The Counterfeiters: DVD Review

The Counterfeiters: DVD Review

The Counterfeiters

Madman Entertainment
Rating: R13

Based on the true story of the largest counterfeiting ring (Operation Bernhard) set up by the Nazis in 1942, The Counterfeiters is a horrifyingly tense tale.
It centres around the story of Salomon "Sally" Sorowitsch, who after being arrested by the Germans is thrown into a concentration camp.
The former counterfeiter extraordinaire is coerced into helping them create fake US and UK money which would have been used to flood the British and American economies and bring them to their knees.
But Sorowitsch finds his life complicated by moral obligations to his fellow prisoners and work mates - as well as being given the personal challenge of creating a perfect copy of the US dollar - a currency he's never been able to perfect as a counterfeiter.
The problem is the moment the Counterfeiters manage to succeed, they'll be wiped out as their usefulness will have expired.
And so begins a cat and mouse game between both sides - but as the pressure builds, the stakes become ever higher&.
The Counterfeiters is a truly engrossing and horrific film - as any war time film is wont to be.
There are real contrasts within - from the opening moments where Sorowitsch loses all his money at a casino to the terrifying lows of being given shoes which don't fit properly and former prisoner's clothes when he's put in the concentration camp, to moments where the prisoners realize they have to co-operate or they'll be killed - either by the guards or by the other prisoners who're jealous of the relative luxury the workers live in.
A tense and deeply taut thriller, The Counterfeiters is compelling viewing.
Extras :- Interview with Adolf Burger (whose memoir formed the film)
- Adolf Burger artifacts
- Interview with actor Karl Markovics (Salomon Sorowitsch)
- Interview with director Stefan Ruzowitzky
- Theatrical trailer

Rating 8/10