Declassified: The Rise and Fall of the Wall Reviews

THE FLICK
Over the course of 28 years, some 40,000 East Germans escaped to West Germany, 75,000 were prosecuted for trying and some 1,300 died in the attempt. They took to the skies and dug underground to circumvent an ever growing wall which ripped the city of Berlin in two. Initially created as a response to the divided Germany after World War II, the Berlin Wall was also designed to stem the failed economy of the east. With an open border, the best and brightest citizens moved to the west, leaving East Germany desperate for a way to prop itself up. The Rise and Fall of the Berlin Wall, a 90-minute History documentary, weaves the historical story of the wall with individual tales of escape to provide a picture of the lengths ordinary citizens would go to in order to be free.

The doc takes a methodical, if quick, approach to the historical material. Using both newsreel footage and computer generated maps and animatics, the piece doesn't spend much time with the personalities behind the separation or the ticky-tack political back and forth; instead, it deals in broad strokes, almost as if it's trying to get through the set up to explore the individuals trying to flee to the west. In that sense, Rise and Fall turns into something different, not strictly a dry recitation of historical fact but also a personal look at the people caught in the crossfire. For example, the narrative spends a decent amount of time with the Koppen's (Klaus and Roswitha), separated when the wall went up. Because of his love for his girlfriend, Klaus tried to get her out using unorthodox methods. By taking the gas tank out of the car, a space was opened just big enough for her to hide in. The makeshift gas tank sprung a leak and she began to get burned by hot gas before the pair could make it to West Germany. They wouldn't make another attempt.

What Rise and Fall gets right about the escape stories is focusing on the reasons why citizens risked life and limb, left their homes and possessions behind to cross a perilous border. One wanted an adventure. Another to see the land where the Beatles came from. Reuniting a family, options for employment, a prosperous future...these are human reactions to the barrier. They allow the audience to sympathize with the participants in one way or another. It's the human condition, in the end, that gave life to hot air balloons, commandeering military troop transports and zip lines in the sky. These people, using the most rudimentary of resources, were remarkable human beings by any sense of the word.

Where the piece doesn't quite work is the marriage of these elements. It seems disjointed, running on too long, as if the filmmakers stretched for material or more stories to pad the running time. There is no doubt the second half is more compelling, featuring the escapes, and the doc almost rushes to get there at the expense of historical fact. The audience is expected to bring some information to the table, such as what the Cold War was. There's easily enough story material for two different pieces, yet it's a mashed together here. An hour in, there's a sense the story can end at any time and the audience has a well rounded view of the event. But it keeps going and going. The Rise and Fall of the Berlin Wall makes the GDR (German Democratic Republic, aka East Germany) look like incompetent officers and engineers with a half-baked plan. After each escape, the wall would be further fortified, with higher gun towers, more barbed wire, vicious dogs or whatever other deterrent they could find. To be fair, the doc doesn't mention in any depth the escapes which didn't work, mostly due to insufficient records or a lack of eye witness accounts. (The finale does mention the shoddy records and inability of historians to get access to the information due to East German secrecy.)

Another area the doc fails is when it brings up the German Stasi infiltrating the dissident groups, including the ones digging tunnels from one side to another. There's not corroboration or further information on the events, no one to speak to it. How the officers managed to gain enough trust to wiggle their way into an undercover group is never explained. Again, it may be a symptom of a lack of information on the topic. But if that's the reason, why mention it in the first place? To shore up its finances, the east sold dissidents to the west, according to the doc. Were there any qualms with this human trafficking of sorts, or was it simply seen as a necessary evil to rescue people who never managed to escape on their own?

At the end of The Rise and Fall of the Berlin Wall, there is a rather quick wrap-up of the wall coming down, travel restrictions being lifted and, ultimately, about a reunified Germany. Even here, the piece runs through the information too fast, glossing over most of the political ramifications of the events. What was the international reaction and who were the major players? I guess, for a document focused on the people who escaped, to gloss over some of the history is acceptable to maintain focus. There's just a great swath of information left out of the finished product for one reason or another, which ends up distilling the 28-year history of the Berlin Wall down to a relative few events. That is the MO behind most documentaries, to give the highlights of the situation without necessarily getting into the gritty details. In this case, though, those details would have been helpful. More helpful would have been separate, one-hour pieces on the history and on the escapes.

THE LOOK
Any number of movies and television programs seamlessly transition between a 1.33 and anamorphic widescreen aspect ratios, so why History documentaries can't handle this relatively simple task continues to be perplexing. With a copyright date of 2009, there's no reason the computer graphics or new interviews shouldn't be anamorphically enhanced while the vintage newsreel video presented in the 1.33:1 format. That being said, the picture, like the sound, is good enough, filled with drab grays and blacks but nothing to really bust out on the screen. New footage displays a bit of pixelation around objects, most notably the edges of eyeglasses. Blacks are reasonably deep, but lack any true amount of detail. Older video is more problematic, with scratches, vertical lines and a "blown out" look, a symptom of the age and original elements and not an issue with the transfer.

THE SOUND
Presented with a 2.0 stereo mix only, The Rise and Fall of the Berlin Wall sounds acceptable for a television documentary. No single element overshadows another while dialogue is free and clear of distortion. The only issue with the track is a slight reverberation in some of the dialogue, almost approaching a hiss as a speaker comes to the end of a word. This isn't noticeable in the voice-over narration, only in the interviews. Otherwise, the track does what it needs to do without much fanfare or disappointment. No subtitles are included.

THE STUFF
The Rise and Fall of the Berlin Wall comes packed in a black keepcase without an insert. A dozen chapter stops are available from the main menu. Otherwise, there are no extra features.