| Movie Review | The Journal of American History, 94.3

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| Movie Review | The Journal of American History, 94.3 | The History Cooperative

Movie Reviews

The Berlin Airlift. Dir. by Peter Adler, Alexander Berkel, and Stefan Mausbach. Prod. by ZDF with ZDF Enterprises for American Experience, 2006. 90 mins. (PBS Home Video, http://www.shoppbs.org/)
Although it is a crucial moment in the origins of the Cold War, the Berlin airlift of 1948–1949 remains something of a mystery to many Americans. Many students, for example, are surprised to find out that the airlift crisis preceded the Berlin Wall by more than a decade. This lack of understanding is likely to increase as the history of divided Berlin and Germany recedes into the distant past. For this reason alone historians should welcome the production of a new, brief documentary that explains the airlift, both in human terms and within its historical context.	1
The Berlin Airlift is one of the latest products from the stable of historian-producer Guido Knopp, who has become the dean of popular, made-for-television history in Germany through his work with the Second German Television network (ZDF). Translated and adapted for broadcast in the PBS series American Experience, it offers a clear historical narrative illustrated with contemporary newsreel footage (American as well as East and West German), dramatic re-enactments, and interviews with eyewitnesses and participants. The personal stories—including, among others, tales of a downed pilot whom Germans helped escape into West Berlin; a German boy who was one of the few survivors of a crash involving refugees airlifted out of Berlin; and the "chocolate bomber" Gail Halvorsen, an American pilot who became legendary for the small packages of candy he dropped from his plane, and his relationship with a German child who wrote to him—add a human dimension to what could become a purely geopolitical story, enhancing the film's dramatic power. The re-enactments also contribute to the film's watchability, while being restrained enough to avoid kitsch.	. . .

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