes would remain unfulfilled. It is a tragic testament to all those innocent lives that were lost during the Holocaust - the stolen childhoods, the lost innocence, dashed dreams and of the 1.5 million children who were silenced forever.

This interactive DVD is meant for classroom use (and for homeschoolers) - it includes the movie, a printable educator's guide, as well as archival footage of other diaries written during the Holocaust period.