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The Counterfeiters (+ BD Live) [Blu-ray]

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Die Fälscher (The Counterfeiters) deserves its Oscar as the Best Foreign Film of 2007. Based on a true story and singed with horrifying details of the Nazi treatment of 'detainees' (primarily Jews) during WW II, the inner story of this film is one of resilience and survival against near impossible odds and how one man turned his criminal gifts into a system so impressive that he served as a 'provider' of funds to the financially depleted Third Reich war effort. The story is in itself fascinating enough to hold our interest for the duration of the film, but it is the incredibly ingenious and wily character of Salomon 'Sally' Sorowitsch that burns a space in our minds of how one man survived the concentration camps and in his own way helped fellow Jews to likewise survive the Holocaust.

Salomon 'Sally' Sorowitsch (Karl Markovics) is a brilliant counterfeiter, a Russian Jew so gifted in his ability to forge documents such as passports that he is able to live the 'good life' - money, women, gambling, etc. - until he is arrested by the Nazis and placed in a detention camp Sachsenhausen north of Berlin. His facile mind sees his possible extermination and leads him to make a deal with the Nazis to spare his life (and the lives of his elected doomed accomplices) in return for making counterfeit money (British pounds) so desperately needed to fill the coffers of the dwindling Nazi resources. He and his confreres are afforded comfortable living space, good foods, and other amenities in a special sector of the concentration camp, a place where they can spend their time turning out volumes of money for the Nazis. In this way many of these 'selected' men manage to stay alive until the war is over, but the 'hero' character of Sally Sorowitsch remains an enigma of sorts: his cunning ideas are basically self centered and his focus remains on his own survival and ultimate gratification of yet another successful counterfeit business. In other words, his story leaves a feeling of uneasiness with the viewer - is this a survivor to admire or is this a 'player' whose sense of compassion is marred by his own selfish goals? The viewer is left to decide.

Though Karl Markovics is very strong in the leading role, the supporting cast of some of Germany's finest actors brings a depth of humanity and perception to the major issue the film addresses - both death and survival in the onerous concentration camps of the Nazis. Director/screenwriter Stefan Ruzowitzky deserves kudos for the manner in which he shows both sides of the seminal situation. His cinematographer Benedict Neuenfels manages to capture the lurid light of the confined men and makes the intolerable almost tolerable to watch: the haunting musical score by Marius Ruhland completes the atmosphere. This is a powerful movie on every level, but it is a very disturbing film in many ways. It will make the viewer think - and that is most definitely a strong point of this film. In German with English subtitles. Grady Harp, August 08

The New Germany and Austria by extension have been in the process, these past several years, of divesting themselves of National Guilt in regards to the atrocities of World War 2: "Sophie Scholl," "Downfall" and also the superb "Lives of Others" (though set in post WWII East Berlin, it reeks of submission and totalitarianism) speak to the redemptive qualities of confession and penance.
And now we have "The Counterfeiters," the story of Solomon Sorowitsch (Karl Markovics), a Russian-born Jew who spends his life forging documents thereby attaining the reputation of a master counterfeiter. Ultimately he is arrested and sent to a Camp at which he is given the assignment of forging the British Pound note for The Third Reich. This is 1945 and the disastrous German War effort is in dire need of cash to carry on its war effort.
"Counterfeiters" is all about survival and to what means we, as human beings will do to comply in order to live: anything pretty much sums it up and anything pretty much is the reality of our collective desire to live despite the cicumstances.
Director Stefan Ruzowitzky is walking a slippery slope here as the counterfeiting was done in the Nazi concentration camp at Sachsenhausen and the technicians involved were almost all Jews, "The Counterfeiters" raises some provocative moral dilemmas.
Also, the Sorowitsch of Markovics is no paragon of honor. Instead he is a squirrelly, only thinking for himself, con man. He's happy to do what the Nazi's ask of him in order to get the perks of his "exalted position" in Sachsenhausen: clean clothes, good food, soft bedding, and weekly hot showers. "The Counterfeiters" begins with a post war sequence of Sorowitsch spending thousands of counterfeit British Pounds in Monte Carlo: gambling, grooming himself, dining, dating...basically enjoying the fruits of his labors and those of his fellow counterfeiters.
Sorowitsch is one who feels that: "Only by surviving can we defeat them."
"The Counterfeiters" is a difficult film to like but ultimately it speaks to something in all of us: the drive, the desperate need to survive despite the circumstances in which we might find ourselves. Sorowitsch is flawed, a nasty piece of work actually but he's intelligent, crafty and grudgingly and ultimately deserving of our respect.

