The Diary of an Aryan Girl is a thought-provoking piece written, directed, and produced by Andrew Games and set during the period of World War II in Germany. It explores the relationship between young couple Anna (Sarah Sharp) and Dieter (Games) as they move from the thrill and excitement that this new Germany has to offer, through a sense of realisation and awakening, and finally to despair as hopes and dreams are left in tatters as the horrors of what it really offered come to fruition.
The course of the action is very much driven by Anna’s diary, delivered in monologue and punctured by scenes of her and Dieter and their ever-growing but changing relationship, equally well-captured in the whites and darks of the scene with splashes of red becoming stronger as the plot thickens with Dieter embracing the new-found Nazism whilst Anna becomes more aware of its darker side.
It's interesting to see the female character used to drive the piece, from her traditional naivete and sense of duty to questioning and challenging what is unfolding in front of her to the extent that she finally looks beyond her boundaries, even if it is by now too late.
For a non-profit independent film company, this is an accomplished piece with strong cinematography and sense of scene. The accompanying musical pieces by Stephen Zacharias reflect the initial playfulness through to the ever-deepening and darker tones with sound by Chris Hardman, Liam Kenwright, and Sean Bradshaw. With some doubling up from the production team, there is further cast support from Darren Lindenburn, David Jones, and Murphy Rhodes.
Both Sharp and Games provide strong performances with her perfectly captured awkwardness offset by his intensity and zeal; by retaining their own accents, the piece retains its credibility and believability. Close your eyes and you know this could have easily happened anywhere. More worrying is the fact that it still could.
At just over twenty minutes it perhaps tries to do too much within its length. There were a couple of historical inaccuracies to be ironed out but I believe many of the aspects being explored demand taking this to its obvious next level of writing, production, and performance. But for a short piece where it is hard to fully get to know the characters it gives you enough of a glimpse to make its closing scene powerful and moving, a scene that’s still playing around in my head as I write this.
Diary of an Aryan Girl is available free to view via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fql1D0M9F8
Reviewer: Mark Davoren
Reviewed: 17th September 2017
