Summary Of The Movie: The Diary Of Anne Frank
The movie begins with a truckload of war survivors stopping in front of a factory. Otto Frank (Anne Frank’s father gets out of the truck and walks out and into the factory. He climbs the stairs and into a deserted attic, there he finds a girl’s discarded glove, he starts sobbing. He is then joined by Miep Gies and Mr. Kraler who comfort him. Otto Frank states that he is “Now all alone”. Mr Frank begins to search for the area looking for Anne’s diary (Mr. Frank’s youngest daughter). Miep retrieves the diary for Mr. Frank and gives it to Otto Frank. He opens the Diary and begins reading and the movie begins to fade to black and starts to play out as a flash black scene. Its July 1942 Anne beings by talking about the restrictions placed upon Jews that drove her mother and father and her sister Margot into hiding at the spice factory. They are joined by Mr. and Mrs. Van Daam and their teenage son Peter. Anne also talks about them having to put on as many clothes as possible so that people didn’t suspect anything, because 4 people walking in broad daylight with suitcases and yellow stars on their chest would have attracted too much attention. Mr. Kraler, Mr. Frank’s business associate who works in the office below has arranged the hideaway.
On the first day he warns the families that they must remain extremely quiet throughout the day when the workers are there. As the minutes drag by in silence everyone distracts themselves by tidying up and unpacking boxes. After work Mr. Kraler delivers food and a box for Anne assembled by her father, the box contains Anne’s much-loved pictures of movie stars and a blank diary. In the first pages of the diary Anne writes about the strangeness of never being able to go outside or breathe fresh air again. As the months pass by Anne’s irrepressible strong-willed energy reasserts itself, as she constantly teases Peter. Peter doesn’t like Anne he finds her annoying and loud-mouthed; he has soft spot for Margot. Peter’s only companion is his cat Moushie. Anne and peter fight a lot; she also fights with her mother, Mrs. and Mr. Van Daam and Margot. They are isolated from the outside world the sounds of sirens and bombers frequently fills the air. Mr. Frank homeschools Anne and Margot, Peter hates studying. Mrs. Van Daam flirts with Mr. Frank and she passes the time by recounting fond memories of her youth and stroking her fur coat that her father bought for her. Anne accidentally spill milk on the coat, this results in a full-fledged fight between Mrs. Van Daam and Anne. One day Mr. Kraler brings a radio hidden in the book into the attic, now the family has ears to the world, they also listen to the German station for music. Soon after Mr. Kraler asks if the families could take in another person, a half Jew dentist by the name of Albert Dussel. He is very loud and clumsy; Mr. Dussel also claims to be allergic to fur.
Mr. Dussel brings terrible news about how terrible it is outside, he says Jew’s are disappearing and being shipped off to concentration camps. Mr. Dussel also confirms the disappearance of their many friends. The families’ hopes are dimmed. Mr. Dussel and Anne share a room. One night, Anne dreams of seeing her friend in a concentration camp and she wakes up screaming bloody murder, the people who were walking outside heard Anne screaming. In October 1942 they hear news on the secret radio of the allies landing in Africa. On Hanukkah, Margot longingly recalls past celebrations and Anne produces little gifts for everyone.
Mr. Van Daam abruptly announces that Peter must get rid of Moushie because he consumes too much food, surprisingly Anne protest; however their argument is cut short because they hear a bugler breaking the front door, the room falls deadly quite everyone is holding their breath. Moushie leaps out of peters hands and into the kitchen area. Peter accidentally sends an object crashing towards the floor while trying to catch Moushie and the startled thief grabs a typewriter and flees the scene. A watchman notices the break-in and summons two Gestapo officers. The two Gestapo officers shine their flash lights on to the bookcase (which conceals the attic entrance to where the families are hiding). They wait in terror, the tension and the fear is so visible that it’s suffocating. Luckily Moushie knocks a plate from a plate from the table and Meows, reassuring the officers that it was just a stray cat that caused the noise. After the officers leave, hoping to encourage faith and courage Otto (Mr. Frank) leads everyone in the Hanukkah song. Its January 1944, Anne is on the verge of womanhood she begins to attract Peters attention. One day Mie brings a cake for the group. Mr. Dussel and Mr. Van Daam fight over their portions and then Mr. Van Daam asks Miep to sell his wives fur coat so that he can buy cigarettes. This results in an argument between Mr. and Mrs. Van Daam.
Afterwards Mr. Kraler brings terrible news about an employee that has asked for a raise, the employee also implied that something strange is going on in the attic. Mr. Dussell sourly comments that is only a matter of time before they are discovered. Anne, distressed, blames the adults for the war; she says the adults have destroyed all sense of hopes and ideals. She storms out of the room and Peter follows her and comforts her. Later Anne confides in him about her dreams about becoming a writer and Peter voices his frustration about not being able to fight in the war. In April 1944 there are amid talks of liberation on the radio, the franks watch helplessly as more Jews are marched through the streets. Tensions rise in the attic especially when Mr. Van Daam tries to steal bread from the others. Mrs. Frank criticizes him and orders him to get out. Mr. Dussel and Mr. Van Daam continue to fight over food. News of the Normandy invasion comes over the radio and Mr. Van Daam breaks into tears of shame and guilt. Uplifted by the news of the invasion, everyone says sorry for their harsh words. By July 1944 the invasion has bogged down and Mr. Kraler has been hospitalized with ulcers.
The Gestapo has found the stolen typewriter. Anne writes that her diary provides her a way to go on living after her death. Mr. and Mrs. Van Daam begin to argue once again and Peter says can no longer stand his parents always fighting and so Anne soothes him by reminding him of the goodness of those who have come to their aid. However their conversation is interrupted by the sirens of an approaching Gestapo truck. As Peter and Anne stand arm and arm sure of their looming arrest, they share a passion filled kiss as German soldier’s breakdown the bookcase entrance to the hideout and Otto declares that they “no longer have to live in fear, but can go forward in hope”. Back in the present, Otto tells Miep and Kraler about how on his long journey home after his release from the concentration camps he had sadly learned about how his wife and Margot and the others had perished, he tells them how he always held hope that maybe Anne had somehow survived but sadly that wasn’t the case as Otto reveals that only the previous day in Rotterdam he met a women who has been in Bergen-Belsen with Anne who confirmed her death. Otto glances down at the diary and reads “In spite of everything I still believe that people are good at heart”.
