The story of Anne Frank, the Jewish teenager who hid in a cramped attic with her family during the Nazi occupation of Amsterdam, is widely known, and amid the atrocities of the Holocaust, Anne's diary presents a tale of resilience and dreams. not done. Nat Geo's new limited series, "A Small Light," isn't Anne's story, though the precocious teen's legacy is embedded throughout. The brainchild of former "Grey's Anatomy" showrunners Tony Phelan and Joan Rater, the series is a story of resistance, activism and humanity. The narrative centers on a tenacious young woman, Miep Gies, Otto Frank's secretary, who risked everything to save the Frank family and many others.
Beautifully shot by Phelan, Susanna Fogel, and Leslie Hope, with a slight sepia tone to connect the audience to the time period, the series begins on July 6, 1942, when the Frank family goes into hiding. Miep (Bel Powley) is tasked with leading Otto's (Liev Schreiber) eldest daughter, Margot (Ashley Brooke), through a Nazi checkpoint and into the secret annex above the office building where Miep and Otto work. Quick-thinking and determined, Miep bikes the teen to safety past cruel armed German soldiers. She is the first of many risks she takes to combat the racist and authoritarian regime.
Stars: Ashley Brooke, Billie Boullet, Andy Nyman
With Margot safely kidnapped, the series flashes back to 1933. Nine years before the Franks disappeared from Nazi-occupied Amsterdam, the audience is introduced to a twenty-something Miep, whose life and focus are a world away. of the newly installed Nazi regime in Germany.
At 24 years old, Miep differs significantly from the 33-year-old woman who captivates in "A Little Light." Still living with her adoptive parents and siblings, she spends her days partying with her best friend Tess (Eleanor Tomlinson), dancing, drinking and joking with Jan (Joe Cole), the man who would eventually become her husband. she. An ultimatum from her increasingly exasperated parents leads Miep to the Opekta office run by Otto Frank, who had recently emigrated from Germany.
By framing the pilot around Miep's past, the audience becomes acquainted with a woman, an immigrant in her own right, who has always eschewed tradition, embraced ostracism, and marched to the beat of her own drum. Miep's link to the Frank family, Anne (Billie Boullet) in particular, becomes a central component of the show. So nine years later, as Miep moves nimbly through now-Nazi-occupied Amsterdam, it's clear why she doesn't doubt her when Otto asks for her help. Powley's performance is particularly striking. Her sharp blue gaze and her determination to do the right thing at a time when others were looking the other way sets the tone for the series from pilot to finale.
Across eight episodes, “A Small Light” portrays an increasingly hostile Amsterdam, while also focusing on Miep and Jan's mutual and respective acts of resistance. As Miep acts to help those in the annex, assuming shopping lists, having harrowing conversations with her stoic boss, and even helping more Jewish refugees, Jan's defiant acts also become increasingly dangerous. Phelan and Rater amplify the effects of her choices. Secrets and fear sometimes cause friction in her marriage and affect her relationships with others. However, Miep and Jan's willingness to protect the ostracized extends well beyond the Frank family and the four additional people hiding in the annex. The series also shows the couple's determination to help their landlady's grandchildren, college students, babies, nurses, and workers at the Amsterdam Jewish council.
"Motherland," the third episode of the series, is a standout. The lack of space, light and freedom erodes the mental health and well-being of the hidden and oppressed. This is carefully juxtaposed with the exhaustion and sadness felt by Miep, Jan, and their fellow resistance fighters as they try to keep their courage in a world festering with hate. In the episode, Jan is tasked with collecting a package, which leads to an amazing revelation. Meanwhile, the cramped rooms in the annex breed frustrations and irritations, particularly with an increasingly frazzled Edith Frank (Amira Casar).
There's a lot of angst watching “A Small Light,” mainly because the ending is already known. Yet Rater and Phelan, and writers William Harper, Ben Esler, and Alyssa Margarite, Jacobson pepper brilliant moments of defiance, humor, and perseverance that help temper the very real feelings of rage and terror intertwined throughout the series. It's a balancing act that often goes unmanaged.