| The Counterfeiters | 
 enlarge | List Price: $28.96
Buy New: $8.25
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Avg. Customer Rating:   (based on 22 reviews)
Sales Rank: 730
Category: DVD
Publisher: Sony Pictures
Studio: Sony Pictures
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
Label: Sony Pictures
Format: Ac-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Dvd-video, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Unknown), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), German (Original Language), French (Dubbed)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD
Running Time: 99 minutes
Number Of Items: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.3 x 0.6
MPN: 23920
UPC: 043396239203
EAN: 0043396239203
ASIN: B0012QE4PI
Release Date: August 5, 2008
Theatrical Release Date: February 22, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Winner of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, The Counterfeiters tells the true story of Salomon Sorowitsch (Karl Markovics), a swindler who made a name for himself as Berlin's "King of the Counterfeiters." However, his life of women and easy money is cut short when he's arrested and placed in a Nazi concentration camp. With the German army on the verge of bankruptcy, Sorowitsch makes a sobering deal with his captors: in exchange for a comfortable bed, good food and fair treatment, Sorowitsch, along with the other hand-picked specialists, must counterfeit bank notes to fund the Nazi War effort. If he does as they say, he lives another day. If he rebels, he faces the same fate as the rest of the camp's prisoners. But if he lives, will he be able to live with himself?
Amazon.com
A deft blend of suspense and docudrama, Stefan Ruzowitzky's sixth feature focuses on history's largest counterfeiting operation. Before World War II breaks out, Salomon Sorowitsch (the compact yet steely Karl Markovics), a Russian-born Jew, lives the good life in Berlin. He forges documents, like passports and banknotes, and sketches beautiful women to the romantic strains of tango records. Sorowitsch's dolce vita comes to an end when he's sent to Mauthausen concentration camp. Once Reich officials decide to deploy imprisoned printers, craftsmen, and bank officials to counterfeit foreign currency, they draft Sorowitsch for "Operation Bernhard" and ship him to Sachsenhausen. Though he and his colleagues receive preferential treatment, the threat of execution hangs over their heads at all times. First, they master the pound; then they tackle the American dollar. At this point, communist co-worker Adolf Burger (The Ninth Day's excellent August Diehl) suggests sabotage. As he explains, they're extending the conflict and increasing the death toll, but the entire team will suffer if they fail, even their SS supervisor, Freidrich Herzog (Downfall's Devid Striesow), whose career depends on it. As Jews, however, they stand to lose more than their jobs. Based on Burger's book The Devil's Workshop, Austria's Ruzowitzky (Anatomy) sheds a compassionate light on the guilt and complicity of survivors. Though The Counterfeiters plays more like a prison camp movie than a Holocaust drama--Stalag 17 comes to mind--that doesn't make it any less significant, just less wrenching than some of its counterparts. --Kathleen C. Fennessy Stills from The Counterfeiters (click for larger image)
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| Customer Reviews: Read 17 more reviews...
 Wonderful film October 3, 2008
Simply a wonderful film. So accurate in the human emotion and interreaction of the main characters. The end of the film, contrasting what was viewed as a horrible existance with the reality just a few feet from them is startling and horrific.
Great film.
 Holocaust Manga October 3, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
First of all, the translation is awful! The English translation is often not even close to the original German. The acting is bad except for August Diehl, but the main character, Solomon Sorowitsch played by Karl Markovics, seems to have only one facial expression whatever the situation. The real, historic story about the counterfeiters is interesting, but the film doesn't do it justice. I only watched it to the bitter end, because I tried to understand why this movie got so much praise in the German press. I still don't understand. There are much better Holocaust movies. This is more like an action film that happens to play between 1933 and 1945. It has no subtlety, the characters are not developed, it feels like a manga version.
Another Holocaust movie...? September 29, 2008
Instead of making another depressing Holocaust film, writer/director Stefan Rozuwitzky chose to create an ensemble drama to examine the strength of conscience vs staying alive. Some names were changed, and a few facts, too, but the resulting film is devastating in its narrative. The central character, "Sally" Sorowitch (the amazing Karl Markovics) is the main character, thrown into various concentration camps, until he arrives at Sachsenhausen, where he's treated better than elsewhere. He's a master counterfeiter who is expected to help the Nazi's get money to both finance their further war effort, and destroy the economies of Britain & the US. There isn't much more to say without blabbing away plot stuff, but the screenplay is based on fellow inmate/forger Adolf Burger's memoir (played with profound sincerity by August Diehl). Burger, actually, was ready to go along with the Nazi demands, but here he's played as the conscience of the whole film. The central character of "Sally" was actually based on a man named Smolianoff (but he didn't emerge famous and ended up forging passports for Jews who wanted to go to Palestine). David Striesow should be commended for his smarmy performance as Commandant Herzog. It's hard to say more here, but I recommend this film highly, for an inside perspective. The DVD extras are super-plentiful, and director Rozuwitsky explains that many things needed to be changed for legal reasons; he also wanted to present a German film about conscience (regarding the Holocaust). The surprise Oscar winner for Foreign Language film should be seen as another lesson about what greed, power and ambivalence can to to the world at large.
The Counterfeiters - real acting in a real story September 22, 2008
This drama is so extraordinary especially knowing it covers a real event in an unreal time. The acting is so complete I felt I was viewing reality in intimate detail. I highly recommend this Blu-ray disc for its historical depiction and its raw entertainment value.
Untold story-great characters,loved the "artifacts" extras September 22, 2008
PQ/AQ 4/5.I am 1/2 German and unfortunately heard about the time period in which my mom grew up in, when she was a little girl. Many German people risked their lives helping Jewish people who were unjustly persecuted. This film showed yet another side of this inhuman time period, and it was an engaging portrayal of the economic plot happening behind the scenes of the bombs and atrocities. With humor and a contant edge of fear, this film tells an incredible story of what happens when a group of people is asked to compromise all ethics to survive. The "artifacts" extras are very interesting and the film is not to be missed for its relevance. Thoroughly enjoyed-highly recommended.
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