The Counterfeiters (2007 film)
| The Counterfeiters | |
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| Directed by | Stefan Ruzowitzky |
| Written by | Stefan Ruzowitzky |
| Based on | The Devil's Workshop: A Memoir of the Nazi Counterfeiting Operation by Adolf Burger |
| Produced by | Josef Aichholzer Nina Bohlmann Babette Schröder |
| Starring | Karl Markovics August Diehl Devid Striesow |
| Cinematography | Benedict Neuenfels |
| Edited by | Britta Nahler |
| Music by | Marius Ruhland |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | Filmladen (Austria) Universum Film (Germany) |
Release dates |
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Running time | 98 minutes |
| Countries | Austria Germany |
| Languages | German Russian English Hebrew |
| Budget | $6.25 million[1] |
| Box office | $20.2 million[1] |
The Counterfeiters (
The film is based on the 1983 Czech-language
Plot
The film begins shortly after the end of the
The film then flashes back to Berlin in 1936, where the man,
Sorowitsch's talents bring him wider attention, and he is transferred out of the concentration camp. Brought in front of the police officer who arrested him in Berlin, he finds himself put together with other prisoners with artistic or printing talents and begins working in a special section of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp devoted to forgery. The counterfeiters are kept in relatively humane conditions, with comfortable bunks, a washroom and adequate food, although their guards continue to subject them to brutality and insults. His fellow prisoners have a range of backgrounds from Jewish bank managers to political agitators, and while some are content to work for the Nazis to avoid the extermination camps, others see their efforts as supporting the German war effort.
At first, self-preservation appears to guide Sorowitsch, but his motives for forging for the Nazis are complicated by his growing concern for his fellow prisoners, his awareness of their role in the wider war against the Nazis, and his professional pride in counterfeiting the US dollar, a currency he was previously unable to forge.
Sorowitsch juggles the Nazi demands for progress, his co-counterfeiters' determination to
The film then returns to post-war Monte Carlo, where Sorowitsch, apparently disgusted by the life he is now leading on the currency that he forged for the Nazis, intentionally gambles it all away. Sitting alone afterward on the beach, he is joined by the French woman, concerned after his seemingly disastrous losses at the table. Dancing slowly together on the beach, she continues to remark on all the money he has lost, to which he replies, laughing, "We can always make more".
Cast
- Karl Markovics as Salomon Sorowitsch (Salomon Smolianoff)
- August Diehl as Burger (Adolf Burger)
- Devid Striesow as Sturmbannführer Herzog (Bernhard Krüger)
- Veit Stübner as Atze
- Sebastian Urzendowsky as Karloff/Kolya
- August Zirner as Dr Klinger
- Martin Brambach as Hauptscharführer Holst
- Andreas Schmidt as Zilinski
- Tilo Prückner as Hahn
- Lenn Kudrjawizki as Loszek
Production
Except for the score music by Marius Ruhland, the soundtrack consists of classical
, and opera recordings from the 1930s and 1940s.Reception
Critical response
The Counterfeiters holds a score of 78/100 on Metacritic, based on 23 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[3] The Counterfeiters has an approval rating of 93% on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 128 reviews, and an average rating of 7.8/10. The website's critical consensus states, "The Counterfeiters is a gripping account of one prisoner's moral dilemma, superbly portrayed by Karl Markovics".[4] The film appeared on some critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2008. Josh Rosenblatt of The Austin Chronicle named it the 4th best film of 2008,[5] and Ella Taylor of LA Weekly named it the 8th best film of 2008.[5]
Accolades
- Academy Awards 2007 (24 February 2008)
- Won Best Foreign Language Film[6]
- Won
- Berlin International Film Festival, 2007
- Nominated for Golden Bear award: Stefan Ruzowitzky
- German Film Awards, 2007
- Won Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role: Devid Striesow
- Nominated for Best Cinematography: Benedict Neuenfels
- Nominated for Best Costume Design: Nicole Fischnaller
- Nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role: Karl Markovics
- Nominated for Best Production Design: Isidor Wimmer
- Nominated for Best Screenplay: Stefan Ruzowitzky
- Nominated for Outstanding Feature Film: Nina Bohlmann, Babette Schröder, Josef Aichholzer
- Film Fest Gent, 2007
- Won Grand Prix for Best Film
Home media
The Counterfeiters was released (with English subtitles) on
See also
- Private Schulz, a BBC production covering the same events.
References
- ^ a b "Die Fälscher".
- ^ "The Counterfeiters Tell Their Tale". Aish.com. 24 May 2008. Retrieved 7 July 2014.
- ^ "The Counterfeiters Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
- ^ "The Counterfeiters". Rotten Tomatoes.
- ^ a b "Metacritic: 2008 Film Critic Top Ten Lists". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 2 January 2009. Retrieved 11 January 2009.
- ^ "Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Awards Database 2007 (80th)". Awardsdatabase.oscars.org. 29 January 2010. Archived from the original on 7 July 2012. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
External links
- Official website (US)
- The Counterfeiters at IMDb
- The Counterfeiters at AllMovie
- The Counterfeiters at Box Office Mojo
- The Counterfeiters at Rotten Tomatoes
- The Counterfeiters at Metacritic
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