writers have to write

We watched this Sunday. It has been called the most accurate adaptation of Anne’s diary ever made. I agree. That also makes it joyful, funny, hopeful, gut-wrenching, frightening and sickening on many levels. Having visited the building that housed Anne’s secret annex, my thoughts have turned to one thing since watching this movie (see below, if you want). For a time at least, you can watch the film online. Don’t miss it.

“Only the dead have seen the end of war.” Do you know that quote? I think (I hope) we can prove it untrue.

Spoiler Alert (yes, I know you know the story…)

 

 

 

 

 

I have always associated the secret annex with the safety and hope found in that difficult time of hiding. It was a surreal pocket of near normality within a world that was far from normal. However, this adaptation goes just beyond Anne’s last diary entry, to the betrayal and the violation of their sacred space. I presume the ending scenes are based on Anne’s father’s accounts of what happened that night, as he was the only survivor of the eight who hid. (Maybe it’s just creative license, I don’t know.) In any event, for the first time, we see the bubble of protection penetrated and with it, the terror that must have stayed with Anne until she died of typhus. There was no more rest, no more writing, no more escape. It is harrowing to watch but important to remember.