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Monday , May 12 , 2008

Reviews: The Counterfeiters, Speed Racer

Posted by wisekwai , Reader : 282 , 22:17:52 | Category : film reviews

The Counterfeiters, winner of this year's Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film (the first from Austria) is a dramatized account of Operation Bernhard, in which the Nazis forced a team of Jewish forgers, printers, bankers and other artisans to make counterfeit British bank notes and US dollars, with the aim of shattering the the economies of the Allies. The protagonist is master counterfeiter Salomon "Sally" Sorowitsch (Karl Markovics), who is captured in 1936 in Berlin by Herzog (Devid Striesow), a high-ranking Berlin anti-counterfeiting cop. Sally is sent to the concentration camps, where he's able to use his skills as an artist to gain favor with vain officers by painting their portraits, and thus get better treatment. Eventually, he's sent to another camp, where he's lined up with several others and given new suits by Herzog, now an SS officer who is heading up Operation Bernhard. Sally is to supervise the quality control section. The abysmal camp conditions, by now a familiar aspect of Holocaust dramas, are indeed compelling, but they only serve as a backdrop, adding tension for the real drama, which comes in watching the sad-eyed Sally wrestle with his conscience over aiding and abetting the enemy vs. his pride as a master counterfeiter. He was arrested for trying counterfeit the dollar and something inside him makes him want to try again. He believes that if he produces anything less than a flawless banknote, he and all his prison work detail will be shot. Much like Oskar Schindler, Sally makes it his burden to save lives, even if he is aiding the war effort to some degree. There is a delicious scene in which the British banknote is put to the test, and the results of that test are drug out to the last second by Herzog - a moment of light-hearted, hand-wringing suspense amid the soul-crushing brutality of the Nazis. Sally is further challenged by Adolf Burger (August Diehl), a master printer who is an activist from the start. He refuses to wear the suit jackets provided to the prisoners, retaining his striped prison garb. And, when his expertise is needed to counterfeit the US dollar he sabotages the effort, putting everyone's lives at risk. For much of the third act of the film, Burger and Sally are at each other's throats, as the deadline approaches for the dollar to be finished. The account of Operation Bernhard is partially based on Burger's memoirs. While the Wachowski brothers Matrix was all about muted tones and a depressing future, Speed Racer bursts with retina-searing color and overwhelming optimism for a time when we'll all be driving nuclear-powered race cars and living in splendid cities that are devoid of any decay. This candy-coated film is a blend of the original anime series, Elvis race-car movies, with a bits of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Friday afternoon kung-fu flicks and a Hot Wheels playset all thrown in. The result for me was a lot of fun to watch. While Christina Ricci's Trixie was probably my favorite character (oh, the helicopter), I was amazed at how entertaining the comic-relief exploits of little brother Spritle and his primate sidekick Chim-Chim were. Oh, there's a lot of talking though. The villain Royalton (Roger Allam) turns from charming to nasty in an instant, spouting off some nonsense about how all the races are rigged to influence the stock market. John Goodman is awfully mushy as Pops Racer, alternating between tough love for black-sheep brother Rex Racer to sappy nostaglia with son Speed. As Mom Racer, Susan Sarandon does her best to inspire Speed, telling him he's artist. Then she proceeds to make art of her own, whipping up a gargantuan batch of peanut butter-and-jelly sandwiches. Emile Hirsch is basically Elvis, with the hair to match. With a helmet on, he has to have his chin do all the work. The race scenes are truly astounding, though I wondered how many times they were going to use that pogo-stick trick on the Mach 5. The answer: Too many times. Speed Racer is nothing serious, a trifle that is worth watching in the cinema just for the sheer, colorful spectacle of it all -- that is if you've already seen Iron Man. Don't drink too much Coke though, because it feels like its 2 1/2 hours long. After you think it's ended with one climactic race, it gets going again for yet another big race. You could probably duck out to the restroom when you see Mom working on her PB&J sandwiches and not miss much.

The Counterfeiters, winner of this year's Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film (the first from Austria) is a dramatized account of Operation Bernhard, in which the Nazis forced a team of Jewish forgers, printers, bankers and other artisans to make counterfeit British bank notes and US dollars, with the aim of shattering the the economies of the Allies.

