The Counterfeiters - 2007

First Austrian film to win an Academy Award in the Best Foreign Language Film Category.

The Counterfeiters is the true story of the largest counterfeiting operation in history, set up by the Nazis in 1936. Salomon "Sally" Sorowitsch is the king of counterfeiters. He lives a mischievous life of cards, booze, and women in Berlin during the Nazi-era. Suddenly his luck runs dry when arrested by Superintendent Friedrich Herzog. Immediately thrown into the Mauthausen concentration camp, Salomon exhibits exceptional skills there and is soon transferred to the upgraded camp of Sachsenhausen. Upon his arrival, he once again comes face to face with Herzog, who is there on a secret mission. Hand-picked for his unique skill, Salomon and a group of professionals are forced to produce fake foreign currency under the program Operation Bernhard. The team, which also includes detainee Adolf Burger, is given luxury barracks for their assistance. But while Salomon attempts to weaken the economy of Germany's allied opponents, Adolf refuses to use his skills for Nazi profit and would like to do something to stop Operation Bernhard's aid to the war effort. Faced with a moral dilemma, Salomon must decide whether his actions, which could prolong the war and risk the lives of fellow prisoners, are ultimately the right ones.

The Notebook - 2004

The Notebook is a 2004 romantic film directed by Nick Cassavetes, based on the novel of the same name by Nicholas Sparks. The film stars Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams as a young couple who fall in love during the early 1940s in their country town of Seabrook. Their story is narrated from the present day by an elderly man played by James Garner, telling the tale to a fellow nursing home resident, played by Gena Rowlands. Allie and Noah break up, but immediately regret the decision. Allie's family leaves Seabrook the next day and Noah, devastated, writes her one letter every day for a year. Allie's mother intercepts and hides them. When Allie does not reply to the letters, Noah moves to Atlanta, Georgia. When Pearl Harbor is attacked, he enlists in the army for World War II while Allie attends college. While in college, Allie volunteers as a nurse's aide for wounded soldiers and meets the injured Lon Hammond, Jr. (James Marsden). He is handsome, charming, and from a wealthy family. Lon and Allie get engaged; meanwhile, Noah returns home. Noah's father tells him that he is selling out so that Noah can purchase the Windsor Plantation (the abandoned Antebellum house, which Noah had promised Allie he would restore for her). While visiting Charleston, South Carolina, Noah sees Allie in the street. He watches her and sees her kissing Lon. Noah restores the old house, believing that if he keeps his promise to her, Allie will come back. Once he is finished, he tries to sell it, but cannot bear to part with it. In the present, it is evident that the elderly woman is Allie and the storyteller is Noah. She does not recognize their children and family due to Alzheimer's disease.

Seven Beauties - 1975 (Italian)

Pasqualino Settebellezze (English title Seven Beauties) is a 1975 Italian language film written and directed by Lina Wertmüller and starring Giancarlo Giannini in the main role. Fernando Rey and Shirley Stoler are also featured. The production design and costume design were by the director's late husband, Enrico Job. The picaresque story follows its protagonist, Pasqualino (Giannini) who, as a dandy and small-time hood in Naples, to save the family honour, is sent to prison for killing a pimp (and then dissecting the victim and placing the body in suitcases) who had turned Pasqualino's sister into a prostitute. Convicted and sent to prison, Pasqualino succeeds in being transferred to a psychiatric ward. Desperate to get out, he volunteers for the Italian Army, but then somewhere in Germany he deserts with a comrade. They are captured and sent to a concentration camp. There, in a bid to save his own life, Pasqualino decides to gain the sexual favors of the obese and ugly female commandant (Stoler). His plan succeeds, except for the fact that he is then put in charge of the barracks as a kapo, and is obliged to select six men to be killed under the threat that if he doesn't do so, they will all be killed. Pasqualino ends up executing the soldier with whom he was captured and being responsible for the death of another fellow prisoner, a Spanish anarchist. At the war's end, upon his return to Naples, Pasqualino discovers that his seven sisters, his fiancée and even his mother have all survived through prostitution. The film was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actor in a Leading Role, Best Director, Best Foreign Language Film and Best Original Screenplay. Wertmuller was the first woman ever nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director.

