Otto Frank [Schreiber] is a Jewish-Dutch business man who hires Miep Gies [Powley] build his jam jelly company during the start of WWII. After the war starts to eat up and German forces move into Amsterdam, Otto is forced to hide his family and with the aide of Gies and her husband, hide in a hidden upstairs apartment for two years. Gies does her best to help other Jewish families also escape Holland for neutral countries. There are some dangerous moments that she has to face alone to outsmart the German SS, try to live a semi-normal life, while ensuring the safety of several Jewish families under her care.
THE GOOD - National Geographic did a great job bringing 1940's Holland back to life. The details concerning modern living for that time was impeccable and the costumes deserve a nomination somewhere down the line. I was very impressed with Bev Powley's performance an emotional baggage she carried throughout the series; she should win an award or two for best actress in a mini-series. Her pain was believable and her emotional state during some tense dramatic scenes carried naturally in just her eyes. But I was truly impressed with Liev Schreiber in his performance as mild-mannered Otto Frank. I am not big fan of Schreiber, but her really took his role to part and his acting was spot on with that of an older man trying to defend his family in the only passive means allowed to him by his religion.
THE BAD - It felt like the entire series was tied down to only a handful of locations during it's production; but keeping things small worked as a mini-series. I understand that the series was based on a book, but I feel like the directors and writers should have took some liberties to show what the German SS was doing behind the scenes. Throughout the mini-series, it just felt like the German SS was running aimlessly throughout the town, finding Jews by accident. Presenting the German SS as the cold, murdering occupational force that they were, planning their next set of arrests and presenting that informants were being forced to provide information, would have made the series far more dramatic and possibly unbearable to watch.
POST MORTEM - This was a brilliant mini-series with many remarkable performances by new upcoming actors. There was a lot of emotional distress caught on camera and the actors [plus the production crew] should be rewarded for their hard work in bringing such a daring and courageous book [and life story] to life.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️[5 of 5 Stars]
