Screenwriter/showrunner/producer Anna Winger has a keen sense of how a historical story can be used to sell a lesson for the present – meaningful and entertaining at the same time. Following Deborah Feldman’s Unorthodox, she has now adapted Julie Orringer’s The Flight Portfolio. The part of “Transatlantic” that tells of the Emergency Rescue Committee that helped more than 2000 people in Marseille to flee from the National Socialists in 1940/41 touches you deeply – precisely because not too much pathos is used. The string pullers, journalist Varian Fry (great: Cory Michael Smith) and millionaire’s daughter Mary Jayne Gold (Gillian Jacobs), unnecessarily put themselves in danger to save others – they just can’t stand the injustice. It’s also about the value of art and intellect, because among those being persecuted are people like Hannah Arendt and Golo Mann, Marc Chagall and Max Ernst. Moritz Bleibtreu plays Walter Benjamin, who just before the border crossing can no longer bear the horror and fear.
In addition to these real fates and the actual horror, such a seven-part Netflix absolutely needs some joie de vivre, thought those responsible – and that’s why the series falls apart a bit. The parties happily celebrated at the mansion, full of fleeing artists, may look chic and of course sympathize with the man who must choose between lover and wife, but in the midst of World War II, the focus on this celebration and the love stories slightly bizarre. So “Transatlantic” leaves you feeling a bit insecure – and yet with the crucial realization that courage and humanity are always worthwhile, no matter how hopeless the situation seems to be. If you want to soak up even more optimism, google the main characters: almost all of them lived to be very old and – whether in America or back in Europe – still did good things for several decades. (netflix)
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