Making counterfeit banknotes and forging documents is the main character Sally's way of making a living. Before the war, this craft brought him a huge income and the title of "Counterfeit Banknote King". Sally was later arrested by the counterfeiting department of the Berlin Police Department, this arrest purely for the purpose of combating vicious economic crimes. When the war broke out, the prison was turned into a concentration camp, and Sally went from being an economic criminal to a Jew who had committed a serious crime and continued to serve in prison.
Sally's identity is a bit interesting, he is a Russian-German Jew. The Jew explained that he was not wronged in the concentration camp; the Russian-German, who could speak Russian but did not speak, showed that he had drawn a clear line with the communist motherland and did not have the genes of being a revolutionary. So, later in the concentration camp, faced with revolutionary propaganda, it is not surprising that "now I am alive, I am not ashamed". The complex background makes the characters have no ties and no sense of belonging. They think about themselves and use all means to live and live well.
When he was in prison, Sally deftly showed his painting skills. The craftsmanship that made a lot of money in the past now allows him to eat better than other prisoners and be beaten less than others. From post-it notes to oil on canvas, from half an apple to ham bread, it's the craft that helps Sally make a living in prison.
The really big shift begins when Sally walks into the camp. The dangerous Third Reich wanted to forge a large number of Allied currencies and attack the Allied economies. A group of printers and plate-makers from different concentration camps formed a "Counterfeit Banknote Research Group", and "Counterfeit Banknote King" Sally became the technical director. From this moment on, counterfeit banknotes become cannonballs on the battlefield, and Sally's craftsmanship is inserted into the order of war. Faced with the death threat from the Nazis, Sally's compromise and cooperation were no longer for the sake of one meal. Forbearance against the Nazis was a crime against the "people", and making a living turned into stealing a living.
The isolated research group is developing counterfeit banknotes day and night. A large number of Jews are sent to the gas chambers every day. Some people know the news of the death of his wife and children and intend to commit suicide; some people see clearly the purpose of the Nazis, sabotage their work, and instigate riots. Between the inmates and the murderous Nazis, Sally is a wall. Facing the inmates, he appeases the blind, encourages the desperate, and stabilizes the anger and radicalization. In the face of the Nazis, he caters to the Nazis and trades with the Nazis in exchange for medicines and guarantees the safety of the inmates.
Sally's efforts are passive, and the effect can be imagined. The research group has never formed a joint force to conduct real resistance with the Nazis. The only result is that this lack of synergy has hindered the progress of research and development and inadvertently reduced the damage of counterfeit money to the economies of the Allied countries. In the face of terminal illness, there are active therapy and conservative therapy. Active therapy has the risk of rapid growth and death. Conservative therapy is a step-by-step expectation. Presumably more people are willing to leave expectations for themselves.
At the end of the film, Sally scatters all the counterfeit money at the casino. On the beach, the girl said to Sally, "That's a lot of money," and Sally replied, "Yeah, we can still build new ones." Craft is still craft, and it will still be Sally's way of making a living. The counterfeit banknotes brought from the concentration camps were thrown into the casino because they were stamped with the imprint of the smuggling.
War and disease are so cruel, and human nature is so fragile that it is difficult to distinguish the difference between earning a living and stealing a living. In an instant, the two have changed. It is a hero who does not want to steal a life. It is too difficult to be a hero. Wake up from the little comfort after stealing a life, it is not easy to get rid of the fate of stealing life, Sally did it.
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