The Counterfeiters
Synopsis
The moral quandary of collaboration - fight for what you believe in and face certain death, or co-operate with the enemy to save your own skin - is the crux of this taut drama which tells the true story of a group of imprisoned artists, financiers and swindlers secretly assembled in a concentration camp to forge millions of pound and dollar notes to support the German war effort.
Ruzowitzky's film is gripping, in the manner of a tense thriller, yet the director highlights the horrors of war with remarkable subtlety, and he digs deeply into questions related to choice, survival and martyrdom with great clarity.
Ruzowitzky's film is gripping, in the manner of a tense thriller, yet the director highlights the horrors of war with remarkable subtlety, and he digs deeply into questions related to choice, survival and martyrdom with great clarity.
Critics
“Challenging and thought-provoking, Austria's nomination for next year's Best Foreign Film Oscar - and on this evidence it deserves to win”