The second half of the film engrosses itself in the Jewish dance around this issue of sabotage by one of their own. They now have two headaches: produce a perfect dollar under the threat of death if they do not succeed, while not betraying the saboteur. The Jews are not very creative when it comes to fooling their superiors. They use the same lie over and over again. The Nazi officers are not buying their lies and tell them so. Together the Jewish inmates must stand their ground and sometimes, literally, kick a comrade to the curb when things get tense. The survivor's guilt is a real thought enemy of the men caught in a situation of working on the same side as the Germans. They will survive while fellow Jews across Europe are gassed and burned. They will choose survival by helping themselves and The Reich make money using daring deception, photography, original documents, paper, cloth, and ink.
This is a solid and uncomplicated film. One oversight, however, is that the English subtitles are done in white instead of yellow and are often difficult to read. But my knowledge of French and German helped me to sort out some dialogue that was hard to read or got lost in translation. This film has been compared to Life Is Beautiful, but I liked The Counterfeiters better. While the camps in this movie are nothing compared to actual footage or other films that go for the gut when retelling the Holocaust tale, still I found the camps and their depiction in The Counterfeiters pretty believable without being sadistic or overly brutal.
This film is not long enough to dig deeply into the main characters. The supporting actors are good if not a bit downplayed, somewhat sacrificed to the story. There were few subplots or subtle nuances. Its rather straight-arrow approach misses the mark. This lack of ambition keeps the film from being perfect. The viewer is presented with a serious film that dotes on the wit and guile of the Nazis, more so than that of the Jews. That is not a major flaw but a critique. Overall, the story unfolds in chronological detail, and is a well-paced drama.
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