Stefan Ruzowitzky's "Die Fälscher" is an Academy award winning movie set during World War II about Jewish prisoners forced to create perfect imitations of the Pound and the Dollar in order to destroy the British and American economy. Ruzowitzky, at this point, was mostly known for the two "Anatomie" thrillers and a horribly received movie named "All the Queen's Men" obviously being at least a name parody of the classic "All the King's Men". For "Die Fälscher", he adapted Adolf Burger's book and it became a massive success. Looks like the Academy still loves a good Nazi movie. Maybe it was because, the aspect of falsifying money has during the years of WWII has not been too present in movies so far. Strangely enough, none of the 5 Foreign Language film nominees were nominated at the Globes that year, so it was a very open race. At the German Film Awards, the movie only managed to win one of its seven nominations, namely David Striesow as supporting actor (a Nazi general who sees the Jews more as his staff than his prisoners, but is evil nonetheless if they don't deliver), although I personally thought that Diehl and Brambach gave better supporting performances as a heroic Jew and ruthless Nazi officer.All in all, this is a movie that is well-written, well-directed, well-acted and well-crafted in every regard, but still somehow I felt something was missing for greatness. Still, I thought Markovics (who you may have seen on "Kommissar Rex" many years ago) gives a pretty good performance who is stuck between his loyalty to Jewism/hate towards Nazis and his dedication to his craft. He wants to succeed as a falsifier, even if he works for his biggest enemy. It is interesting how he can justify this dedication with the fact that he has to succeed in order to not be killed. At the beginning we see that he survived (the beginning, the post-war scenes are maybe my favorite from the film) the concentration camp. But that does not hurt the film at all. It's not really about the question if he will survive. It's much more of a character study and also about his relationship with Diehl's character. One of the most interesting moments in that relationship is when we find out that Diehl's character's wife is killed in another concentration camp. Diehl's character is by the way the writer of the book.Finally, almost at the ending, there is quite some irony that it is their concentration camp tattoos that basically save their lives when allied forces initially mistake them for Nazis. And as we are at the now again when the film closes, we see how Markovics' character somehow lacks direction and goals as he is no longer printing fake money for the Nazis, what he could do best. It reminds me of how prison inmates often struggle when they are released into freedom again. Maybe you remember the famous scene from "Shawshank Redemption". Anyway, "Die Fälscher" is a good film all in all. Not sure if it is a worthy Academy Award winner. I may have given the Foreign Language win to "Let The Right One in" that year, but I still recommend watching it, especially if you have an interest in German/Austrian cinema or just World War II movies in general.

Cooperating with the enemy has been explored in other holocaust films such as "Kapo" and "The Grey Zone", but the struggle between survival and conscience has rarely been more clearly drawn than in "The Counterfeiters"-- Oscar winner for Best Foreign Film (2008). Based on the memoir "The Devil's Workshop" by Adolf Burger, one of the survivors of the program, "The Counterfeiters" is the story of Operation Bernhard, a little known World War II program engineered by the Nazis to use Jewish prisoners to subvert the currencies of the U.S. and the U.K through forgery. One of the biggest scams of the war, the counterfeiting operation printed over 130 million pounds sterling in its attempt to destabilize the allied cause and help the sinking German economy."The Counterfeiters" tells the true story of a group of Jewish prisoners who were recruited from other camps for such a career--much against their wishes, if not for the threat of death. Being skilled craftsmen in their own right, they are all brought together, and realize that so long as they deliver the counterfeit bills to their captives, they'll be spared their lives. Boastful, talented Russian-Jewish counterfeiter Salomon Sorowitsch is sent to the Sachenhausen concentration camp to orchestrate the operation, and forced to deal with a psychopathic guard named Holst (Martin Brambach), who only wants results. At first Salomon has no issues helping the Nazi's for comfortable conditions for himself and staff, but over time it begins to take it's toll. He is torn between his determination to stay alive with the knowledge that producing the perfect American dollar will affect the lives of his fellow workers, as well as undermine the entire Allied cause."The Counterfeiters" differs from other films involving the Holocaust in that the emphasis is on the personal moral choices that are made--rather than the overall horror and despair. The two barracks of Jews working on the project are kept in what they call a "golden cage," in which they have enough to eat, beds with clean linen, and piped-in opera music to drown out the sounds of the murders committed on the other side of their thin plywood walls. The prisoners' dilemma over whether to assist the Germans and thereby ensure their continued survival is the heart of the movie, which keeps the focus on moral imperatives rather than the physical ravages of the camps. Ruzowitzky's film is so gripping because his is able to simulate the daily horror's of these men with remarkable subtlety; although the workers are sheltered from seeing the brutality and torture, the screams alone are terrifying. Karl Markovics gives a phenomenal, profound performance and his disturbing moral ambiguity is a the heart of this incredible true story. Stefan Ruzowitzy adapted the book by Adolf Burger, one of the protagonist's fellow prisoners (Diehl). Ruzowitzky's script is beautifully constructed, and to his credit, does not take a position on the internal debate, but gives the viewer enough leeway to question what they would have done in similar circumstances.

