The Counterfeiters (Die Fälscher)
In 1936, the Nazis devised a plan to ruin the English and American economies, by flooding their countries with counterfeit currency. Jewish prisoners interned in concentration camps, possessing skills in this area, were recruited for the purposes of producing these monetary forgeries. In return, they were given special treatment.
The 2007 German feature, Die Fälscher (The Counterfeiters), retells this story, focusing primarily on a Jewish counterfeiter, Sal Solowitsch, a skilled forger who is given the responsibility for producing the cash. Yet, aside from his life as a criminal, we know little else about him. Meanwhile, we learn more about what has happened to the families of the other characters. Sal is a pragmatist, and we are probably kept in the dark about his family, perhaps because he chooses not to dwell on them, turning his attention, instead, to the demanding task of surviving difficult times. Or perhaps it is because he is consumed with his quest for the ultimate forgery.
The characters around him are no less important. Each one shines a light on a slightly different aspect to a story that, while avoiding sentimentality, is ultimately a moving film.
Are the Jews collaborating with the enemy, and helping them in their war efforts? Or are they merely doing whatever is necessary to survive? And of the Nazis supervising their work, are they simply following orders to avoid endangering themselves, or do they seriously believe that the Germans are a superior race, and that the Jews, in particular, are the dregs of humanity?
The Counterfeiters turns out to be not only a fascinating story, but also a deft study in the perplexing intricacies of human morality.