Les faussaires

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.

Be prepared that this is not a bum bum war movie but another interesting film that touched my feelings. The first scene begins on the dreamingly beach of Nice in South of France where I am going always jogging with my wife in my holidays. Then it dives directly in the second world war time telling how the Jewish people were kept and murdered by the Nazis. DIE FÄLSCHER shows how high talented Jewish forgers have been forced by the SS to work with them. I have now a better view about the development of the German machinery. The movie is well directed with a fast pace and full of turns and twists that led to the Oscar as best foreign film of this year. I have never got bored and I liked it.

There have been several respectable productions in the last years about the holocaust as for example THE PIANIST, BLACK BOOK, DER UNTERGANG, DIE LETZTEN TAGE DER SOPHIE SCHOLL or DER LETZTE ZUG. Read for all these mentioned movies my reviews.

Final vote 7/10 and another important DVD for my best of collection.

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.