Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright David Mamet is writing and directing a new film version of The Diary Of Anne Frank. Here are some highlights from his adaptation:
When confronted for stealing food, Joe Mantegna’s Putti Van Daan claims not to “give two goddamn fucks in a pig’s ass”
Fantastic scene in which Anne Frank denies her dad coffee and tells her family that only those with brass balls can survive the Nazis
Anne’s diary is the only place she is able to finish a sentence
The lead is recast as Angelo, a 54-year-old longshoreman for whom the attic is a metaphor for sexual repression
Rebecca Pidgeon is shoehorned into the plot, ruining movie at last minute
As the Nazis approach, Anne orders the crying baby to “can it”
The bookcase that covers the entrance to the secret annex is played by Alec Baldwin
Anne’s death is ultimately less about “Nazis” and more about “the American dream”
