Orchestra of Exiles

Although the movie is overreliant on chintzy-looking and rather corny historical reenactments, these are counterbalanced by anecdote-rich interviews, including descendants of Huberman's first orchestra, human testament to the family tree of Israeli musicianship that he planted.

Its episodic nature poses a narrative challenge that director Josh Aronson's just barely feature-length documentary can't quite surmount.

The pervasive historical reenactments and voiceovers, however, while clearly well-intended, often turn this otherwise vital film into an uneasy hybrid of authenticity and artifice.

Orchestra of Exiles aspires to a level of primary research that other historical documentaries could take a page from.

Toscanini plays a role in the tale, as does Einstein and a young Zubin Mehta. If director Josh Aronson tries to follow a few too many strands of the story, it's only because there's so many tantalizing ones.

Despite lively commentaries by a pantheon of master musicians and magnificently performed classical pieces, "Exiles" only distantly echoes Huberman's visionary adventure.

Orchestra of Exiles will interest anyone who's concerned with European Jewry or classical music in the first half of the 20th century. But it provides mostly the facts of Huberman's legacy and little of the flavor.