The Gies and Frank families attend a performance at the Jewish Theater as seen in A SMALL LIGHT. (From left: Bel Powley as Miep Gies, Ashley Brooke as Margot Frank, Amira Casar as Edith Frank, Billie Boullet as Anne Frank, Liev Schreiber as Otto Frank, and Joe Cole as Jan Gies)
Television

A Small Light Puts The Focus On Miep Gies

The Gies and Frank families attend a performance at the Jewish Theater as seen in A SMALL LIGHT. (From left: Bel Powley as Miep Gies, Ashley Brooke as Margot Frank, Amira Casar as Edith Frank, Billie Boullet as Anne Frank, Liev Schreiber as Otto Frank, and Joe Cole as Jan Gies) (Credit: National Geographic for Disney/Dusan Martincek).
Written by:Danielle SolzmanPosted on:

While Anne Frank’s story will be forever known thanks to her diary, A Small Light focuses on the woman who helped the Franks, Miep Gies.

“I don’t like being called a hero, because no one should ever think you have to be special to help others. Even an ordinary secretary or a housewife or a teenager can turn on a small light in a dark room.” – Miep Gies (Bel Powley)

Anne Frank’s story has been told time and time again, including the George Stevens classic film, The Diary of Anne Frank. If not for Miep Gies and Bep Voskuijl (Sally Messham) having the hindsight to save her diary, we’re probably not watching the limited series over the next few weeks. It’s because of Otto Frank (Liev Schreiber) that we know who the Franks, van Pels, and Dr. Pfeffer are. But still, this is not another Anne Frank story. With no work experience, Miep took on a job with Otto Frank’s company. A few years later, she did not even hesitate when Otto asked her to help his family go into hiding. Hiding Jews during the Holocaust could lead to arrest or death but she did not hesitate. Nor did he ask her husband, Jan Gies (Joe Cole), but he also joined the Dutch resistance.

Johannes Kleiman (Ian McElhinney), Victor Kugler (Nicholas Burns), and Bep–a trio of Frank employyes, join the Gies family in helping to hide them in the annex. They know it is a risk but at the end of the day, it is the right thing to do. The Nazis could come at any minute but they ultimately arrive in August 1944. In a perfect world, the liberation would have taken place earlier and no one would die. As we all know, Otto Frank would be the sole survivor following the liberation of the camps. Not even being a WWI veteran was enough to save his family–he left Germany for Amsterdam. There would be no America because of the quotas. One cannot help but feel the heartbreak when he arrives back in Amsterdam. The same goes for Mrs. Stoppelman (Liza Sadovy) on seeing what’s happened with her family.

I would not recommend watching this series as a binge. What I would do is watch a few episodes at a time. National Geographic is smart to be rolling out two episodes a week. One, it leaves zero episodes hanging prior to the end of Emmy nomination deadline and rightfully so because Bel Powley is phenomenal in her performance. Meanwhile, Liev Schreiber disappears into the role of Otto Frank. This is not Schreiber’s first time portraying a Holocaust survivor, having previously portrayed Zus Bielski in 2008’s Defiance. But still, every time he’s on screen, I did not feel like I was watching Schreiber but Otto Frank himself. The same goes for the rest of the actors portraying the Frank family–Edith (Amira Casara), Margot (Ashley Brooke), and Anne (Billie Boullet).

Jan and Miep Gies (Joe Cole and Bel Powley) join the Franks and the van Pels (from left: Liev Schreiber as Otto Frank, Ashley Brooke as Margot Frank, Rudi Goodman as Peter van Pels, Amira Casar as Edith Frank, Billie Boullet as Anne Frank and Caroline Catz as Mrs. van Pels) and watch as Mr. van Pels (Andy Nyman) lights the menorah during Hanukkah, as seen the upcoming limited series A SMALL LIGHT, from National Geographic and ABC Signature in partnership with Keshet Studios
Jan and Miep Gies (Joe Cole and Bel Powley) join the Franks and the van Pels (from left: Liev Schreiber as Otto Frank, Ashley Brooke as Margot Frank, Rudi Goodman as Peter van Pels, Amira Casar as Edith Frank, Billie Boullet as Anne Frank and Caroline Catz as Mrs. van Pels) and watch as Mr. van Pels (Andy Nyman) lights the menorah during Hanukkah, as seen the upcoming limited series A SMALL LIGHT, from National Geographic and ABC Signature in partnership with Keshet Studios (Photo credit: National Geographic for Disney/Dusan Martincek).

