The Counterfeiters (2007)
The Counterfeiters (2007)
A Film by Stefan Ruzowitzky
DVD9 | ISO+MDS | PAL 16:9 (720x576) | 01:34:35 | 7,40 Gb
Audio: German AC3 5.1/2.0 @ 448/192 Kbps | Subtitles: English
Genre: Crime, Drama, War | Won Oscar | Austria, Germany
A Film by Stefan Ruzowitzky
DVD9 | ISO+MDS | PAL 16:9 (720x576) | 01:34:35 | 7,40 Gb
Audio: German AC3 5.1/2.0 @ 448/192 Kbps | Subtitles: English
Genre: Crime, Drama, War | Won Oscar | Austria, Germany
The Counterfeiters is the true story of the largest counterfeiting operation in history, set up by the Nazis in 1936.
Salomon Sally Sorowitsch (Karl Markovics) is the king of counterfeiters. He lives a mischievous life of cards, booze, and women in Berlin during the Nazi-era. Suddenly his luck runs dry when arrested by Superintendent Friedrich Herzog (Devid Striesow). Immediately thrown into the Mauthausen concentration camp, Salomon exhibits exceptional skills there and is soon transferred to the upgraded camp of Sachsenhausen. Upon his arrival, he once again comes face to face with Herzog, who is there on a secret mission. Hand-picked for his unique skill, Salomon and a group of professionals are forced to produce fake foreign currency under the program Operation Berhard. The team, which also includes detainee Adolf Burger (August Diehl), is given luxury barracks for their assistance. But while Salomon attempts to weaken the economy of Germany's allied opponents, Adolf refuses to use his skills for Nazi profit and would like to do something to stop Operation Bernhard's aid to the war effort. Faced with a moral dilemma, Salomon must decide whether his actions, which could prolong the war and risk the lives of fellow prisoners, are ultimately the right ones.
IMDB
Germany 1936: Salomon ‘Sally’ Sorowitsch (Karl Markovics) is a counterfeiter who makes a very good living providing people with false passports and documents so they can flee the country. This makes him unpopular with both the German police and jealous business rivals. After one of them informs on him he’s arrested and, being Jewish, ends up in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp where he trades on his artistic skills to be spared hard labour and/or death by painting portraits of the camp commanders and their families. This brings him to the attention of the officers in charge of Project Bernhard, a special operation the Nazis have planned to ruin the American and English economies by flooding them with forged money. Placed in charge of the group, and constantly under pressure to produce results by German Commandant Friedrich Herzog (Devid Streisow), Salomon comes into conflict with both Adolf Burger (August Diehl) one of his fellow counterfeiters and his own conscience as to whether they should collaborate with the enemy and be given special treatment or sabotage the operation and face probable execution.
The Counterfeiters (2007)
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Since their heyday in the 40's, 50's and 60's, war films (like Westerns) have faded in and out of fashion, but their popularity has always brought them back, often in a faze (to comment on) a certain conflict (like the Vietnam films that followed the 1986 release of "Platoon"). Unsurprisingly, post 9/11 there’s been a constant string of releases but ironically the likes of "Lions for Lambs" (2007), "Redacted" ( 2007), "In The Valley Of Elah" (2007) and "Stop-Loss" (2008) that are based around the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan and have tried to maneuver the political and moral minefield involved have almost bombed because of bad reviews and/or disinterest from the public, while the best examples of the genre "The Pianist" (2002), "Downfall" (2004), "Days of Glory" (2006), "Black Book" (2006) and now Stefan Ruzowitzky’s "The Counterfeiters" released during the same time period have all been set in World War II where the ideas of right and wrong are clear cut because of the holocaust and other atrocities committed by the German forces.
The Counterfeiters (2007)
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Based on the novel "The Devil’s Workshop" by Adolf Burger, one of only three survivors of the group, writer/director Ruzowitzky’s screenplay evidently takes a few small liberties with the facts but that doesn’t stop it, coupled with his stark and powerful direction, from giving us an incredibly suspenseful thriller full of tense and harrowing scenes. It’s a surprise and a definite step up in style and range from the director whose previous films included "Anatomy" (2000) and "Anatomy 2" (2003), German entries in the post "Scream" (1996) serial killer genre and "All The Queen's Men" (2001) which, while also set in World War II had a slightly lighter tone seeing as it featured a group of allied soldiers including Matt LeBlanc and Eddie Izzard infiltrating a female run factory to steal a code machine… while dressed in drag.
The Counterfeiters (2007)
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The entire cast are outstanding but Diehl as the idealistic Burger who is determined to sabotage the operation because he can’t come to terms with helping the Nazis as well as the special treatment he receives while other prisoners (including his own wife and children) suffer, and Markovics as Sorowitsch who gradually and subtly changes from a smug self-centred playboy into a man of conscience and an unlikely hero without feeling clichéd or predictable, are both exceptional.
The Counterfeiters (2007)
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After many films set in concentration camps, "The Counterfeiters", like Sorowitsch’s character, is an original story told in an unclichéd and effecting way. Highly recommended.Shane Roberts & Noor Razzak
The Counterfeiters (2007)
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 Counterfeiters (2007)
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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.IMDB Reviewer
The Counterfeiters (2007)
HQ Cover and DVD Scan is here.
The Counterfeiters (2007)
Edition Details:
• Featurette: "The Making of The Counterfeiters"
• Featurette: "Adolf Burger's Historical Artifacts"
• Deleted scenes
• Trailer
Three interviews:
• One with director Stefan Ruzowitzky
• A second with Adolf Burger
• Third with Karl Markovics
The Counterfeiters (2007)
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