The Counterfeiters (Die Fälscher)
By Hervé St-Louis
April 16, 2008 - 09:32
Running Time: 1 hr. 39 min.
Release Date: February 22nd, 2008 (limited)
MPAA Rating: R for some strong violence, brief sexuality/nudity and language.
Distributors: Sony Pictures Classics
Cast and Credits
Starring: Karl Markovics, August Diehl, Devid Striesow, Martin Brambach, August Zirner
Directed by: Stefan Ruzowitzky
Produced by: Josef Aichholzer, Babette Schroder
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Based on a true story, The Counterfeiters is about Jewish refugee camp prisoners, during Nazi Germany who were used to create counterfeit money in the hopes of flooding the British and American economy with too much currency and thus defeat their war effort. Artists and print designers were offered a second lease on life and avoided the gas chambers as long as they could produce the fake money for their German masters. The counterfeiters in particular pays attention to Salomon Sorowitsch, a famous producer of fake bills and fake passports, before his arrest by the German government. His goal is to save as many Jewish lives as possible while stalling the production of counterfeit bills until the allies can win the war. That’s a scary proposition and an untenable position that Sorowitsch may not be able to survive himself.
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This movie pitted the realism of Sorowitsch against the idealism of fellow prisoner Adolf Burger. Burger wants to take a stand and thwart the Nazi counterfeit operation at every turn. His behaviour puts all of the prisoners’ lives at risks. Sorowitsch who is thought to be blindly cooperating with the Nazi doesn’t show any moral conflict at any point, but does his work silently and effectively, although what he really is up to may not be clear to others. As a professional crook, he knows how to swindle and bargain for privileges that will allow him to save as many lives. I would argue that although his character is repelling, he may be the best example of what a hero is and how one can do great things, while appearing to do the opposite.
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Until the end, we are never allowed inside his mind. We only see his actions and motivations. He is a difficult man to understand and we see no emotions from him. Here lays the problem with this film. The hero is so unlikable that some viewers may be bored or uninterested in whether he succeeds or not. His motivations are his alone and therefore, it is hard to be sympathetic to him and his plight.
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However, if one views this film as an historical record of the past, one garners much more information about a particular situation that happened during the Second World War. Thus historians who don’t care about character driven performance will delight at the interpretation of this story, while traditional movie goers may be bored.
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Just like many good European films of the genre, like La Grande Illusion, all characters speak their indigenous languages in this film and subtitles are required to for most audience members. The film almost feels like it was shot in black and white, for colours are not bright. Obviously, this fits in well with the overall theme of the film which is about bleak chance at finding hope.
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