Just as the Americans decided which of the Nazies were 'good' after the war (Verner von Braun etc), the Nazies themselves took a pragmatic view of the Jews. A 144-strong team of artists, forgers and printers was assembled to manufacture first pounds then dollars, the plan being to undermine the enemy economies. The counterfeiters were spared the worst of the privations in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, although they inevitably struggled with their consciences as they helped the German war effort within hearing of the cries of their fellows being tortured and shot. It's the same sub-theme as with 'Bridge Over The River Kwai', but a good deal more visceral. It was difficult to stifle a laugh when, after the team has done its best in reproducing the Bank of England's finest, their reward is unveiled, in the sordid, muddy, blood spattered surrounds of the camp
a ping-pong table! Stefan Ruzowitzky based his film on 'The Devil's Workshop', the book by Adolf Burger, one of the three surviving members of the team. Burger appears as a lad in the film although it is another prisoner, a colourful forger and playboy, Salomon 'Sally' Sorowitsch, who is the central figure. One telling scene, before his arrest, has a good-time girl backing off, twisting her face in an ugly scowl when she hears his Jewish name.
The entire story is shot in washed-out colour; starting after it's all over and flashing back to explain how Sally found himself here on this beach. The 'past' is even closer to sepia, and grainy with it - appropriate as a recreation of the contrast in now/then, warm/cold, safe/insecure.
One of the strongest things about the drama is its acceptance that the Germans, the 'Nazis', would have been under pressure to close ranks. Some took considerable pleasure in making life intolerable for others and others were by default with their fellow soldiers. That is a timeless situation (as is the concentration camp),and could apply to all uniformed policing organisations.
Just one carp about the sub-titling: Sally says to one other forger, 'I saved all our butts by making pounds.' - This, to some of us, is about collecting cigarette ends. It was very kind of the director to give us a happy ending ( and the company that prints Jack Vettriano's posters will be even happier) although despite Sorowitsch's final promise of riches and comfort to his new lady, we can be sure that he would never, in his mind, have really left the camp.
The entire story is shot in washed-out colour; starting after it's all over and flashing back to explain how Sally found himself here on this beach. The 'past' is even closer to sepia, and grainy with it - appropriate as a recreation of the contrast in now/then, warm/cold, safe/insecure.
One of the strongest things about the drama is its acceptance that the Germans, the 'Nazis', would have been under pressure to close ranks. Some took considerable pleasure in making life intolerable for others and others were by default with their fellow soldiers. That is a timeless situation (as is the concentration camp),and could apply to all uniformed policing organisations.
Just one carp about the sub-titling: Sally says to one other forger, 'I saved all our butts by making pounds.' - This, to some of us, is about collecting cigarette ends. It was very kind of the director to give us a happy ending ( and the company that prints Jack Vettriano's posters will be even happier) although despite Sorowitsch's final promise of riches and comfort to his new lady, we can be sure that he would never, in his mind, have really left the camp.