Oscar-winning (Best Foreign Language Film) "The Counterfeiters" is inspired by true events during World War II. Some of the main characters of the Austrian/German film are based on real persons and one of them Adolf Burger, a Slovak typographer, wrote a memoir "The Devil's Workshop" which became the basis of the film. Burger's book is about "Operation Bernhard," Nazi's secret plans of forging English and American currency. Against the background of one of the largest counterfeiting schemes in history, Director Stefan Ruzowitzky (best known for his medical suspense "Anatomy" starring Franka Potente) has successfully created a tense thriller with powerful moments.

The film centers on Salomon Sorowitsch (Karl Markovics), forger of documents. After being arrested in pre-war Berlin, a Russian Jew Solomon Sorowitsch is sent to a concentration camp. We discover though Salomon is not a heroic figure, he is clever. He learns to survive the horrible conditions of life there by drawing portraits of Nazi officers.

But more drastic change awaits him when he is later put in charge of one secret mission conducted by Nazis code-named "Operation Bernhard" - Salomon and other inmates (mostly Jewish prisoners) are confined in an inner section at Sachsenhausen concentration camp and are ordered to forge British bank notes.

One thing is certain. They must succeed. They also know Nazi officers would not wait long. But to succeed means to prolong the war and some of the fellow counterfeiters are aware of that too. This is where Adolf Burger (brilliant August Diehl) steps in, insisting on sabotage even though the delay could mean their death.

"The Counterfeiters" is not only a gripping thriller; it also poses some questions about what we would and should do in most extreme situation. I only add that in his interview Adolf Burger said (he visited Japan in November 2007) that the episodes about the inmates playing ping pong and singing songs before the Nazi officers are both true.

Perhaps this moral dilemma of Salomon represented by Salomon and Adolf could have been explored more. Some scenes of the film are obviously the results of fictionalizing process on the side of filmmakers who wanted more dramatic moments. The film is certainly flawed, but, supported by unanimously great acting (Karl Markovics as Salomon Sorowitsch is stunning), "The Counterfeiters" is a gripping and fascinating thriller and drama.

"The Counterfeiters" is a deliberately-paced, affecting personal drama about how thorny ethical dilemmas are in real life, and won a deserved Best Foreign Language Film award at the Oscars in 2008. The main character is Salomon Sorowitsch, a Russian Jew who is arrested for counterfeiting in 1939 and sent to a concentration camp. His artistic skill is quickly picked up, however, and he is eventually used in a counterfeiting operation known as Operation Bernhard, a plan to de-stabilize the British economy by flooding it with counterfeit currency. Since Sorowitsch is such a master at counterfeiting, he is able to pull off a perfect re-production of Bank of England notes that pass the inspection of even the highest inspectors. So the SS now turn their counterfeiting operation to the Dollar. Another inmate involved in the counterfeiting operation, Adolf Burger, realizes that they are effectively financing the Nazi war effort, and believes that a massive printing of counterfeit dollars could make a serious difference in the war. Burger begins destroying the negatives, and wants Sorowitsch to sabatoge the whole operation. This puts Sorowitsch in a dilemma- if the Nazis find out about the sabatoge, then all the counterfeiting inmates, who enjoy a comparatively privileged and comfortable life, will be sent to the death camps. If they continue with the operation, they will help the Nazis.

Which is more important- ensuring your own survival, or fighting for a just cause at the possible cost of your life? "The Counterfeiters" shows that such a dilemma is very difficult to resolve in one's day-to-day struggles, especially when great duress and oppression is present. The moral complexity of the movie is stunning. Whether the counterfeiters delaying tactics were what led to the Nazis' downfall or not, they did a very brave thing, and this movie does a great service in bringing their story to the public.

