the counterfeiters

die falscher - austrian for - the counterfeiters
i had seen the trailer for this one and had it on the maybe list
something in me says warning wil robinson - it's a war story
but in this case the academy had slapped an oscar on it
best foreign film for last year so that made a difference
an extra appeal being that the film is based on a true story from w w 2
so off i went and braced for another visit to a concentration camp
the film opens on the (stoney) beach at monte carlo pre-war days
salomon sorowitsch (sally) is seen to be in contemplative mode
then shows the swaggering anti-hero character at work and play
using his chips bought with counterfeited cash to win large
he is on a roll and wins money and love as a result
the action cuts back to pre-war underground berlin
giving an insight to changing attitudes towards judaism
he senses the danger and plans an escape while the going is good
but his libido gets the better of him and a final fling is his undoing
leading to his deportation to a brutal concentration camp
but he is a wily and pragmatic man who seizes opportunities
putting his artistic skills to work on the egotistical germans
then as his criminal background is realised he is transferred
he is then in isolation with other selected prisoners in another camp
they are forced to put their skills to work to produce money
initially english pounds in large quantities and then the us dollar
the nazis in desperation have determined to use this tactic
dump the money in the respective countries and ruin their economies
it is about here that i found my own belief system wavering
totally unconvinced that a few prisoners could achieve this
but the point of the film is more about the moral dilemma
some prisoners will do anything to preserve life and acquiesce
others take the higher ground and choose to resist the nazis
by determining that subtle sabotage of the cash is required
it is from this conflict that the film is further developed
backing up each prisoners position with background information
the strongest opponent having lost his wife and child at auschwitz
as the war comes to an end the germans turn to jelly
a farcical scene sees the nazi commander cowering
in a scene that just seemed to be too unrealistic
which pretty well summed up my take of the film
an interesting story delivered in an unconvincing way
even with excellent acting and bleak cinematography
it took a complete read of the credits rolling at the end
to state that the counterfeiters actually produced a lot of cash
4 times the volume of the english foreign reserves at the time
something i felt had not been well documented in the film
so in the end i was impressed by the historical fact
just not totally swept away by the film as a whole
certainly not my best foreign film 2007
but worth a look-see