The Counterfeiters

Last night, I watched the Counterfeiters, a foreign language film from Austria/Germany, which won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language film last year. This told the story of Operation Bernhard during WWII when the Nazis went bankrupt and resorted to counterfeiting money of the British and American economies, in order to flood and destroy these currencies as well. The story centers around one man, Salomon (Sally) who is a master counterfeiter and the time he spends in a concentration camp. This is based off a true story and this was a counterfeiting operation began by the Germans during WWII.

This movie was incredibly well-done, and actually not very difficult to watch, despite being in German and Russian with subtitles, because they did not detract from the film, as much as some films. It was interesting to watch this movie, less than a week after watching Schindler's List, with both stories revolving around Jews in a concentration camp in WWII and their experiences. Each film beautifully/horrifyingly portrayed the Holocaust very realistically and showed the horrors of this experience. Watching both films allowed me to make many comparisons between the film, although there were not too many to be found.

This film certainly stood on its own and told a very compelling story of the Holocaust, but it did so it an immensely different way than Schindler's List did. I believe that each was effective and that the Counterfeiters focused even more upon the individual and on a completely different piece of the Holocaust than Schindler's List. I believe that the stark differences and also the striking similarities between the two films showed the true scope of the Holocaust. It is true that there are many movies about the Holocaust but I believe that each tells a piece of the Holocaust, because it is impossible to portray it fully in one film.

Another interesting aspect of this film was that it was completely spoken in German and it was made in Germany, which shows a different perspective on the war than one would get from an American director like Spielberg. I believe that the difference in the view of the Holocaust's portrayal was interesting for me to see because it certainly was filmed differently than an American film.

The most striking aspect of filmmaking in this movie was the camera zoom. Many times the camera would zoom in on a person in a very interesting and personal way. (Believe me I am not comparing them, but the zoom style reminded of me of how filming and zooming is done on the TV show the Office. I think that just makes it seem more understandable because people can probably picture the Zoom's on the Office. But please don't think I am comparing their content or styling as a whole.) This truly focused on the characters in a unique way in film, by making the camera move and give the non-documentary movie, a slightly documentary film. A style that I certainly believe added to the skill of the film and was something that added to the effectiveness.

Like I have not done in my earlier reviews, I will not spoil any plot details, but I will highly suggest this film. I can't pass a fair judgment since I haven't seen the other Foreign Language films of 2007, but I am happy that the Academy recognized this well-done film. I highly suggest this film, however, for a great story, and many of its other elements.

*I will make another suggestion. The film that won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, the year before this film was entitled The Lives of Others. I saw this movie a little over a year ago and I thought it was an extraordinary film. It was also German and told a story of Berlin in the 1980's. It was another great film and these two films are very different, but watching the Counterfeiters brought back vivid memories of the Lives of Others. I suggest each film highly.