Review of The Counterfeiters (2007) by Chantel D — 03 Sep 2008

The Counterfeiters is the winner of Best Foreign Film from last year's Academy Awards. While I have not seen all of the contenders and recognize that this was worthy, it remains baffling how the superb film 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days did not win, or even get nominated.

Regardless, The Counterfeiters should be applauded for telling such a harrowing tale despite the fact that innumerable dramatizations and documentaries about the Holocaust have already been produced. It follows the criminal opportunist Salomon Sorowitsch as he is rounded up by the Gestapo and deposited in a special section of Mauthausen and later Sachsenhausen to produce counterfeit money to flood the British and American economies in hopes it will aid the German war effort.

In this situation, he is presented with an incredible moral dilemma which creates as much compelling drama as the moral dilemma posed in last year's Gone Baby Gone. Sorowitsch meets his foil and the two push the group to follow their conflicting views of what they feel is right.

Karl Markovics provides a granite face, rigid posture, and unflinching attitude that make Sarowitsch a well-crafted character. The combination of story and performance make up for the lack of innovation elsewhere, but still leave this lagging behind Mungiu's masterwork.