Generally speaking, US movie studios tend to regard January, February, and March as a dumping ground for films they anticipate will not do well at the box office. So if you are looking for a quality film, you should seek out foreign films. That holds true for “Under the Same Moon” from Mexico (opening March 21), “Priceless” from France (opening March 28), and “The Counterfeiters” from Austrian writer/director Stefan Ruzowitzky (in theaters now). Of these three films, “The Counterfeiters” deals with the heaviest subject matter: Is it wrong to help the Nazis in return for an easier life?
Based on a true story, “The Counterfeiters” is about Salomon Sorowitsch (Karl Markovics), a Russian Jew and the world’s greatest counterfeiter. ‘Sally’ is captured in Berlin and sent to a labor camp where his artistic ability earns him food in return for painting portraits. Later, Herzog, the man who captured Sally, now a Nazi officer, has Sally shipped to his camp, where he has amassed a crew to counterfeit the British pound and American dollar. In return for their efforts, these men are given soft beds, good meals, acceptable working conditions and the chance for a longer life. Sally grabs this opportunity, but one of his fellow prisoners, Adolf Burger, says that they should resist any effort to help the Nazis, even if it means their death. Sally is caught in a moral dilemma. His main goal is to stay alive, but he also has a conscience. This is a dark story, depicting the brutal life in a Nazi concentration camp and clearly illustrating that even when the prisoners are freed from the camp, the emotional scars remain. Nonetheless, “The Counterfeiters” is worth seeing. (3/13/08)
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