Salomon Sorowitsch (superbly played by Karl Markovics) was a thriving Jewish counterfeiter in 1930s Berlin when he was arrested and sent to a Nazi concentration camp. While there, he was put in charge of an operation, set up by the SS, to duplicate foreign currency in an effort both to de-stabilize the Allies' economies and to continue funding the Nazi regime and its war effort. This activity secured for him and his fellow workers numerous privileges - additional food, more humane living conditions, an increased guarantee of safety - that were denied to the other prisoners in the camp.On the surface, "The Counterfeiters" provides us with a grim and disturbing look at life in a Nazi death camp. But, like Lina Wertmuller's "Seven Beauties," it goes much deeper than that, exploring the thorny ethical issue of just how far a human being should be willing to go to ensure his own survival. As Sorowitsch himself states, in a situation such as the one in which he finds himself, "You adapt or you perish," and he refuses to let the Nazis, or anyone else for that matter, make him feel guilty for doing what it takes to stay alive. But soon there is dissension within the ranks, as Burger (August Diehl), a political idealist who believes there's a greater cause beyond their own survival, insists the men sabotage the effort - even if that means he and all his fellow workers die as a result. Yet, thanks to the inmates' delaying tactics, only a small number of dollars were ever produced.Brilliantly acted and solidly directed (by Stefan Ruzowitzky), "The Counterfeiters" is a complex morality tale that will have you questioning your own values and examining your own conscience long after it's over.

The Holocaust has been revisited in film so many times that I imagine the first thing German-born film actors ask themselves upon meeting is "which film(s) were you a Nazi in?" The crimes of the Nazi Party and the German soldiers carrying out its mission to revive Germany through the mass killing of Jews and other "invalids" are so unfathomable and powerful that filmmakers and storytellers can't help but find so many ways to tell complex stories of morality and human survival."The Counterfeiters" is another one of these films, but lack of originality is absolutely the only knock against it."Counterfeiters" focuses on a group of Jews assembled by the Nazis to create mass quantities of Ally currency to be used to decimate Ally economies. It's the same type of lens on the Holocaust, but a different "edition" so to speak. Yet the script is immaculate, the drama understated and effective, the plot completely engaging, and best of all: it's a Holocaust film under two hours -- and a great one at that. It begins with a morally complex main character, the crooked-faced Salomon "Sally" Sorowitsch (Karl Markovics), who before the war was a professional counterfeiter, one with considerable artistic talent who chose the more "financially sound" career. Simply put, he's a criminal and the crimes of the Holocaust manage to make us sympathetic to him. He's an honest criminal, but a criminal no less. As the leader of his counterfeiting team in a way, following his point of view is extremely interesting. There is his survival instinct, his pride over the work even though it's helping the Nazis and characters such as his friend Burger the printer (Adolf Burger, who wrote the book the film is based on), who pressures him not to do the work and risk death on principle.These are all familiar Holocaust film themes. There are the Jews who will do anything to stay alive, helping the Nazis or doing whatever they bid for an extra scrap of food and soft beds and those who would be willing martyrs, dying before they stoop to a certain level or help a Nazi.The difference is in the execution. Stefan Ruzowitzky has done an incredible job adapting Burger's incredible true account. He's identified the key moments and turning points and crafted ideal scenes to help build the plot up. He wastes no time getting to the point. The scenes are short and sweet, giving us bursts of information, emotion and symbolism, sometimes in just a minute. Directing off his own script, he directs us to key visuals that convey all that information like a leftover piece of food that conveys the hunger not always at the forefront of a scene. The pacing is exceptional, especially for a Holocaust film, and though some of the scenes are brutal it doesn't hit the audience over the head with scenes of terror and emotion that go straight for the heartstrings. It's much more subtle and effectively so.It's hard to visit yet another Holocaust film, but "The Counterfeiters" is worth it because of Ruzowitzky's fine craftsmanship and its overall subtly. It's the impact of a Holocaust film without all the emotionally distressful scenes and the screaming and the heartfelt violin music. The unique story of Sorowtisch and these group of Jews who are given a bit more privilege yet in turn forced to wrestle with a bit of moral guilt makes it a warranted trip into a oft-visited historical genre.~Steven CVisit my site http://moviemusereviews.com