Die Fälscher/The Counterfeiters (Stefan Ruzowitzky, 2007)

The Counterfeiters is a different kind of war film. At times "Hogan's Heroes" came to mind--in terms of the relationship between "Sally" and Herzog being akin to that of Klink and Hogan. At other times Renoir's "Grand Illusion" came to mind. Especially the scene where they have a festival celebration with several of the inmates dancing in drag. Sally is our tragic figure and our hero. He is a Russian Jew living a counterfit life. In other words it is not the life he intended. But that life was robbed of him long ago. And then again his life as a counterfitter in Germany was robbed of him. And in a way his life as a counterfitter for the Third Reich was also robbed of him through the allied victory. Many ways to play on the title. It is a World War II film; it is a concentration camp film; it is a film about the treatment of Jews and yet it is different. As a viewer of this film one brings their own cinematic experience of the war and the holocaust with them into the viewing of this film. This Academy Award winner--Best Foreign Language Film--is worth a gander and will likely stir up some interesting conversation.