It takes a clever man to make money. It takes a genius to stay alive.
The counterfeiters (Die fälscher) starts in Monte Carlo during World War II. Salomon Sorowitsch (Karl Markovics), king of fraudsters in a world of gamblers, gigolos and easy women, is forced by the Nazis to use his counterfeiting talents in a secret forging factory. Like other Jewish printers, bankers & artists recruited in Operation Bernhard, he escaped the horrific treatment given to most prisoners but was still unsure if he would come out alive.
Based on Adolf Burger's memoirs of the Nazi period, this film tells an incredible true story. Operation Bernhard remains the most successful and secretive counterfeiting operation ever produced.
Special Agent Matti
Well, we all know that the National Socialists are evil bastards and The counterfeiters (Die fälscher) does nothing to question this but what we do get is the ethical dilemma faced by their biggest victims, the Jews.
For me, the Jewish Question has always been, "Why did they stay in Germany, knowing that the Nazis were out to get them?" I understand that there will always be some people who don't want to leave their home and that there are some people who don't think that things will get worse and that there are some people who are simply in denial but when millions of people deny the evil actions of their government you end up with a massacre. Sure, a lot of Jewish people got out while the going was good but you'd think that after a few millennia of oppression they'd have better bullshit detectors. Not that I'm blaming the victims for the crime committed against them.
Devid Striesow does a great job of showing the schizophrenic nature of the Nazis, such as proclaiming the superiority of the Aryan races on the one hand and relying on Jews for his career prospects. What really does my head in, however, is seeing Bezirksinspektor Stockinger take on the SS. Heck, he was afraid of Kommissar Rex!
The crime, Germany, true movie The counterfeiters (Die fälscher) is directed by Stefan Ruzowitzky and stars Karl Markovics, August Diehl, Devid Striesow.
MA 15+ (Strong violence)
97 minutes (1:37 hours)
Film: 8 May 2008
DVD rental: 8 October 2008
DVD retail: 8 October 2008