Excalibur - 1981

Excalibur is the legendary sword of King Arthur, sometimes attributed with magical powers or associated with the rightful sovereignty of Great Britain. Sometimes Excalibur and the Sword in the Stone (the proof of Arthur's lineage) are said to be the same weapon, but in most versions they are considered separate. The sword was associated with the Arthurian legend very early. In Welsh, the sword is called Caledfwlch.

In 1981 dramatic fantasy film of EXCALIBUR was directed, produced and co-written by John Boorman that retells the legend of King Arthur and the knights of the Round Table. Adapted from the 15th century Arthurian romance, Le Morte d'Arthur by Thomas Malory, Excalibur features the music of Richard Wagner and Carl Orff, along with an original score by Trevor Jones. It stars Nigel Terry as Arthur, Nicholas Clay as Lancelot, Helen Mirren as Morgana, Liam Neeson as Gawain, Nicol Williamson as Merlin and a relatively unknown Patrick Stewart as Leondegrance. The film is named for the legendary sword of King Arthur that features prominently in Arthurian literature.

Shot entirely on location in Ireland and employing Irish actors and crew, the film has been acknowledged for its importance to the Irish filmmaking industry and for helping launch the film careers of Neeson, as well as Gabriel Byrne, Neil Jordan and Ciarán Hinds.

Excalibur achieved moderate box office success while receiving mixed reviews. Although film critics Roger Ebert and Vincent Canby criticized the film's plot and characters, they, along with other reviewers, praised it visually. Excalibur opened at number one in the United States, eventually grossing $34,967,437 on a budget of around USD $11 million, to rank 18th in that year's receipts.

Der Untergang (Downfall) - 2004

Downfall (German: Der Untergang) is a 2004 German/Italian/Austrian epic war film directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel, depicting the final ten days of Adolf Hitler's life in his Berlin bunker and Nazi Germany in 1945.

The film was written by Bernd Eichinger, and based upon the books Inside Hitler's Bunker, by historian Joachim Fest; Until the Final Hour, the memoirs of Traudl Junge, one of Hitler's secretaries; portions of Albert Speer's memoirs Inside the Third Reich; Hitler's Last Days: An Eye–Witness Account, by Gerhardt Boldt; Das Notlazarett Unter Der Reichskanzlei: Ein Arzt Erlebt Hitlers Ende in Berlin (memoirs) by Doctor Ernst-Günther Schenck; and Soldat: Reflections of a German Soldier, 1936–1949 (memoirs) by Siegfried Knappe. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

In 1942, a group of German secretaries are escorted to Adolf Hitler's (Bruno Ganz) compound at the Wolf's Lair in East Prussia. After dictating to her for a moment and despite multiple mistakes, Hitler selects Traudl Humps (Alexandra Maria Lara) to be one of his personal secretaries.

The scene shifts to Hitler's 56th birthday on April 20, 1945. Secretary Traudl Humps (now Traudl Junge) is awakened in the Führerbunker by the sound of Soviet artillery. Later, Generals Wilhelm Burgdorf and Karl Koller confirm to a surprised Hitler that the Red Army is just 12 kilometres from the city centre. Later, at his birthday reception, Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler (Ulrich Noethen) and his SS adjutant Hermann Fegelein (Thomas Kretschmann) plead with Hitler to allow himself to be evacuated from the city. Instead, Hitler declares, "I will defeat them in Berlin, or face my downfall." Himmler leaves Berlin with the intention of negotiating surrender terms with the Western Allies behind Hitler's back.

In another part of the city, a group of Hitler Youth members continue to build up defenses for the defense of Berlin. Peter, a boy in the group, is vainly urged by his father to desert and flee the city. Later, Peter's unit is part of a group which is awarded the Iron Cross by Hitler.

