THE COUNTERFEITERS

Academy Award Winner: Best Foreign Film

SHOWTIMES

 

Films about the Holocaust illustrate a sense of moral urgency in an absurd world. They can be emotionally challenging and very philosophical. The Counterfeiters emphasizes the later by examining the moral plight of a unique group of prisoners in a Nazi concentration camp. It tells the true story of Salomon Sorowitsch, a master counterfeiter who is arrested for forgery and sent to prison before World War II. During the War, Salomon is recruited to participate in Operation Bernhard. This was an effort put forth by the Nazis to produce counterfeit British Pounds and American Dollars in order to weaken the Allies’ economies. Unlike the other prisoners in the concentration camp, Salomon and his compatriots are placed within a “golden cage” where they can sleep on soft beds and enjoy the pleasures of smoking and ping-pong. Salomon initially tries to embrace these comforts, but he cannot silence his conscience. The once shameless crook now faces a moral dilemma. He can either save himself and his compatriots by cooperating with the Nazis or sabotage their plans out of principle and risk certain death. Dealing with complex ethical issues, a portrayal of a human being forced to choose between survival and honor, and a challenge to contemporary viewers to consider the price of freedom and comfort, The Counterfeiters is thought provoking cinema at its best. -Matthew Garklavs

Germany/Austria 2008, 98 min., color, in German with English subtitles