The Counterfeiters (2007)

The story of the Operation Bernhard, the largest counterfeiting operation in history, carried out by Germany during WWII.

Director:

Stefan Ruzowitzky

Writers:

Adolf Burger (book), Stefan Ruzowitzky (screenplay)

Stars:

Karl Markovics, August Diehl, Devid Striesow

Won 1 Oscar. Another 6 wins & 10 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Karl Markovics	...	Sorowitsch
August Diehl	...	Burger
Devid Striesow	...	Sturmbannführer Herzog
Martin Brambach	...	Hauptscharführer Holst
August Zirner	...	Dr. Klinger
Veit Stübner	...	Atze
Sebastian Urzendowsky	...	Kolya
Andreas Schmidt	...	Zilinski
Tilo Prückner	...	Hahn
Lenn Kudrjawizki	...	Loszek
Marian Kalus	...	Plappler
Norman Stoffregen	...	Abramovic
Bernd Raucamp	...	KZ-Insasse Dusche
Gode Benedix	...	1. KZ-Insasse
Oliver Kanter	...	2. KZ-Insasse

Storyline

The Counterfeiters is the true story of the largest counterfeiting operation in history, set up by the Nazis in 1936. Salomon "Sally" Sorowitsch is the king of counterfeiters. He lives a mischievous life of cards, booze, and women in Berlin during the Nazi-era. Suddenly his luck runs dry when arrested by Superintendent Friedrich Herzog. Immediately thrown into the Mauthausen concentration camp, Salomon exhibits exceptional skills there and is soon transferred to the upgraded camp of Sachsenhausen. Upon his arrival, he once again comes face to face with Herzog, who is there on a secret mission. Hand-picked for his unique skill, Salomon and a group of professionals are forced to produce fake foreign currency under the program Operation Bernhard. The team, which also includes detainee Adolf Burger, is given luxury barracks for their assistance. But while Salomon attempts to weaken the economy of Germany's allied opponents, Adolf refuses to use his skills for Nazi profit and would like to...

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Plot Keywords:

male full frontal nudity | male pubic hair | pubic hair | inmate | nudity | 

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Taglines:

It takes a clever man to make money, it takes a genius to stay alive

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some strong violence, brief sexuality/nudity and language

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [Austria]

Country:

Austria Germany

Language:

German Russian English Hebrew

Release Date:

18 April 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Counterfeiters

Filming Locations:

Nice, Alpes-Maritimes, France

Box Office

Budget:

€4,200,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$87,514, 24 February 2008, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$5,484,715, 22 August 2008

Company Credits

Production Co:

Magnolia Filmproduktion, Aichholzer Filmproduktion, Beta Cinema

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Austria's The Counterfeiters (2007) was the winner in the 'Best Foreign Language Film' category at the 80th Academy Awards in 2008. The film was much criticized as conventional and artistically inferior to Cristian Mungiu's acclaimed Palme d'Or winner 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (2007), which wasn't even nominated. This spectacular snub resulted in intense scrutiny by the international press and ridicule of the Academy Awards by the film community. Eventually this inspired reforms to the 'Best Foreign Language Film' selection process.

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Goofs

Only prisoners admitted to the Auschwitz concentration camp complex had tattoos placed on their left forearms, but this story doesn't take place there and no other camps employed tattooing. Increasingly, movies, paintings, and other media have used the tattooed arm as a "symbol" of the camps or even the Holocaust itself - despite the historical error. There were two series: A ( up until 20,000 - July 30, 1944), and the B series - starting shortly thereafter. Those selected for the gas chambers after arriving were not included. These numbers were meant to be used as an identification marker at the time of death of the prisoner.

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Quotes

Salomon 'Sally' Sorowitsch: Ich bin ich. Die anderen sind die anderen.
[I'm myself. Everyone else is everyone else]

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Connections

Referenced in The Rotten Tomatoes Show: Watchmen/Shuttle/12 (2009)

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Soundtracks

Down By The Riverside
(uncredited)

User Reviews

You can almost smell the ink

The power in this film is that the action and dialogue is understated. We're not subjected to the full visual horrors of life in the concentration camps yet we feel what it was like nevertheless. The main characters' problem in reconciling the differences between being incarcerated in a 'normal' gaol along with 'normal' criminals and their 'code of conduct' - and the imprisonment and abuse of 'normal' citizens is an ever present theme that is conveyed with complete mastery by the script writer, actors and director. An incredible film of enduring merit. The gaunt features of the actors seemed tailor made for this instructive entertainment.