In terms of casting, they definitely get this right. A number of the cast and crew are Jewish, which lends the show a better sense of authenticity. Except for Edith, all of the actors playing the Frank family are Jewish. Interestingly enough, Powley, who stars as Gies, is also Jewish.

People are probably wondering whether this series is necessary. The answer to that is yes. There’s skyrocketing antisemitism at the moment, showing that history can repeat itself. Showrunners Joan Rater and Tony Phelan bring the right approach to the series. Instead of predominantly focusing on the Franks, they turn the focus on Miep and Jan Gies. But unlike the 1959 film, they include the proper names for those living in the annex and working in the office, instead of the pseudonyms from the diary. I do find it interesting that the opt for creating or altering incidents, locations, and characters for dramatic purposes. There really does not feel a need to create new characters when this series is already telling a true story. Maybe it’s just me but it is already dramatic enough and emotionally exhausting!

I cannot say enough good things about the production design. Obviously, filming inside the annex was not an option. Instead, they recreated it in Prague and the results are just unbelievable. Honestly, they could have fooled me! In any event, the direction–Susanna Fogel’s three episodes set up the tone and Leslie Hope and Tony Phelan match her in their subsequent episodes–and editing really picks up on all the claustrophobic moments over the twenty-five months in hiding. If you’ve ever read about the Anne Frank House, as the museum is known today, the replication is just astonishing. It even goes as far as what’s hanging up on the walls. That being said, the exteriors in the show do not appear to be the front building in real life.

The exterior of the Opekta office (at center) as seen in A SMALL LIGHT.
The exterior of the Opekta office (at center) as seen in A SMALL LIGHT (Credit: National Geographic for Disney/Dusan Martincek).

It’s important to have Miep’s story out there to know that there are people who will do the right thing. While she would later give talks, Miep did not help her boss and his family for the fame. She did it because she knew what the Nazis were capable of doing. We don’t really see her side of the story in previous films, only what little we see of her in the annex. The Franks, van Pels, and Dr. Pfeffer depended on her for food, etc. And again, doing all of this could lead to arrest or death. That she didn’t hesitate really speaks to who she was as a person.

The antisemitism that happened in the 1930s and 1940s is ringing its ugly head again today. Similarly, look at what is happening in the US right now with the transphobic laws making their way across the country. It is no different–there are American states that I will not step foot in because of personal safety concerns as a transgender American. How is this America right now? We defeated Nazism and fascism in the 1940s and we have to rise up once more and defeat it on our own soil. This really speaks the importance of Holocaust education. As I touched on it in a recent piece for New Thinking, Jews were not the only targets of the Third Reich. They also went after the LGBTQ population, which may help explain why a gay bar was the home of the Dutch resistance. Now is not the time for silence.

A Small Light might focus on the heroic efforts of Miep and Jan Gies but at the end of the day, the series shows how they did the right thing when it could have meant arrest or death.

CREATORS/SHOWRUNNERS: Joan Rater & Tony Phelan
DIRECTORS: Susanna Fogel (1-3), Leslie Hope (4-5), Tony Phelan (6-8)
WRITERS: Joan Rater & Tony Phelan (1-2, 8), William Harper (3, 5, 7), Ben Esler (4), Alyssa Margarite Jacobson (6)
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Susanna Fogel, Avi Nir, Tony Phelan, Joan Rater, Alon Shtruzman, Peter Traugott
CAST: Bel Powley, Joe Cole, Amira Casar, Billie Boullet, Ashley Brooke, and Liev Schreiber
GUEST STARS: Andy Nyman, Caroline Catz, Rudi Goodman, Ian McElhinney, Nicholas Burns, Sally Messham, Liza Sadovy, Laurie Kynaston, Sebastian Armesto, with Eleanor Tomlinson and Noah Taylor

National Geographic will premiere A Small Light with back-to-back episodes on May 1, 2023 at 9 PM ET/8 PM CT. A pair of episodes will premiere weekly on Monday nights and stream the next day on Disney+ and Hulu. Grade: 4.5/5

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Danielle Solzman

Danielle Solzman is native of Louisville, KY, and holds a BA in Public Relations from Northern Kentucky University and a MA in Media Communications from Webster University. She roots for her beloved Kentucky Wildcats, St. Louis Cardinals, Indianapolis Colts, and Boston Celtics. Living less than a mile away from Wrigley Field in Chicago, she is an active reader (sports/entertainment/history/biographies/select fiction) and involved with the Chicago improv scene. She also sees many movies and reviews them. She has previously written for Redbird Rants, Wildcat Blue Nation, and Hidden Remote/Flicksided. From April 2016 through May 2017, her film reviews can be found on Creators.