As the film opens, we are taken to watch Solomon Sorowitsch, alias Sally, the main character now enjoying the life of leisure in a European casino in the company of an attractive woman. The time of the action is right after WWII. That image is shattered by asking us to examine the same character in 1936. He is a counterfeiter, perhaps the best in the business. Sally makes a good living helping the people wanting to flee Germany with passports that show his ability to produce flawless documents that will not arise the border guards' suspicion.
Alas, Solomon's freedom comes to an abrupt end when he lands in an interment camp because as a Jew, he cannot escape what the Nazi Germans have decided for a race they want to erase from the face of the earth. Sally, fares better when a superior German officer who knows about him takes him to forge English pounds and US dollars in order to flood the currency in world markets, rendering their legal tender obsolete, thus attaining complete domination.
"The Counterfeiters", created and directed by Stefan Ruzowitzky, presents an aspect of that sad time of history. In it, we are taken to observe people like Salomon, who has to go along with his captors in order to survive the horrors of those camps. As such, Solomon fares much better than some of his fellow Jews that had nothing to offer in exchange to the corrupt captors.
One of the main reasons for watching the film is the amazing work by Karl Markowics, who as the forger runs away with the film. Devid Striesow is seen as Herzog, the cynic Nazi officer. August Diehl also contributes to the total success of the movie.
"The Counterfeiters" show us the horrors of the war in a different context by admitting to what extent human beings stooped in order to survive the horrors of that conflict.
Alas, Solomon's freedom comes to an abrupt end when he lands in an interment camp because as a Jew, he cannot escape what the Nazi Germans have decided for a race they want to erase from the face of the earth. Sally, fares better when a superior German officer who knows about him takes him to forge English pounds and US dollars in order to flood the currency in world markets, rendering their legal tender obsolete, thus attaining complete domination.
"The Counterfeiters", created and directed by Stefan Ruzowitzky, presents an aspect of that sad time of history. In it, we are taken to observe people like Salomon, who has to go along with his captors in order to survive the horrors of those camps. As such, Solomon fares much better than some of his fellow Jews that had nothing to offer in exchange to the corrupt captors.
One of the main reasons for watching the film is the amazing work by Karl Markowics, who as the forger runs away with the film. Devid Striesow is seen as Herzog, the cynic Nazi officer. August Diehl also contributes to the total success of the movie.
"The Counterfeiters" show us the horrors of the war in a different context by admitting to what extent human beings stooped in order to survive the horrors of that conflict.