5 Contemporary German Films Worth Watching

4. Die Falscher (The Counterfeiters)

Year €“ 2007, Director €“ Stefan Ruzowitzky, Starring €“ Karl Markovics, August Diehl, Devid Striesow, Viet Strubner. The Holocaust is something of a taboo subject in Germany, as its citizens dislike being reminded of an atrocity that many of their ancestors were complicit in. It was therefore something of a gamble for director Stefan Ruzowitzky to use the event as the backdrop for his film, but one that pays off spectacularly. Centered on a group of Jewish prisoners with a talent for forgery, chief amongst them being Karl Markovic€™s Sorowitsch, the film is underlined by the group€™s conflicting opinions about the task they are set €“ counterfeiting the US Dollar and British pound, as whilst they are offered adequate living conditions in comparison to their fellow prisoners, avoiding extermination camps such as Auschwitz at the same time, their actions are supportive of the German war effort, which they oppose for obvious reasons. An Oscar winner, the film has its origins in a real historical operation, and brilliantly portrays one of the many non-combat related stories that World War II has to offer.
 
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Alex was about to write a short biography, but he got distracted by something shiny instead.