'Counterfeiters' tells of Nazi scam

In WWII, the Nazis hatched a plan to use concentration camp inmates to counterfeit Allied currency, the largest counterfeiting operation in history. Ironically, the operation was headed by a master counterfeiter who happened to be Jewish.

This true story is the basis for the Oscar-winning Austrian drama "The Counterfeiters," which recently made its local debut at Plaza Frontenac Cinema. "The Counterfeiters," in German, Russian, English and Hebrew, with English subtitles, deservedly won the 2008 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.

Like several recent films about the Holocaust, "The Counterfeiters" is a survivor's tale but it is fraught with moral gray areas in the choice between personal survival and aiding the enemy. The powerful drama explores these moral nuances, in its carefully constructed unfolding of events, where the right choice is not always so clear. The film also features a strong, dramatically subtle performance in the lead role of the master counterfeiter, Salomon "Sally" Sorowitsch, played with great restraint by actor Karl Markovics. The film has moral complexity but it also has great humanity, with a central character whose cynical attitude is worn away by contact with the people who share his experiences.

When the affable but coolly controlled nightclub owner Salomon "Sally" Sorowitsch (Karl Markovics), is arrested by the Nazi police in late 1930s Germany, it is for trying to counterfeit American dollars, not for being Jewish. The bohemian Sorowitsch is largely indifferent to his Jewish heritage, cynically remarking that the Jews are persecuted because "they don't know how to adapt." Sally is very good at adapting, a likeable rogue with a dry wit, who slips pass most trouble.

The Nazis are another matter. They ship him off to a labor camp with other criminals, where Sorowitsch witnesses and endures Nazi brutality. Fatalistic in his view of events, he chooses to focus on self-preservation and starts looking for an opportunity to better his personal lot. Above all else, Sorowitsch is a survivor.

When the Nazis decide to produce counterfeit British and American currency, with the goal of undermining the economic stability of the Allies, they naturally want the master counterfeiter in charge. They transfer him to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp to head up "Operation Bernhard," to be the biggest counterfeit money scam of all times. The operation's director, Sturmbannführer Herzog (Devid Striesow), assembles of a collection of printers, forgers, papermakers, engravers and bankers to work under Sorowitsch in the counterfeiting operation. All the team members understand the penalties for failure to both cooperate and achieve the Nazis' goals, while facing the dilemma of helping the Nazi war effort.

Among those on the counterfeiting team are master printer and communist activist Adolf Burger (August Diehl), physician Dr. Klinger (August Zirner) and young Russian art student Kolya Karloff (Sebastian Urzendowsky). Burger is a young idealist who published a communist newspaper before he and his beautiful young bride were sent to Auschwitz. For young Kolya, everyone develops a protective fondness, particularly fellow Russian and former art student Sorowitsch.

Superb acting ensures that the powerful drama avoids melodramatic pitfalls. The director studiously avoids clichéd characters. Each is fresh and human in their complexity.

The dramatic center of the film largely hinges on Sorowitsch. Sally is a flinty character, with a fatalistic and ironic sense of humor, played brilliantly by Markovics. The counterfeiter is an unlikely well of humanity yet clearly admired by the other inmates for his leadership. Markovics deftly underplays his character, with a rugged face that hardly moves, making the times Markovics' character struggles with some of those difficult choices all the more effecting.

It is a brilliant performance.

Other actors likewise turn in strong performances. August Diehl is affecting as the idealistic Burger, a foil for Sorowitsch's practicality and survival instincts. Burger is willing to sacrifice himself, as well as others, for the greater good but August Diehl keeps the character sympathetic rather than melodramatic. Likewise, August Zirner, as the physician who soothingly misdirects the Nazis in order to save the lives of some of the prisoner, creates a vivid character. Sebastian Urzendowsky as young Kolya, admiring Sorowitsch like a father, creates believable, multi-layered character. Actor Devid Striesow's Nazi leader Herzog seems a pleasant, almost reasonable person on the surface but there is an oily opportunism underneath.

Writer/director Stefan Ruzowitzky has created a story that mirrors the morally complexity of the real, filled with characters that are more than the one-dimensionally heroic figures one might expect in a story of Holocaust survivors. They are real people, with human shortcomings, and their flawed humanity only sharpens the story.

Ruzowitzky, who co-wrote the screenplay from the book by the real Adolf Burger, wisely restricts what the audience sees to the viewpoint of the inmates in the counterfeiting compound. The counterfeiting crew is kept isolated from the rest of the camp, getting better food, real beds and an exercise yard. They hear faintly what goes on beyond the high fence that circles their compound but they, and we in the audience, see only the sky above and their work area. In their marginal comfort, the prisoners share stories of other camps and speculate on what might be happening.

Every shot in the film is from the point of view of the prisoners. The film is shot in shades of grey, underlining the doubts and moral grey areas where they tread, balanced between cooperating enough to stay alive and failing to aid the Nazi war effort.

Ironies are also everywhere in the film. The counterfeiters work to the strains of light operetta, a historically accurate detail. As the work crew is assembled, a group of bankers object to being forced to work for a criminal like Sorowitsch, citing that they are honest, moral men who should not be forced to work with scum, much to the amusement of both the Nazis in charge and Sorowitsch himself. Arriving new crew members are given regular men's suits to replace their prison uniforms but shudder to find other people's name sewn into them. Sorowitsch dons his suit without blinking but adds an ascot he fashions from a rag, perhaps in part to irritate the Nazi guards. Yet, the issue of "survivors guilt" is also raised.

While "The Counterfeiters" is not the one definitive Holocaust film by any means, it is yet another survivors' tale well told, and each tale retold ensures remembrance of something that should not be forgotten. As a film experience, the well-made, powerful and very human drama "The Counterfeiters" is well worth the effort.