The Red Orchestra

Two feature films named "The Red Orchestra" were produced 18 years apart, in East Germany in 1971 and in France in 1989. Both films center on a figure who led an anti-Nazi spy ring named "The Red Orchestra" in their respective countries – two groups utterly unaware of each other. One was led by a Nazi officer serving at the Aviation Ministry in Berlin, and the other by a Polish Jew operating from Brussels.
Both films, spy thrillers with remarkably similar styles, offer different perspectives on the fight against the Nazis. The result is a fascinating, historically comprehensive document, which trains a spotlight on those important spy rings, as well as speaking to the power of cinema to create a narrative and cement it into historical fact.