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:

EUR4,200,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$87,514, 24 February 2008

Gross USA:

$5,488,570

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$18,814,713

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

Some experts believe the real-life counterfeit pounds were thwarted by nothing more than common courtesy. Honest Britons picked the airdropped bills off the street and turned them over to the police, averting a financial disaster.

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Goofs

While Sally and Kolya are being transported on a moving train, a German guard is bringing them food. In the camp hierarchy, German guards seldom interacted with prisoners, instead having other prisoners undertake menial tasks of serving food. Prisoners were seldom fed during transport as these cattle-wagons were not inter-connected and most likely locked from outside.

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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

Featured in The 80th Annual Academy Awards (2008)

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Soundtracks

Down By The Riverside
(uncredited)

User Reviews

Banged up again

I'll probably get kneecapped for saying this but these films are starting to suffer from predictability.

You sit there knowing that there will soon appear the foul-mouthed guard who will indulge in a random beating for no reason. You will also know that the same guard will spend the duration randomly bursting out laughing in a sleazy manner. There will be the baby-faced officer who is a family man. There will be the sympathetic who is then cruelly taken out and shot.

One after another you tick these boxes in grim succession to the final frame. So what actually is the point? Why masochistically go through being told what one already knows, so that one can patronize oneself that this is "serious" cinema and we are all true humanists for dutifully sitting through it? Well maybe.

The film is competently acted and respectfully directed although I do wish "shaky cam" would hang up its coat. But the necessity of another such film is a big question mark for me. There, I've said it. Do I feel better? Not much.