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PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
The Counterfeiters (Die Fälscher) (2007)

The Counterfeiters (Die Fälscher) (2007)

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Released 8-Oct-2008

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Drama Interviews-Crew-Interview with Adolf Burger
Interviews-Crew-Adolf Burger Artifacts
Interviews-Cast-Interview with Karl Markovics
Interviews-Crew-Interview with Stefan Ruzowitzky
Theatrical Trailer-The Counterfeiters
Teaser Trailer-Madman Propaganda
Rating Rated MA
Year Of Production 2007
Running Time 94:39 (Case: 98)
RSDL / Flipper Dual Layered Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 4 Directed By Stefan Ruzowitzky
Studio
Distributor

Madman Entertainment
Starring Karl Markovics
August Diehl
Devid Striesow
Martin Brambach
August Zirner
Veit Stübner
Sebastian Urzendowsky
Andreas Schmidt
Tilo Prückner
Lenn Kudrjawizki
Norman Stoffregen
Case Amaray-Transparent
RPI $34.95 Music Marius Ruhland


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame Unknown German Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 1.85:1
16x9 Enhancement
16x9 Enhanced
Video Format ?
Original Aspect Ratio 1.85:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles English (Burned In) Smoking Yes
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

    Earlier this year The Counterfeiters (Die Fälscher) gained worldwide prominence by winning the 2008 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, becoming the first Austrian film to do so.

    The Counterfeiters is based on a true, but little known event in the history of World War Two. In particular, the ambitious and highly secret counterfeiting operation conducted by the Nazis to fund their own war campaign and destroy the allied economies. The Nazis conducted this operation (Operation Bernhard) covertly from the inside of the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp. They recruited a cross section of specially selected prisoners as a labour force, enabling the Nazis to orchestrate the largest counterfeiting operation in world history. These workers were political or criminal prisoners and they were all hand selected by the Nazis because they had the necessary trade skills to perform the task. This in turn, saved them from certain death in the gas chambers.

    No expense was spared by the Nazis in fitting out the workshop with the very best of equipment, this was also a vital component for the operation to have any chance of success. Apart from financing the Nazi war effort, the key objective of Operation Bernhard was to bring down the British and American economies by flooding them with fake currency. The operation was also used to forge an array of government documents, stamps and foreign passports.

    The labour force worked under the constant threat of execution if the forgeries were detected or if deadlines weren't met. Despite this, the workers were actually treated quite well by the Nazis and they lived under very civilised conditions. But the prisoners soon realised that despite of their personal well being, what they were doing could actually prolong the war and cost countless more lives. With the upmost caution they planned a course of sabotage.

    The Counterfeiters is based on the book, The Devil's Workshop by Adolf Burger. Burger is the only living person left from the operation and he had considerable involvement in the film. As Burger states in his interviews, apart from a couple of small liberties, the very essence of the book is in the film.

    The key narrative of The Counterfeiters centres on Salomon "Sally" Sorowitsch (Karl Markovics), who was a master counterfeiter before the war, living an extravagant lifestyle before his arrest and incarceration by the Nazis. Subsequently, he becomes the number one recruit for Operation Bernhard and is given an unenviable position of responsibility. The moral dilemma of the operation becomes a battle of wits between Burger (played by August Diehl) and Sorowitsch as the option of retalliation or survival becomes a matter of urgency.

    The Counterfeiters is a fascinating and throughly entertaining film, made all the more so because it actually happened.

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Transfer Quality

Video

    The Counterfeiters is presented in the correct aspect ratio of 1:85.1, which is 16x9 enhanced.

    The film was shot on 16mm stock and transferred to 35mm, so there is some grain in the original film. I found that this actually enhanced the look of the film, giving it a gritty and honest appearance. Naturally, the presence of this grain was more evident during the darker scenes. Apart from this, sharpness levels were quite good throughout. Blacks were bold and clean, with shadows displaying nice detail.

    The colour palette used in The Counterfeiters is very subtle, which accurately reflects the mood of the film. Colours were well balanced throughout and presented no problems.

    Film-to-video artefacts weren't an issue and film artefacts were virtually non-existent.

    The only available subtitles are in English. They are very easily legible in bold white and are burned into the print, so they cannot be removed from screen.

    This disc is a dual layer DVD 9 disc. The layer change occurs at 81:13 and was easily noticed.

Video Ratings Summary
Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    There is only one audio track on the DVD. German Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s), which is surround encoded.

    Although my understanding of the German language is virtually non-existent, dialogue quality sounded consistent and strong.

    There were no apparent problems with audio sync.

    The original score by Marius Ruhland is very traditional and suits the mood of the film really well.

    The surround channels carried music and some very effective ambient sound. This was noted very early with background noise during the casino scene and continued in a subtle nature throughout the film. At times, some very effective surround sound was evident - a passing train at 16:44 is one example worth noting.

    The subwoofer was used sparingly during music passages and just the occasional bass effect.

Audio Ratings Summary
Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Extras

Menu

The main menu is static, 16x9 enhanced and features a sample of Marius Ruhland's music score.

Interview with Adolf Burger (9:39)

Adolf discusses the means and inspiration behind his book, The Devil's Workshop. He also talks about his involvement in the production of The Counterfeiters, together with the relationship between the book and the film.

Adolf Berger Artifacts (19:10)

Again, Adolf discusses his memories of the events and the people involved. Some of the discussion in this piece is repeated from the previous extra. Still, he is generous with his dialogue, which makes both interviews fascinating viewing.

Interview with actor Karl Markovics (10:13)

Karl talks about The Counterfeiters and his enthusiastic involvement in the production.

Interview with director Stefan Ruzowitzky (17:49)

In the absence of the director's commentary, this short interview piece is a minor compensation.

Original Theatrical Trailer

The Counterfeiters (2:03)

Madman Propaganda

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

    The R1 edition of The Counterfeiters (Sony Pictures) contains quite an array of extras that are not included on this Madman, R4 edition. The R1 version contains the same extras as the R4, with the addtion of many more.

    The Madman R4 edition misses out on         

    The R1 edition misses out on nothing.

    There is also a Region 'A' Blu-ray edition available. This edition (also from Sony Pictures) contains exactly the same extras as the DVD, R1 version.

Summary

      Whether or not The Counterfeiters is the deserved winner of the 2008 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film is really up to the individual viewer. Personally, although I admire the film, I don't believe it was the best foreign language film of the year. Having said that, The Counterfeiters remains an absorbing and facinating film - one that is well worth your time.

    The video and audio transfers are very good.

    Although we are missing the audio commentary and various other pieces from the R1 release, the extras on offer are still relevant and interesting.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Steve Crawford (Tip toe through my bio)
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Review Equipment
DVDJVC XV-N412, using Component output
DisplayHitachi 106cm Plasma Display 42PD5000MA (1024x1024). Calibrated with THX Optimizer. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 1080i.
Audio DecoderBuilt in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with THX Optimizer.
AmplificationPanasonic SA-HE70 80W Dolby Digital and DTS
SpeakersFronts: Jensen SPX7 Rears: Jensen SPX4 Centre: Jensen SPX13 Subwoofer: Jensen SPX17

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