Review of The Diary of Anne Frank (1959) by Uditha D — 01 Jan 2012
This film had one adjective written all over it - mawkish. The Diary of Anne Frank was too long for me, even at two and a half hours, and even without all those exaggerated melodramas it displayed. To phrase my feelings for this, I could liken it to an elephant frantically searching for an ant in a small cage, with the cage likened to Anne Frank's war-time hideout, the ant being the subject matter the film dealt with, and of course the elephant being HOW that subject matter was dealt with.
In short, putting Millie Perkins' excessively glamorized, uncharacteristically emotional, Audrey Hepburn-type portrayal of Anne, with all those unwanted displays of affection and sentimentality, and I was majorly disappointed by this George Stevens adaptation of what should have been an inspiring tale.
It was the same defect I felt in A Place in the Sun, also directed by Stevens. Could it be that he became a third rate director after having completed Shane, as today's critics think? Anyone holding that theory need not look further for evidence than in this.
This review of The Diary of Anne Frank (1959) was written by Uditha D on 01 Jan 2012.
The Diary of Anne Frank has generally received positive reviews.
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