The Red Orchestra
review

There are many unsung heroes that often go unnoticed throughout history. The Holocaust and WWII forced many to shelter people and put their own lives on the line for the greater good. The Red Orchestra details an entire espionage network, one that operated during WWII to save countless Jewish lives.

Director Carl-Ludwig Rettinger describes this vast network in detail. They operated primarily out of Paris and Brussels and became one of the most successful spy operations fighting against the Third Reich. In this history documentary, Rettinger uses archival materials as well as interviews with surviving family members of those involved in the network to describe a group of people who risked everything in a time of mass death and uncertainty.

What Rettinger also does brilliantly is the use of his footage from two separate films made in the 1970s describing the Red Orchestra’s exploits. Both Die rote Kapelle and KLK Calling PTZ: The Red Orchestra are featured in snippets. However, these two films don’t tell the full story of what truly transpired. This is a maverick move by Rettinger, as he is demonstrating how the real events of history are often overlooked or ignored. The Red Orchestra highlights a documentarian at the top of his game. History professors focusing on World War II or the Holocaust should add this documentary to their syllabus. 

This documentary re-examines the story of the Red Orchestra: the most important resistance network in Nazi Germany, whose operations extended from Berlin and Brussels to Paris. The leading figures of the group included Leopold Trepper and Harro Schulze-Boysen, who gathered military secrets to share with the Soviets. In 1942, Hitler’s henchmen were able to track down most of the group by picking up radio transmissions. The legacy of this extraordinary tale has long been compromised by contrasting viewpoints and politically tinged filmic interpretations from East and West Germany. Carl-Ludwig Rettinger illustrates this by carefully excerpting feature films made in the early 1970s and interspersing them with interviews with the descendants of the group’s members, offering a fresh approach and a well-rounded historical account.

Now playing in our Virtual Cinema until 1/20 as part of the 2021 New York Jewish Film Festival.

Third film I’ve viewed and the subject matter was also fascinating here.

This documentary has a great angle as it utilized 2 feature films under the same title. Both showcasing the inner network of spies in Germany that helped reveal their strategies to their opponents.

Features many interviews with children of the original members and some folks that were there first hand. This is something I knew nothing about and loved learning about these groups. Over 100 people from Paris, to Brussels and beyond literally risking their lives. Because of their efforts the nazis were able to lose their leverage on a few fronts. 

Once again enjoying watching the downfall of these evil pricks. The filmmaker did a standout job of presenting this subject with so much great footage, both cinematic & archival.