This 2007 Austrian film won an Academy Award for the Best Foreign Language Film of the year. I can well understand why. Startling, somber and disturbingly haunting, it is based on the true story of a Jewish criminal counterfeiter who was imprisoned by the Nazis. The film is brilliantly directed by Stefan Ruzowitz, who manages to humanize both the prisoners and the Nazis.

Karl Markovics is cast as Salomon Sorowich. We first meet him after the war, visiting an upscale Monte Carlo casino with a briefcase full of American money. There is then a flashback to 1936, when we see him as a successful counterfeiter who, for a fee, specializes in providing foreign passports for those who are trying to get out of Germany. He is arrested and sent to a concentration camp. He manages to survive in awful conditions by drawing flattering portraits of the concentration camp guards. He is so good at it that he is provided with the materials to do portraits of the guards and their families.

This privileged status in the camps comes to an end, however, when he is taken to another concentration camp where he and a select group of prisoners, which includes printers and graphic artists, are forced to produce counterfeit English pounds and American dollars for the Nazis. Here, they are given privileges unknown to other inmates. Their food is good, they sleep on beds with sheets and blankets, and their work conditions mirror those of a real print shop in the outside world. Salomon Sorowich thrives in this atmosphere. However, Aldoph Berger, played by August Diehl, another prisoner who believes in Communist ideals, accuses Sorowich of "selling his soul" and does everything in his power to sabotage the effort. Somehow, the English pound is produced, but the counterfeiting of the American dollar project lags behind. The prisoners all want to stay alive and would like to kill the Communist because no matter how luxurious their treatment, they all know they can be shot at any time. How this all plays out is stuff that high drama is made of. It kept be on the edge of my seat the whole time.

I did some research on this film which was adapted from a memoir of the Communist who, after the war, suffered periods of depression and later committed suicide. Salomon Sorowich, however, escaped to Argentina where he continued his counterfeiting lifestyle by forging works of art.

This is not a film for everyone. It is sad and disturbing. But I do highly recommend it because it is a fine film with great acting, a well-paced storyline, and an extremely thought provoking theme.

"The Counterfeiters" is based on the true story of the largest counterfeiting effort in history. During WWII, the German's attempted to counterfeit the British Pound and the US Dollar using Jewish concentration camp captives in a last ditch attempt to sustain their war effort. This German film won an Oscar for Best Foreign Film in 2007 and contains some amazing performances, especially by Karl Markovics as Solomon Sorowitsch.

As we enter the picture, Sorowitsch is living large making big sums of money as a master forger of fake documents, currency and passports in Berlin in 1936. Ultimately, Sorowitsch doesn't escape the grip of the Nazi's and winds up in a concentration camp. When the Nazis decide to launch Operation Bernhard, they round up Sorowitsch and other Jewish printers, ship them to another concentration camp and accelerate their counterfeiting efforts.

"The Counterfeiters" doesn't focus on the conditions of the Holocaust to the degree other great Holocaust/WWII pictures do like "Schindler's List" and "Life is Beautiful". The movie does paint a sufficient and horrifying enough picture of the treatment and conditions Jewish prisoners lived through. But the brilliance of this picture is the moral conflict that Solomon and the other prisoners face. Their efforts enable them to prolong their lives (and suffering), one day at a time, but also raise the specter that should the effort the Nazi's enlist their help succeed, they will face the same consequences as their other family members, friends and relatives. While we empathsize with Sorowitsch and his plight, the picture creates a more ambivalent and conflicted sense of him than I expected. While Solomon uses his situation to bargain for other prisoners, notably one with TB, we also see a duplicitous and self-centered side.

It is when another camp prisoner, Adolf Burger, attempts to sabotage the efforts to counterfeit the dollar, that the brilliance of this film really takes shape. What is the right choice for these traumatized and tormented individuals? Survive even if it means helping their captors and tormentors? Resist and undermine the counterfeiting operation while surely facing certain death sooner? The conflict is not only with the enemy, but is also within the ranks of these prisoners, simmering below the surface until it finally reaches its boiling point.

