The Diary of Anne Frank, 12/8/12, Best Supporting Actress, Best Art Direction – Set Decoration, Black and White, Best Cinematography – Black and White 1959
I would say that while this isn't the best movie I have ever seen, the subject makes it a must see film for movie-viewers of over the ages of 12. The movie is good, don’t get me wrong. The young actress who played Anne Frank, Millie Perkins, did a great job of capturing the annoying and endearing qualities of many teenagers (I know this from first-hand experience, my own adolescence). There are times you want to reach into the screen and slap Anne upside her head, and then you realize, she’s 13, stuck in an attic with her parents and sister, another family, and the very particular Mr. Dussell, away from her friends and no way to escape from all the grown-ups, except through her diary, where she writes all her thoughts and dream and hopes; I think get surly occasionally. This movie is based on the diary of Anne Frank, a young girl from Amsterdam living during the time of the Second World War. Most people are probably familiar with the story, so this will focus on the movie. The director and set-designers do a good job of creating the claustrophobic atmosphere of the attic space where the Franks and others hid; the movie won the Oscar for Set-Decoration in a black and white film as well as in cinematography for a black and white film. Since the director had the option to use color, I am really glad he stuck with black and white; there is something atmospheric and appropriate about the gray-scale instead of a full color palette. The movie was also based on the play, and it does seem more play-like as opposed to something written totally for a film. Millie Perkins was a good choice for Anne Frank and seemed to really embody Anne. Shelley Winters won for Best Supporting Actress for playing Petronella van Daan; after watching the movie, I’m not sure how Gusti Huber didn't even get nominated for her role as Edith Frank, Anne’s mother. Shelley Winters was good, but I didn't think her performance was as pivotal or influential as Anne’s mother. Maybe by the end of watching all these movies, I will have an understanding of the voting guidelines. The fact that Anne lives on in her writing, the play and a few movie versions is a tribute to the universality of her teenage viewpoint.
