The Counterfeiters (2007)
90%RT Audience Score: 88%
Awards & Nominations: Won 1 Oscar
7 wins & 10 nominations total
The Counterfeiters is a gripping account of one prisoner’s moral dilemma, superbly portrayed by Karl Markovics.
The Counterfeiters” is a movie that will leave you on the edge of your seat, wondering what will happen next. It’s a true story about a group of Jews and criminals who are forced to counterfeit money for the Nazis during World War II. The film is both disturbing and captivating, with incredible performances from the cast. The moral complexities of the situation are explored, but not to their fullest extent. However, what really steals the show is the long, dour, hound-dog face of Markovics, who plays Saloman. His performance is breathtaking and well-deserving of the film’s 2008 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. Overall, “The Counterfeiters” is a must-see for anyone interested in history, thrillers, or just great cinema.
Production Company(ies)
Distributor
Sony Pictures Classics
Release Type
Theatrical, Theatrical (Limited)
Filming Location(s)
Nice, Alpes- Maritimes, France
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for some strong violence, brief sexuality/nudity and language
Year of Release
2008
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Digital
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:1h 39m
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Language(s):German, Russian, English, Hebrew
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Country of origin:Austria, Germany
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Feb 22, 2008 Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 5, 2008
Genre(s)
History/Drama
Keyword(s)
starring Karl Markovics, August Diehl, Devid Striesow, Martin Brambach, Dolores Chaplin, August Zirner, Josef Aichholzer, Nina Bohlmann, Babette Schröder, directed by Stefan Ruzowitzky, written by Stefan Ruzowitzky, History, Drama, $5.5M box office, reviewed by David Ansen, Steven Rea, Paul Byrnes, Jim Schembri, David Stratton, Roger Moore, Carlos Marañón, Felicia Feaster, Mattie Lucas, Sarah Manvel, Diane Carson, R MPAA rating, Nazi-era, concentration camp, fake foreign currency, Salomon Sorowitsch, Adolf Burger, Friedrich Herzog, Holst, Red-Haired Woman, Dr Klinger, Sony Pictures Classics, German, Dolby SRD, Dolby SR
Worldwide gross: $18,814,713
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $25,916,548
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,611
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 2,826,232
US/Canada gross: $5,488,570
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $7,560,295
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,691
US/Canada opening weekend: $87,514
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $120,547
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,865
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): 4200000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $5,785,340
Production budget ranking: 1,848
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $3,115,405
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $17,015,803
ROI to date (est.): 191%
ROI ranking: 648
August Diehl – Adolf Burger
Devid Striesow – Friedrich Herzog
Martin Brambach – Holst
Dolores Chaplin – Red-Haired Woman
August Zirner – Dr. Klinger
Stefan Ruzowitzky – Director/Writer
Josef Aichholzer – Producer
Nina Bohlmann – Producer
Babette Schröder – Producer
Director(s)
Stefan Ruzowitzky
Writer(s)
Stefan Ruzowitzky
Producer(s)
Josef Aichholzer, Nina Bohlmann, Babette Schröder
Film Festivals
Berlin
Awards & Nominations
Won 1 Oscar
7 wins & 10 nominations total
Academy Awards
All Critics (128) | Top Critics (47) | Fresh (119) | Rotten (9)
It’s details like that-too bizarre not to be true-that give “The Counterfeiters” its bitter wallop. It’s an astonishing tale of cunning, compromise and survival.
February 6, 2018
David Ansen
Newsweek
TOP CRITIC
As writer-director Stefan Ruzowitzky shows, powerfully, affectingly, in The Counterfeiters, the privileges experienced by this small team of Jews and criminals came at a price.
October 18, 2008 | Rating: 3.5/4
Steven Rea
Philadelphia Inquirer
TOP CRITIC
The winner of this year’s Oscar for best foreign-language film puts devils, as well as angels, on the head of the pin.
June 8, 2008 | Rating: 4/5
Paul Byrnes
Sydney Morning Herald
TOP CRITIC
This Oscar-winning film ranks as the most unnerving, disturbing, true-life account yet of endurance under Nazi oppression.
June 8, 2008 | Rating: 4.5/5
Jim Schembri
The Age (Australia)
TOP CRITIC
Ruzowitzky has some fine performers in the three key roles but there is a hint of unsubtlety in some of the other characters and situations. The obvious is rammed home.
May 15, 2008 | Rating: 3.5/5
David Stratton
At the Movies (Australia)
TOP CRITIC
This dark, absorbing thriller is not just a moral exercise in the awful choices faced by those determined to survive history’s worst genocide. It invites us to imagine ourselves in the shoes of a not-quite-lovable rogue.
April 24, 2008 | Rating: 5/5
Roger Moore
Orlando Sentinel
TOP CRITIC
[The protagonist] illuminates a depth that’s lacking in the entertaining class struggle that became the world’s most macabre money factory. [Full review in Spanish]
November 5, 2020 | Rating: 3.5/5
Carlos Marañón
Cinemanía (Spain)
And though the story line is fascinating, things grow relatively slack in the film’s middle passage.
January 28, 2020
Felicia Feaster
Charleston City Paper
While it is compulsively watchable, I never felt that the moral complexities were explored to their fullest extent.
July 6, 2019 | Rating: 3/4
Mattie Lucas
From the Front Row
Is this how we confront evil in 2007, not by documenting it faithfully or fighting it openly, but instead by blaming its victims for their victimhood?
August 7, 2018
Sarah Manvel
Cinemattraction
What makes this film a must-see is Markovics, who plays Saloman. Not just his performance, but his face-a long, dour, hound-dog face that suggests a cosmic shrug, splitting the difference between resignation and resistance.
November 30, 2017
Brian D. Johnson
Maclean’s Magazine
The breathtaking performances and superb style earned The Counterfeiters the 2008 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.
August 29, 2017
Diane Carson
KDHX (St. Louis)…
Plot
The Counterfeiters is the true story of the largest counterfeiting operation in history, set up by the Nazis in 1936. Salomon “Sally” Sorowitsch is the king of counterfeiters. He lives a mischievous life of cards, booze, and women in Berlin during the Nazi-era. Suddenly his luck runs dry when arrested by Superintendent Friedrich Herzog. Immediately thrown into the Mauthausen concentration camp, Salomon exhibits exceptional skills there and is soon transferred to the upgraded camp of Sachsenhausen. Upon his arrival, he once again comes face to face with Herzog, who is there on a secret mission. Hand-picked for his unique skill, Salomon and a group of professionals are forced to produce fake foreign currency under the program Operation Bernhard. The team, which also includes detainee Adolf Burger, is given luxury barracks for their assistance. But while Salomon attempts to weaken the economy of Germany’s allied opponents, Adolf refuses to use his skills for Nazi profit and would like to do something to stop Operation Bernhard’s aid to the war effort. Faced with a moral dilemma, Salomon must decide whether his actions, which could prolong the war and risk the lives of fellow prisoners, are ultimately the right ones.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Karl Markovics delivers a superb portrayal of Salomon Sorowitsch in The Counterfeiters.
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