Director: Stefan Ruzowitzky
Year Released: 2007
Rating: 2.0
Yet another tale from the World War II era - will we ever run out of them? - but with this one focusing on the secret counterfeiting scheme (dubbed "Operation Bernhard") set up by those dastardly Nazis to create fake British pounds and American dollars in a lab run by Jewish craftsmen inside of a concentration camp. While the moral dilemma is fascinating - is it ethical to help loathsome regime craft fake money (and thereby prolong the war effort) just to save oneself (or at the least give oneself better living conditions)? Wouldn't it have been better just to refuse and take the bullet? - the film lacks panache: director Ruzowitzky fails to get into any kind of detail about the counterfeiting process (I would have loved more explanation as to how the process works) and whenever there's a need for drama, he's never averse to bringing out the Nazi Bully Boys to pee on our sickly protagonist or act menacing and delusional (look: a ping pong table!). Comparison to other Holocaust pictures is expected and unfavorable.
