Claus Räfle’s “The Invisibles” tells the true story of four Jewish teenagers—Cioma Schönhaus (Max Mauff), Hanni Lévy (Alice Dwyer), Ruth Arndt-Gumpel (Ruby O. Fee), Eugen Friede (Aaron Altaras)—who chose to remain in Berlin during the Holocaust. We are provided a title card which states that 7,000 Jewish people chose to stay in the city. Only 1,500 survived. For the most part, the film is a compelling docudrama, smooth and confident in juggling reenactments, interviews of actual survivors, and black-and-white footages—occasionally in color—of Nazi occupied Berlin. And yet, appropriately, it is not a sentimental or melodramatic picture. Instead, it aspires to be a grave reminder of a horrible past beyond imagination and an admonition of a potential future should we fail to learn from our history.(Cinéologist , letterboxd)Read More »
