The Counterfeiters (2007)

The Counterfeiters is the English title of a German-Austrian movie from 2007 that is inspired by a true story: Nazi-Germany’s secret plan to wage economic war against the UK and the US by producing a large amount of counterfeit money. The German title is Die Fälscher. Here is some basic information about it:

** Written and directed by Stefan Ruzowitzky
** Inspired by Adolf Burger’s book The Commando of Counterfeiters (1983), published in English as The Devil’s Workshop (2009)

** Released on DVD in 2008 

** German soundtrack - English subtitles 
** Run time: 98 minutes

The cast includes the following:

** Karl Markovics as Salomon “Sally” Sorowitsch

** August Diehl as Adolf Burger

** Veit Stubner as Atze

** Andreas Schmidt as Zilinski

** Sebastian Urzendowsky as Kolya

** Devid Striesow as German officer Herzog

** Martin Brambach as German officer Holst

** August Zirner as German doctor Klinger

** Hille Beseler as Grete Herzog – wife of Herzog

** Dolores Chaplin as the lady in the Casino

During World War Two, the German government wanted to wage economic war against the UK and the US by producing a large amount of counterfeit money: British pounds and US dollars. To produce the counterfeit money they assembled a team of inmates from different concentration camps, including some from Auschwitz. 

The prisoners were put to work in Sachsenhausen concentration camp. They were given modern equipment and tools to produce the false money. In order to motivate them, they were given unusual privileges, such as real beds with white sheets and decent food. They were kept in a separate block of the camp. The other inmates did not know anything about them.

The German plan known as Operation Bernhard was to produce the false money and release it into the world economy. This would create inflation and thus undermine the economies of the UK and the US.

The first part of the plan was implemented. The inmates produced a lot of British pounds and some US dollars. This was in 1944 and 1945. But in 1945 the war was coming to an end and therefore the German government never had the chance to implement the second part of the plan: to release the false money into the world economy.

While this movie is based on a true story, it is not a documentary film; it is a dramatized version of events. Not everything happened as portrayed in the movie. Writer/director Ruzowitzky was inspired to write the screenplay and to make the movie by the memoirs written by one of the former inmates, Adolf Burger.

If you look at the list of characters above, you will see that Burger is one the characters in the movie. The real Burger, who was born in 1917, is still alive. He was used as a consultant on the movie.

The other characters on the list above are fictional characters. Sometimes a character is based on a real person, in other cases a character is a composite of several real persons.

The character Salomon Sorowitsch is based on a real person called Salomon Smolianoff (1899-1976). The German SS officer Herzog is based on a real person called Bernhard Krüger (1904-1989). Operation Bernhard was named after him. Goggle these names to get more information about the case.

In the movie, the two leading characters are Salomon Sorowitsch and Adolf Burger, who represent two different types. The former is prepared to do anything to survive. You must think of yourself, he says. Nobody else will do it for you. The latter does not agree. He points out that the team is actually helping the German war machine. He does not want to do this. Therefore he tries to sabotage the work by slowing down the production of the false money.

Solomon is upset. He says: you can be a martyr, if you want, but I do not want to be a martyr, I just want to survive. When you sabotage the production, the Germans will find out about it and they will kill us all. Your action forces us all to be martyrs. This is not right. Can’t you see that?

Salomon has a dilemma now. Does he tell the Germans what he knows? He does not want to do that because has a rule which says you never betray a comrade. There must be honour among thieves. On the other hand, if he does not tell the Germans, the result may be that the Germans will kill them all when they discover that the operation is being sabotaged. How does he solve the dilemma? I am not going to tell you.

While the movie is based on a true story, there is one obvious case where historical accuracy is violated. In the beginning of the movie, we see Salomon with a lady in the Monte Carlo Casino. Later they go to his room in the hotel. When they undress and lie on the bed, the lady notices a number tattooed on his arm: she is shocked. The tattoo is a sign that he was in a German concentration camp. However, only inmates of Auschwitz were marked with a tattoo, and Salomon was never in this camp. Why did the director/writer make a mistake like this?

