- THE REAL ST. PATRICK— Who was this influential servant of Christ honored by the Irish? What is his TRUE and inspiring story?
- WISDOM— What is it and how can I become wiser?
- PURITY— Why should I save sex for marriage?
- EFFECTIVE RESPONSES— How can I best respond to tough questions from unbelievers?
- Novocaine
- Mufasa: Mickey 17
- Captain America: Brave New World
- Paddington in Peru
- Love Hurts
- Flight Risk
- Wolf Man
- Survive
- A Complete Unknown
- Maria
Harrison Ford, American film actor and producer—“The Call of the Wild” (2020), “Star Wars,” “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” “Firewall,” “Crossing Over,” “42,” “Patriot Games,” “Clear and Present Danger”. Ford is the 4th highest-grossing domestic box-office star of all time. • Faith: Agnosticism, practices Tibetan Buddhism, following the Dalai Lama, although Ford’s religious background is Jewish and Catholic • Worldview: Environmentalism (activist), Progressive Liberalism (activist, and outspoken, close friend of former President Bill Clinton)
Ben Affleck, American film actor, director, producer—“The Way Back,” “Argo,” “The Town,” “He’s Just Not That Into You,” “Pearl Harbor,” “Paycheck,” “Good Will Hunting,” “Daredevil” • Faith: Apparently Secularism, although he has some affinity to the teachings of Buddhism • Worldview: Progressive Liberalism (activist), Gay marriage supporter
Please take a moment now to pray for these influential people (prayer suggestions).
Anne Frank: The Whole Story
Reviewed by: Christian St John
CONTRIBUTOR
| Moral Rating: | Average |
| Moviemaking Quality: |
|
| Primary Audience: | Teens Adults |
| Genre: | War Drama |
| Length: | 2 hr. |
| Year of Release: | 2001 |
| USA Release: |
sin, depravity and the fall of man
RACISM—What are the consequences of racial prejudice and false beliefs about the origin of races? Answer
Why does God allow innocent people to suffer? Answer
What about the issue of suffering? Doesn’t this prove that there is no God and that we are on our own? Answer
Does God feel our pain? Answer
ORIGIN OF BAD—How did bad things come about? Answer
Did God make the world the way it is now? What kind of world would you create? Answer
- “The Diary of Anne Frank” (1959)
- “The Hiding Place” (1975)
- “Schindler’s List” (1993)
- “The Man Who Captured Eichmann” (1996)
- “Jakob the Liar” (1999)
- “Anne Frank: The Whole Story” (2001)
- “Uprising” (2001)
- “Charlotte Gray” (2001)
- “The Pianist” (2003)
- “Bonhoeffer” (2004)
- “Paper Clips” (2004)
- “Katyn” (2007)
- “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas” (2008)
- “The Counterfeiters” (2008)
- “Defiance” (2008)
- “The Reader” (2008)
- “The Debt” (2010)
- “Ida” (2013)
- “The Woman in Gold” (2015)
- “The Promise” (2016—Armenian Christian Holocaust)
- “Anne Frank: Parallel Stories” (2019)
- “The Zone of Interest” (2023)
- “White Bird: A Wonder Story” (2023)
| Featuring | Ben Kingsley, Brenda Blethyn, Hannah Taylor-Gordon, Tatjana Blacher, Joachim Król, Jessica Manley |
| Director |
Robert Dornhelm |
| Producer | Kirk Ellis, David R. Kappes |
| Distributor |
The story of Anne Frank has inspired millions of people worldwide and rightly so. We’ve all seen the “Jewish Holocaust” movies where we see thousands of innocent people marched off to their impending doom but this Disney produced Anne Frank takes the story of this brave young girl and makes it that much more personal, at least it did to me. She always said she would be someone someday…
The film, although a bittersweet tale, is quite disturbing. Throughout it there is a sense that the world is closing in around the Frank family and I found it very sad because we all know how the story will end. These are some of the most disturbing scenes I have seen of the infamous “camps”. (There is brief nudity, some violence and scenes of people starving and suffering, although unlike most films of this genre, it did have a warning at the beginning of the film.)
The movie stars Ben Kingsley as Anne’s father Otto (in a brilliant performance). He comes across onscreen as a man who knew exactly what was going on around him but refused to let his feelings show. Instead he showed an inner strength that kept it all together. But his eyes betray his true feelings—if you watch this film, look into his eyes and see what I mean. An interesting note is that whilst making “Schindler’s List” and “Anne Frank: The Whole Story”, Kingsley kept a photo of the real Anne Frank in his pocket and often looked at it saying “I’m doing this for you darling.”
Hanna Gordon-Taylor is superb as Anne. She plays Anne so well, even looking so much like the real Anne, that I believe she was the best choice for this role. She literally became Anne. Miss Gordon-Taylor will go on to have a long and great career, but “Anne Frank” will likely be her standout performance.
From a biblical Christian point of view I found nothing offensive in this film. There are a few profanities, a scene in which Anne asks if she could touch another girl’s breasts (though not in a homosexual way), a couple of scenes of nudity (in the camps) and the violence, although not as explicit as “Schindler’s List”, was still there.
I would not recommend this film for children, but would wholeheartedly recommend that this film be viewed by teens and adults to remind them of what really happened, lest it should ever happen again. Not a film you will easily forget, but let’s face it—Anne’s story is one we don’t want to ever forget.
Anne desperately wanted to be someone, and in spite of it all, she succeeded.
PLEASE share your observations and insights to be posted here.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in Christian Spotlight reviews are those of the reviewers themselves, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Christian Answers.
