Blu-ray Review: The Counterfeiters

A fantastic look at a very bleak time in history

By: Brad Brevet
Published: Sunday, July 20th 2008 at 8:23 PM

In an interview with Adolf Burger he refers to his time at the World War II concentration camp Sachsenhausen as if they were "dead men on holiday". This is in reference to the Jewish men brought to the camp by the Germans with the sole intent to counterfeit the English pound note moving on to the American dollar in an attempt to fund the Nazi war effort while damaging enemy economies. It was known as "Operation Bernhard" and it is, to date, the largest known counterfeit operation ever having forged more that 132 million in British Pound Sterling. The quote is powerful, especially after you see what the men went through.

The Counterfeiters won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 2008 and much of the story is taken from Burger's book, "The Devil's Workshop," adapted for the screen by director Stefan Ruzowitzky with the aid of Burger.

The story focuses on the life of Salomon Sorowitsch played by Karl Markovics. Referred to as "Sally" in the film, Sorowitsch is known as the "King of Counterfeiters," but his attempts at forging the dollar land him in prison, and ultimately in a concentration camp considering he is a Russian Jew in 1939 Germany. As fate would have it he finds his way to Sachsenhausen where his original arresting officer has been promoted and is in charge of overseeing the Nazi's forgery venture and "Sally" is ultimately placed in charge of the task to see it through to the end.

While The Counterfeiters is a supremely made film and one any film lover will enjoy for its quality in direction, acting and storytelling, I never find it any easier to watch any kind of film focusing on the treatment of Jews during the second World War. Negative sentiments toward the Jewish people will never seem to end (as I evidenced on my blog only days ago) and as some folks such as Burger make an effort to make sure the story is known due to those trying to perpetrate lies saying the Holocaust never took place, the featurettes on this disc will point out there are others that have chosen to do their best to forget about it, even to the point of marrying a German woman in the attempt to put it all behind them.

My difficulty in watching this subject matter is the sole reason I am still yet to see Downfall, but at the same time I am reading Alan Furst novels so who is to say where it all ends? One thing unique about The Counterfeiters, however, is that it takes a different angle on the subject. Certainly we still have the mistreatment of Jews, the executions and the threat of being gassed at any moment, but the film's protagonist is not the righteous hero we most often see in a film such as this.

When we first meet "Sally" it only takes a matter of moments to realize just how much of an arrogant ass he actually is. He's printing his own money and he looks down on most anyone in his path. "I am I, the others are the others," he says when a reference to "your people" is brought up. His days are filled with gambling, women and printing money, passports or whatever else may be in demand. His time spent at Sachsenhausen, in a perfect world, would have changed him, but as you will see, the real world isn't perfect. You are left to your own devices to decide how you feel about "Sally" and the script in its reality and in its liberties ask the character to make decisions sure to make you sway one way or the other.

From a Blu-ray perspective this film looks immaculate. I really can't say enough about how impressive the look and feel of this film is as it is bookended by two fabulous scenes on the beach, the first during the day with brilliant blue water splashing ashore and the final set during a moonlit dance in the sand. As for special features they are a mixed bag as the interviews, outside of the 12 minute sit down with Adolf Burger, are all generic fluff pieces, but the commentary with Ruzowitzky is eye-opening and it also points out where the film deviated from true life and turned to dramatic license. It isn't hard to spot where they broke free of the true story, but it certainly helps in keeping the film at a modest length while achieving what would have been a similar end. Kudos to Ruzowitzky for keeping the film at just over 90 minutes where he easily could have made it two hours and started to bore his audience. A few deleted scenes, however, show he didn't leave much on the cutting room floor, and what he did leave out proved he had a firm grasp on just how much the audience needed to understand his characters without beating them over the head with particulars.

The Counterfeiters deserves praise, and while it abandons the reality of the situation at times, especially in terms of the living quarters as the men at Sachsenhausen were treated much better than say those at Auschwitz, but the interview with Burger proves the depiction in the film is far more favorable than the actual outcome. It is a welcome change as the grotesqueries of World War II can really weigh on one's conscience. As for it taking home the top prize at the Oscars, I can see the Academy's case, but leaving off the far superior Romanian film 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days remains a crime as it deserved the award several times over just about any film I have ever seen.

Considering the subject matter I can merely recommend The Counterfeiters as a rental. While it doesn't bring you down as much as Spielberg's Schindler's List I always find it hard to stomach these films and can't imagine anyone wanting to watch this over and over again despite its quality.

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