The history of World War Two has been told in many books and in many movies. But this movie has a new and interesting angle on the case. I like it, even though some details are a product of the director’s vivid imagination. What do other reviewers say about it?

On IMDb it has a rating of 76 per cent; on Metacritic it has a rating of 78 per cent. Both ratings correspond to four stars on Amazon. On Rotten Tomatoes it has a rating of 94 per cent, which corresponds to five stars on Amazon. The movie was nominated for several international awards. The most significant was the Oscar, which it won in the category called the Best Foreign Language Film of 2008.

If you ask me, the positive reviews and the prestigious award are fully justified. The Counterfeiters is a captivating movie. The script is well-written and the actors play their roles well. Therefore I think it deserves a rating of five stars.

PS # 1. For more information, see the following book: Krueger’s Men: The Secret Nazi Counterfeit Plot and the Prisoners in Block 19 by Lawrence Malkin (2006, 2008).

PS # 2. The following article is available online: John Kalish, “The Counterfeit Saga(s): What really happened at Sachsenhausen?” Forward, 25 June 2008.

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Pablo Picasso (1881-1973): A Spanish Artist

The Mystery of Picasso is the English title of a French documentary film that premiered in 1956. The French title is Le Mystere Picasso. It was released on DVD in 2003. Here is some basic information about it:

** Produced and directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot (1907-1977)

** Camerawork by Claude Renoir (1913-1993)

** Musical score by George Auric (1889-1983)

** Run time: 1 hour and 14 minutes

In this film about Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) we get to see the famous Spanish artist at work. How did this happen? Picasso allowed the director and his team to enter his studio and shoot a film while he was working on a number of paintings.

A special canvas was created for this project: while Picasso was working on one side of the canvas, a camera was recording every stroke of the brush from the other side of the canvas.

At first the paintings are only in black-and-white. But later Picasso also uses colours. Sometimes the brush is moving on the canvas: it is like a movie. Other times we go step by step: it is like a slide show.

The process is highly compressed. What takes just two minutes in the film, took maybe two hours in real life.

In this film we get to see the creation of some 20 original works by Picasso. Many motives are used. Several paintings are about bull fighting, which is a popular event in Spain and the south of France. Most of the works that were made for this film were later destroyed. Today these paintings only exist in the film that was made in 1956.

Most of the time we see only the canvas on which the artist is working. But there are a few variations. There is a moment when we see Picasso himself while he is working on a painting. There is another moment when we see the director and his team discussing a technical aspect of the film. Towards the end of the film there is a moment when Picasso talks about the painting he has just completed. He is not happy about it. He wants to try the same motive one more time.

The dialogue is in French covered by English subtitles, but apart from a brief introduction, few words are spoken during the film. It is all about the paintings. And there is no need to talk about them.

The music plays an important role. For each painting there is a piece of music. The man in charge of the musical score, George Auric, tried to capture the mood and the atmosphere of each painting. That is why there are several types of music in this film.

When the film was shown in theatres in 1956, it was not a big hit with the public, but it won the Special Jury Prize at the 1956 Cannes Film festival. Many critics like it: on IMDB it has a rating of 79 per cent; and on Rotten Tomatoes it has a rating of 83 per cent. Both ratings correspond to four stars on Amazon.

I have mixed feelings about this film: on the positive side I will say that it is an interesting and captivating film which offers a unique chance to see this famous artist at work. On the negative side I will say that there are too many examples here. The first examples are fine, but after a while it tends to get a bit boring. Too much of the same.

If you ask me, the positive points are just as strong as the negative points. And therefore I think this film deserves a rating of three stars.

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 The French poster for the film

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A clip from the film: Picasso at work

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 Another clip from the film: Picasso and the film crew

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