The Diary of Anne Frank

A film adapted from Anne Frank's diary. Anne hid for two years in a concealed annexe behind a business in occupied Amsterdam. Her family was with her, and another family; eight people lived in the same narrow space. She kept her diary there. The film takes place almost entirely in that annexe. The war is outside but we do not see it; we only hear it. The narrative rests on daily detail: sharing food, having to stay silent by day, the tension between the two families, the quarrels and the reconciliations. The director George Stevens shot it in widescreen. The choice is interesting: however narrow the space, the frame stays wide, and that contrast makes the enclosure felt more sharply. Millie Perkins plays Anne, in her first film. Shelley Winters plays the woman of the other family and won the Oscar for supporting actress. She later donated her statuette to the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam. The film won three Oscars. An important work for anyone who likes historical drama and stories in confined spaces. Before you watch, know this: the film tells a story whose ending is known, and that knowledge accompanies the whole viewing.