The protagonist is master counterfeiter Salomon "Sally" Sorowitsch (Karl Markovics), who is captured in 1936 in Berlin by Herzog (Devid Striesow), a high-ranking Berlin anti-counterfeiting cop. Sally is sent to the concentration camps, where he's able to use his skills as an artist to gain favor with vain officers by painting their portraits, and thus get better treatment.

Eventually, he's sent to another camp, where he's lined up with several others and given new suits by Herzog, now an SS officer who is heading up Operation Bernhard. Sally is to supervise the quality control section.

The abysmal camp conditions, by now a familiar aspect of Holocaust dramas, are indeed compelling, but they only serve as a backdrop, adding tension for the real drama, which comes in watching the sad-eyed Sally wrestle with his conscience over aiding and abetting the enemy vs. his pride as a master counterfeiter. He was arrested for trying counterfeit the dollar and something inside him makes him want to try again. He believes that if he produces anything less than a flawless banknote, he and all his prison work detail will be shot. Much like Oskar Schindler, Sally makes it his burden to save lives, even if he is aiding the war effort to some degree.

There is a delicious scene in which the British banknote is put to the test, and the results of that test are drug out to the last second by Herzog - a moment of light-hearted, hand-wringing suspense amid the soul-crushing brutality of the Nazis.

Sally is further challenged by Adolf Burger (August Diehl), a master printer who is an activist from the start. He refuses to wear the suit jackets provided to the prisoners, retaining his striped prison garb. And, when his expertise is needed to counterfeit the US dollar he sabotages the effort, putting everyone's lives at risk. For much of the third act of the film, Burger and Sally are at each other's throats, as the deadline approaches for the dollar to be finished.

The account of Operation Bernhard is partially based on Burger's memoirs.

While the Wachowski brothers Matrix was all about muted tones and a depressing future, Speed Racer bursts with retina-searing color and overwhelming optimism for a time when we'll all be driving nuclear-powered race cars and living in splendid cities that are devoid of any decay.

This candy-coated film is a blend of the original anime series, Elvis race-car movies, with a bits of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Friday afternoon kung-fu flicks and a Hot Wheels playset all thrown in.

The result for me was a lot of fun to watch. While Christina Ricci's Trixie was probably my favorite character (oh, the helicopter), I was amazed at how entertaining the comic-relief exploits of little brother Spritle and his primate sidekick Chim-Chim were.

Oh, there's a lot of talking though. The villain Royalton (Roger Allam) turns from charming to nasty in an instant, spouting off some nonsense about how all the races are rigged to influence the stock market.

John Goodman is awfully mushy as Pops Racer, alternating between tough love for black-sheep brother Rex Racer to sappy nostaglia with son Speed.

As Mom Racer, Susan Sarandon does her best to inspire Speed, telling him he's artist. Then she proceeds to make art of her own, whipping up a gargantuan batch of peanut butter-and-jelly sandwiches.

Emile Hirsch is basically Elvis, with the hair to match. With a helmet on, he has to have his chin do all the work.

The race scenes are truly astounding, though I wondered how many times they were going to use that pogo-stick trick on the Mach 5. The answer: Too many times.

Speed Racer is nothing serious, a trifle that is worth watching in the cinema just for the sheer, colorful spectacle of it all -- that is if you've already seen Iron Man. Don't drink too much Coke though, because it feels like its 2 1/2 hours long. After you think it's ended with one climactic race, it gets going again for yet another big race. You could probably duck out to the restroom when you see Mom working on her PB&J sandwiches and not miss much.

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comment 4
GGrass date : 14/05/2008 time : 13.49
http://blog.nationmultimedia.com/GGrass

I didn't get to watch it yesterday... may be today...

comment 3
wisekwai date : 13/05/2008 time : 18.41
http://blog.nationmultimedia.com/wisekwai

Yes, Rain is in the movie. His first for Hollywood! Thanks for the reminder, Grass. His character is a two-faced jerk. Still, he upstages Emile Hirsch in every scene they share.

comment 2
GGrass date : 13/05/2008 time : 08.28
http://blog.nationmultimedia.com/GGrass

I REALLY want to watch this movie... May be today...

comment 1
GGrass date : 13/05/2008 time : 08.27
http://blog.nationmultimedia.com/GGrass

I was under the impression that 'Rain' the Korean popstar was in the movie. Is he not?

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