Malena - 2000

This is a great flashback to 1941 ITALY story that I thought was so very uniquely told and photographed. I highly recommend it. Watching Monica Bellucci as "Malena" is worthy of your time (Italian elegance). The ending may not be the best--but keep in mind that it's a slice of what may be a longer, more in-depth story.

he film is set in Sicily in 1940 during World War II just as Italy enters the war. Malena's husband, Nino Scordia, who left to join the military is presumed dead. Malena tries to cope with her loss, as the town she has moved to tries to deal with this beautiful woman who gets the attention of all the local men, including the 12-year-old Renato. However, in spite of the gossip, she continues to be faithful to her husband. Renato becomes obsessed with Malena and starts fantasizing about her.

Renato continues to watch as she suffers from grief. Malena is shunned by the townspeople who begin to believe the worst about her, simply because of her beauty.

Film critic Roger Ebert compared the film to Federico Fellini's work, writing, "Fellini's films often involve adolescents inflamed by women who embody their carnal desires (e.g. Amarcord and 8½). But Fellini sees the humor that underlies sexual obsession, except (usually but not always) in the eyes of the participants. Malena is a simpler story, in which a young man grows up transfixed by a woman and essentially marries himself to the idea of her. It doesn't help that the movie's action grows steadily gloomier, leading to a public humiliation that seems wildly out of scale with what has gone before and to an ending that is intended to move us much more deeply, alas, than it can."

The Counterfeiters - 2007

The Counterfeiters is the true story of the largest counterfeiting operation in history, set up by the Nazis in 1936. Salomon "Sally" Sorowitsch is the king of counterfeiters. He lives a mischievous life of cards, booze, and women in Berlin during the Nazi-era. Suddenly his luck runs dry when arrested by Superintendent Friedrich Herzog. Immediately thrown into the Mauthausen concentration camp, Salomon exhibits exceptional skills there and is soon transferred to the upgraded camp of Sachsenhausen. Upon his arrival, he once again comes face to face with Herzog, who is there on a secret mission. Hand-picked for his unique skill, Salomon and a group of professionals are forced to produce fake foreign currency under the program Operation Bernhard. The team, which also includes detainee Adolf Burger, is given luxury barracks for their assistance. But while Salomon attempts to weaken the economy of Germany's allied opponents, Adolf refuses to use his skills for Nazi profit and would like to do something to stop Operation Bernhard's aid to the war effort. Faced with a moral dilemma, Salomon must decide whether his actions, which could prolong the war and risk the lives of fellow prisoners, are ultimately the right ones.

Schindler's List - 1993

Schindler's List is a 1993 American biographical drama film about Oskar Schindler, a German businessman who saved the lives of more than a thousand mostly Polish-Jewish refugees during the Holocaust by employing them in his factories. The film was directed by Steven Spielberg, and based on the novel Schindler's Ark by Thomas Keneally. It stars Liam Neeson as Schindler, Ralph Fiennes as Schutzstaffel (SS)-officer Amon Göth, and Ben Kingsley as Schindler's Jewish accountant Itzhak Stern.

The film was a box office success and recipient of seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Score, as well as numerous other awards (7 BAFTAs, 3 Golden Globes). In 2007, the American Film Institute ranked the film 8th on its list of the 100 best American films of all time (up one position from its 9th place listing on the 1998 list).

Black Book - 2006

"We will kill that girl! However, wherever, whenever."

Based on true events, this epic drama from writer-director Paul Verhoeven stars Carice van Houten as Rachel Stein, a beautiful Jewish woman who averts Nazi capture, then assumes a new Aryan identity and joins the Dutch resistance movement. A local leader persuades her to seduce a Nazi commander and take down the enemy from within. But leading a double life takes its toll -- especially when both sides turn against her.

Director Paul Verhoeven and screenwriter Gerard Soeteman got the idea for the movie while doing research for Soldaat van Oranje (1977). Instead of simply working the controversies surrounding the Dutch Resistance into the already top-heavy screenplay of Soldaat van Oranje, they decided to make a separate movie out of it. Verhoeven and Soeteman wrote the screenplay over a period of almost 20 years, and they finally solved many script problems by making the main character a woman.

With a budget of approx. 16 million euros, this is the most expensive Dutch movie to date.

