The Counterfeiters (2007)

Simply Perfect

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Good movie but grossly overrated

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Stefan Ruzowitzky's "Die Fälscher" is an Academy award winning movie set during World War II about Jewish prisoners forced to create perfect imitations of the Pound and the Dollar in order to destroy the British and American economy. Ruzowitzky, at this point, was mostly known for the two "Anatomie" thrillers and a horribly received movie named "All the Queen's Men" obviously being at least a name parody of the classic "All the King's Men". For "Die Fälscher", he adapted Adolf Burger's book and it became a massive success. Looks like the Academy still loves a good Nazi movie. Maybe it was because, the aspect of falsifying money has during the years of WWII has not been too present in movies so far. Strangely enough, none of the 5 Foreign Language film nominees were nominated at the Globes that year, so it was a very open race. At the German Film Awards, the movie only managed to win one of its seven nominations, namely David Striesow as supporting actor (a Nazi general who sees the Jews more as his staff than his prisoners, but is evil nonetheless if they don't deliver), although I personally thought that Diehl and Brambach gave better supporting performances as a heroic Jew and ruthless Nazi officer.All in all, this is a movie that is well-written, well-directed, well-acted and well-crafted in every regard, but still somehow I felt something was missing for greatness. Still, I thought Markovics (who you may have seen on "Kommissar Rex" many years ago) gives a pretty good performance who is stuck between his loyalty to Jewism/hate towards Nazis and his dedication to his craft. He wants to succeed as a falsifier, even if he works for his biggest enemy. It is interesting how he can justify this dedication with the fact that he has to succeed in order to not be killed. At the beginning we see that he survived (the beginning, the post-war scenes are maybe my favorite from the film) the concentration camp. But that does not hurt the film at all. It's not really about the question if he will survive. It's much more of a character study and also about his relationship with Diehl's character. One of the most interesting moments in that relationship is when we find out that Diehl's character's wife is killed in another concentration camp. Diehl's character is by the way the writer of the book.Finally, almost at the ending, there is quite some irony that it is their concentration camp tattoos that basically save their lives when allied forces initially mistake them for Nazis. And as we are at the now again when the film closes, we see how Markovics' character somehow lacks direction and goals as he is no longer printing fake money for the Nazis, what he could do best. It reminds me of how prison inmates often struggle when they are released into freedom again. Maybe you remember the famous scene from "Shawshank Redemption". Anyway, "Die Fälscher" is a good film all in all. Not sure if it is a worthy Academy Award winner. I may have given the Foreign Language win to "Let The Right One in" that year, but I still recommend watching it, especially if you have an interest in German/Austrian cinema or just World War II movies in general.

1.After a long hiatus, I was back to watching WW-II movies and I picked this one - was nothing but GLAD !!! 2.The best part about the movie is it's focus - it doesn't try to target too many things and focuses on the grass-root of 'Operation Bernhard'(normally, a director and the screenplay writer would be tempted to cover the past life of Sorowitsch, Bernhard Krüger etc.) 3.Primarily, the movie revolves around ONE character - that of Salomon Sorowitsch. Since I haven't read much about 'Operation Bernhard', I can't comment on the validity of the footage given to Sorowitsch's character and it's correctness.Nevertheless, it has not dampened, rather amplified, the movie's appeal 4.The persona of Sorowitsch is an intriguing one ! The best part - his composure !!! He says his family was arrested and killed, yet he harbours no grudge(at least, it isn't shown). He's also quite indifferent to the persecution of Jews by the criminal Nazis, in fact, he goes to the extent of saying ' Jews don't try to fit in'(the same was the allegation of Adolf Hitler against the Jews). He is also a consummate criminal of forfeit - a fact he doesn't gloat! While at the Mauthausen concentration camp, his defiance against the SS warden or someone appeals a lot ! At the same time, he also uses his skills to appease and flatter the Nazi officials by drawing portraits and at the same time, stealing good food. Given all these fox-traits, his humane and compassionate side touches a lot - his defending of Burger in spite of his dangerous antagonism, his fatherly feelings for 'Kolya', his defiance against Zilinski when he insists on exposing Burger - the movie is packed with such incidents that endear the character of Sorowitsch !!! 5.The movie' background score isn't very noticeable but it hardly matters - the characters are played strongly and the flow is suave, hence, the absence/low presence of background score hardly matters ! 6.Finally, the memorable scenes in the movie :a.While at the Mauthausen concentration camp, Sorowitsch's threatening SS warden of stabbing him if he hits him(Sorowitsch) b.Sorowitsch handing his soup to a wounded and weak Kolya c.Sorowitsch's discovery of the English using rags in manufacture of the Pound d.Sorowitsch making Kolya eat food like a father feeding babies - 'A spoon for Expressionists, A spoon for Avantgardists', a way that suits Koyla who often speaks about his academics e.The BEST scene - an unbeatable gambler, Sorowitsch, deliberately loses all the counterfeit money at the casino and is later shown resting on the beach 7.Over all, I include this movie in the list of 'MUST-WATCH' ...

Salomon Sorowitsch (superbly played by Karl Markovics) was a thriving Jewish counterfeiter in 1930s Berlin when he was arrested and sent to a Nazi concentration camp. While there, he was put in charge of an operation, set up by the SS, to duplicate foreign currency in an effort both to de-stabilize the Allies' economies and to continue funding the Nazi regime and its war effort. This activity secured for him and his fellow workers numerous privileges - additional food, more humane living conditions, an increased guarantee of safety - that were denied to the other prisoners in the camp.On the surface, "The Counterfeiters" provides us with a grim and disturbing look at life in a Nazi death camp. But, like Lina Wertmuller's "Seven Beauties," it goes much deeper than that, exploring the thorny ethical issue of just how far a human being should be willing to go to ensure his own survival. As Sorowitsch himself states, in a situation such as the one in which he finds himself, "You adapt or you perish," and he refuses to let the Nazis, or anyone else for that matter, make him feel guilty for doing what it takes to stay alive. But soon there is dissension within the ranks, as Burger (August Diehl), a political idealist who believes there's a greater cause beyond their own survival, insists the men sabotage the effort - even if that means he and all his fellow workers die as a result. Yet, thanks to the inmates' delaying tactics, only a small number of dollars were ever produced.Brilliantly acted and solidly directed (by Stefan Ruzowitzky), "The Counterfeiters" is a complex morality tale that will have you questioning your own values and examining your own conscience long after it's over.

In many films the dialogue leads, action follows and from this we understand the situation. In The Counterfeiters we understand the situation just as the characters do, share their dilemmas and wait to see how they will react. We get to know their individual characters, their loyalties and urge for self-preservation so fully appreciate their silent struggles with themselves. There is such assured writing and direction that the revelation of the reward for producing enough money to wreck a nation's economy appears to the audience as grotesquely pitiful in its meanness as it might have done to the real life forgers. So too the scene where the master forger with the weight of the world on his mind meets the pretty, innocent and dim Nazi wife who talks to him as if he were her husband's work-colleague brought home for a meal. We experience it as he experiences it. It is all the more involving because it almost entirely lacks violence, gun-play, music or exaggeration. Less is much much more.