"The Counterfeiters" is a tremendous piece of film-making. It is emotionally wrenching and morally thought provoking -- a great piece of art that will linger with you for a long time after watching it.

Operation Bernhard was a secret Nazi counterfeit scheme and one of the lesser-known events of WWII. A group of Jewish printers, engravers, graphic artists, and commercial photographers were rounded up and taken to Sachsenhausen where a counterfeiting factory was set up specifically to produce English Pound notes and later, US dollars, with the Nazi goal of flooding and destabilizing Britain's economy. The resulting notes were so expertly manufactured that Nazi spies had them validated by the Bank of England, which confirmed them as authentic. "The Counterfeiters" (Die Fälscher) is based on this true story.

The film opens in Monte Carlo after WWII. Salomon Sorowitsch (Sally) has a case filled with bank notes, which he carelessly spends at a posh hotel. The story flashes back to 1936 Berlin when Sally was a master forgerer and artist with a thriving underground business. He is captured by the Nazi police and taken to a hard labor camp where he cheats death by drawing portraits of SS officers. Five years later, he is moved to a concentration camp, Sachsenhausen, where he is ordered to supervise the production of what amounted to £132M in counterfeit notes.

Sally is a realist and much as he is sickened by the Nazi's atrocities, he works hard at perfecting their product for no other purpose than self-preservation. "One adapts or dies," he says. The group is housed separately from other prisoners and is given sheets, soap, and clothing. Their participation, however, did not guarantee them their lives. To fully grasp the hopelessness, author Lawrence Malkin wrote in his book, "Krueger's Men," an account of this same story: "[The SS planned to keep the operation secret by killing them when the job was done. The prisoners worked with the knowledge that they were marked for death when they had finished their jobs.] From the start, they wondered whether they should stretch out their work and risk execution for sabotage, or perform efficiently and thus hasten their own deaths."

The cries and shots from beyond their barracks can be distinctly heard and the group still suffers occasional beatings and humiliations by the SS. A young idealist and printer, Adolf Burger, whose wife was killed in Auschwitz, incites the group to sabotage the counterfeiting operations, arguing that they are party to the financing of the Nazi war effort. Sally manages to abort Burger's plans, insisting that dying for a principle is worthless. Despite being a swindler, Sally protected his mates as best as he could and refused to betray anyone of them, going so far as to barter with his barracks commandant for medicine for a sick mate and lying to save another's life.

This story survived because Adolf Burger survived. He is 90 years old and still lectures about the Holocaust and Operation Bernhard in Prague, and served as consultant in the film. It does have an incredible level of authenticity to it. Karl Markovics as Sally was just superb. With very little outward emotion, he is able to project the nightmarish life in Sachsenhausen, where one mistake could mean the end of your life. He is clearly torn by his need to survive and the tragedies of his mates--Burger's wife and another's children killed by the Nazis--as well as the killings of prisoners beyond their barracks. His moments of grief are quite touching. The young August Diehl as Burger is excellent, too, and his idealistic stance was an effective contrast to Sally's pragmatism. Two very different men with divergent approaches, but both courageous and inspiring. When the story returns to Monte Carlo, Sally does something unexpected that's a fitting end to the story.

I really think it's a perfect film. There's not a single thing I can find fault with. It's a quality drama about the moral dilemmas prisoners grappled with when faced daily with the prospect of death, and how wrenching these choices were. It certainly deserved its Oscar as best Foreign Language Film in 2007.

DVD extras are: The Making of..., Interview with the director, Adolf Burger's Artifacts, and a Q&A with the director, all worth seeing as they provide an even deeper understanding of the true story of Operation Bernhard (named after the scheme's instigator, SS officer Bernhard Krueger). It's an excellent and compelling story and highly recommended.

