Os Falsários

I came away with a moral dilemma of my own: though "The Counterfeiters" is excellent in places in others it is not.

The true story of Operation Bernhard and the printing of millions of pounds is a fascinating story. The direction, acting, and script are excellent. But my problem was one that for me was a real shock: I was not as moved by the film as I had hoped or wanted to be.

Dealing with the most singular piece of evil devised by man - genocide, especially in the concentration camps is never an easy subject, and perhaps the fact that it is not overplayed is a bonus - however, I came away admiring the film and its performances but left curiously unmoved by the overall tone of the piece.

Perhaps that's the point of the moral dichotomy (Make money, help the Nazis, don't make money, lose your lives but shorten the war) that is does not scream but rather affects us quietly.

Overall, definitely watchable. But misses greatness.

I don't go to the cinema much these days. Even sitting through the previews before I saw this I was beyond bored, even though Meryl Streep was in two of them, even she's in boring rubbish these days.

But, 'The Counterfeiters' is classy stuff. The Austrians (as well as The Germans) are excellent at making period films (masters at detail) & when they handle the subject of The Holocaust, the few things I've seen, have been superb.

Everyone's good in this. The lead is hypnotic.

If the subject of The Holocaust interests you, don't hesitate seeing this. It's a very good film indeed. It's nice to see something brand new that you can confidently call a classic.

In 1936, the greatest forger in Germany, the Jewish Russian Salomon 'Sally' Sorowitsch (Karl Markovics), is arrested by the agent Friedrich Herzog (Devid Striesow) and sent to Mauthausen concentration camp. Years later, he is transferred to Sachsenhausen concentration camp to work with a group of professionals counterfeiting sterling pounds under the command of Herzog in the Operation Bernhard. When the group is ordered to produce American dollars, the idealistic Adolf Burger (August Diehl) sabotages the work of Sally and his team.

"Die Fälscher" is based on a true story of a group of Jews that are forced to counterfeit currency to destabilize the economy of England and North America in World War II. The realistic plot discloses a fight between the idealism of Burger and the intention of surviving the war of the group of Jews led by Sally in excellent performances. The result is another great and powerful German film that leaves an open question: what could you do or how far would you go to survive? My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Os Falsários" ("The Forgers")

This is about the Nazis, trying to produce false pounds and dollars in the concentration camp of Sachsenhausen. The aim is to destroy the British and American economies. For this purpose, they use Jewish experts, who have their privileges, like clean sheets, classical music, showers and the possibility of not being murdered.

It could have been just another Nazi movie, but many ethic questions are raised. What is treason and can you possibly survive without it? The drama between the Hauptsturmführer and the main character, Sally, is described in an interesting way, not at least because of the brilliant acting from Karl Marcovics.

Being in concentration camp, are there any more questions than surviving the next day? Obviously there were.

I just saw this movie in London last night. There were 5 people in the audience (including myself). What a shame because this was a solid piece of film-making. If you haven't seen The Counterfeiters, go see it. Here's why.

The acting is outstanding all the way through. You will learn more about counterfeiting efforts by the Nazis to undermine the British and Americans. This movie has numerous layers to it, and avoids the typical clichés that all Germans acted one way, and all Jews acted another way. You learn the subtle ways that control over other people is used to manipulate them. Do you put aside your beliefs in order to survive? If so, are you being true to those beliefs? Is it better to be a dead, morally right person or a live, less moral one? These are central themes. Finally, does how we make our wealth matter? These aren't ideas unique to cinema, but the way the movie presents them is.