Die Fälscher (The Counterfeiters)
2007
**½
Director: Stefan Ruzowitzky
Cast: Karl Markovics, August Diehl, Devid Striesow, Veit Stübner, Sebastian Urzendowsky, August Zirner, Martin Brambach, Andreas Schmidt, Tilo Prückner, Lenn Kudrjawizki
When Hitler tightens his stranglehold on Europe, a talented Jewish forger Salomon Sorowitsch ends up in a concentration camp. In Sachsenhausen, he becomes a key figure in Operation Bernhard, a scheme to destabilise the Allied economies with forged banknotes. This German film initially offers an alternative look at the Holocaust, it even has a selfish, cunning, and rather unlikeable protagonist. The man is adamant that he won't allow the Nazis to make him feel guilty about surviving, but the narrative eventually forces him to soften up and see his actions in a larger context. When the story turns conventional, the fate of these privileged men in their "golden cage" seems trivial in the big picture. In the end, this fictionalised true story is a fascinating historical footnote but not a terribly captivating drama. It's based on the autobiographical book by Adolf Burger, whose character is, by coincidence, the only one of the men with any guts. Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Language Film.