300 - 2006

300 is a 2006 American film adapted from a graphic novel of the same name by Frank Miller, a fictionalized retelling of the Battle of Thermopylae. The film was directed by Zack Snyder, while Miller served as executive producer and consultant. It was filmed mostly with a super-imposition chroma key technique, to help replicate the imagery of the original comic book. The film remains in my mind as stunning cinemaphotgrapy because of this chroma key technique.

The plot revolves around King Leonidas (Gerard Butler), who leads 300 Spartans into battle against Persian "god-King" Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro) and his army of more than one million soldiers. As the battle rages, Queen Gorgo (Lena Headey) attempts to rally support in Sparta for her husband. The story is framed by a voice-over narrative by the Spartan soldier Dilios (David Wenham). Through this narrative technique, various fantastical creatures are introduced, placing 300 within the genre of historical fantasy. I love a film with a narrative telling-a-story approach.

Film critics were divided over its look and style. Some acclaimed it as an original achievement, while others criticized it for favoring visuals over characterization and its controversial depiction of the ancient Persians.

The 300 writer Frank Miller states: "The Spartans were a paradoxical people. They were the biggest slave owners in Greece. But at the same time, Spartan women had an unusual level of rights. It's a paradox that they were a bunch of people who in many ways were fascist, but they were the bulwark against the fall of democracy. The closest comparison you can draw in terms of our own military today is to think of the red-caped Spartans as being like our special-ops forces. They're these almost superhuman characters with a tremendous warrior ethic, who were unquestionably the best fighters in Greece. I didn't want to render Sparta in overly accurate terms, because ultimately I do want you to root for the Spartans. I couldn't show them being quite as cruel as they were. I made them as cruel as I thought a modern audience could stand.

Dresden - 2006

A romance between a British pilot hiding in Germany and a German nurse is shown on the background of massive allied bombing of Dresden towards the end of World War II. This drama has high-impact and keeps you interested all the way through. Don't be fooled by the above bombing scene as the story is much more than that. It is an excellent drama and depicts a fantastic performance by actress Felicitas Woll who plays the german nurse, Anna.


Part 1 of this two-part miniseries drew the largest audience for a German miniseries in history on a Sunday night as 12.7 million viewers tuned in. News reports suggested that an even larger audience may have tuned in Monday night. The film, set during the 1945 Allied bombing that flattened the city and killed 35,000 people, is the most expensive ever produced for German television, costing $13.2 million. It attracted 39 percent of the 14-49-year-old viewers. It is reportedly the first to treat the World War II event as drama, focusing on a fictional romance between an RAF pilot shot down during the bombing and a German nurse.

Bent - 1997

When my friend told me about this movie I had no idea. This movie moved me in so many ways. Clive Owen is incredible. Also look for Mick Jagger, Jude Law and the always amazing Ian McKellen.

A Berlin man is caught up in the Nazi hysteria during World War II in this drama based on the play by Martin Sherman (who also wrote the screenplay). After being forced to kill his lover, he's placed in a concentration camp and lies to get himself classified as Jewish rather than gay. But several rule-breaking incidents and his love for a fellow male prisoner bring him to admit his true nature

A Woman in Berlin - 2008

Everytime I see a film based on the events of World War II, I see yet another way that people were effected by this single event in history.

The horrors and moral compromises of this war set the stage for this harrowing drama from director Max Färberböck. Based on the best-selling diaries of an anonymous German woman who survived the Soviet invasion of Berlin at the end of World War II, this gripping drama tells the story of a photojournalist's (Nina Hoss) forbidden relationship with a Soviet officer (Yevgeni Sidikhin). After being sexually assaulted by members of the invading Red Army, she turns to the officer for support, but soon finds herself falling for him.

Defiance - 2008

This moving, dramatic film is based on actual events.  Daniel Craig stars as Tuvia Bielski, one of four Jewish brothers who escape from Poland into the forests of Belarus during World War II to lead a band of resistance fighters and create a safe haven for Jewish refugees.  The real-life sanctuary established by the Bielski brothers saved more than 1,000 Jews from persecution and death.  Liev Schreiber, Jamie Bell and George MacKay also star.  I love this film.