(Language: German with English subtitles)

Counterfeiters is a memorable and smart movie that shows us in just ninety minutes, the most brilliant counterfeit operation during the years of WW2. Solomon Sorowitsch is an Jew, expert respect the genuine art of deceitfulness, from simple passports and legal documents until legal money; once he is discovered by Gestapo agents, he will be recruited into a concentration camp to make the gigantic operation in which 132 millions of sterling pounds were produced.

The rest of this brilliant film runs for you. Supported by an agile camerawork, splendid rhythm and outstanding edition it will engage you from start to finish.

A must see!

An incredible film that received an outstanding transfer to Blu - complete with the first disclaimer (I have seen) about the quality on the Blu case. In fine print under the 1080p/True HD specs: "This film employs a variety of film stocks and grain structures in order to tell the story. This intentional visual style has been retained for this high definition presentation, as per the filmmaker's intent." An obvious undertaking was fulfilled in making this film as I counted 18 film and movie studios/distributors shown on the case. The content has been reviewed quite thoroughly here so I went with checking the Blu angles.

Technical: The transfer was as flawless as I have seen with Blu, and each scene that "retained the grain" looked even better. The majority of what makes this Blu release a good owner is the special features and menu content navigation. My PS3 was made to upgrade to the 2.30 for this BD, but after that 8 minutes of installing and rebooting, navigation was seamless. The menu icons all moved when each selection is made and arrival to those items is very fast, on the S301 though it glitched itself to death with all of these same selections. While watching any of the low def special features in other BDs, I typically cannot access any menu items with the pop-up button, but in this case two opts always arrived (menu and close).

Content: The special features contain a goldmine of historical information and interviews for those with history interests. Between the Adolf Burger's Historical Artifacts piece, and the Interviews with real-life counterfeiter Adolf Burger (with Director) and the actors, all make for a thorough re-telling of this story. The Making-of docu was well made, and the commentary was informative. The deleted scenes were roughly 6 minutes, and contained at least one powerful moment that I wish would have been in the film.

Overall, an excellent film with a respectful Blu transfer.

"The Counterfeiter of the Jews" as he is addressed, "Sally Sorowitsch". is arrested on charges of illegal activity and thrown into the Matthausen Concentration Camp. Ah, but what good is he there? The Nazi's , in the waining hours of WW2 realize that "Sally" will benefit their cause best if he is moved to the "cushy camp", Sachsenhausen, and put to work for them doing what he does best, counterfeiting!.First, it is the English Pound and then it is the American dollar that is masterfully "remade". The Nazi's MUST finance their losing efforts by employing the resourceful and "shifty-shady" Sorowitsch to their advantage. But working with him in the camp is also Adolf Burger, a Communist Jew who is not the "hardened and savvy 'Sally'-type" who is the moral compass of the film. "If we do this" suggests Burger, "we prolong the War and are helping them." Sally shrugs and responds "So?" Burger suggests sabotage. This sets up the dilemma presented in this film; do we aid or do we revolt? Both still may mean certain death!

Director Stefan Ruzowitzky, whose previous big score was the bleak The Inheritors, takes Adolf Burger's memoir and creates a dramatic and socially conscious film about complicity and the moral conscience about, in this case, Jews, thrown in to the camps, and their reactions to their situation. This is not so much a Holocaust epic as it is an intimate 90- minute micro look at one certain point of concentration camp history. What this film does well is to clearly present both sides of two Jewish men caught in an impossible situation who examine their options and have to make decisions.

So many other films have preceded "The Counterfeiters" that have presented this same moral dilemma of Concentration Camp inmates who must make similar decisions. Though "The Counterfeiters" is good, other films I would suggest are far superior in developing this same theme: Out of the Ashes, The Grey Zone, and most especially Playing for Time. For reading purposes, I would suggest The Men with the Pink Triangle: the True Life-and-Death Story of Homosexuals in the Nazi Death Camps and The Hiding Place (Deluxe Christian Classics).

The old axiom "do or die" is tested to the limits in all of these books and films. "The Counterfeiters" is but another take on moral conscience vs. complicity and cooperation.

This film won The Academy Award for best foreign language film. You decide this dilemma! Good....not great?