German Film Fest 2022 Review - The Forger
Images courtesy of the German Film Festival.
Following the true story of 21-year-old Jewish graphic artist Cioma Schönhaus as he tries to survive day to day living in Nazi Occupied Berlin in 1942, The Forger is a harrowing story of deception and survival with a surprisingly optimistic protagonist: an effortlessly charming performance from Louis Hofmann, who does his best to smile in the face of death.
Cioma wants not only to survive, but to enjoy his time. As he hides his Jewish identity, he engages in pleasantries like eating out and going on dates. After being late for his factory job one too many times, he is hired by the secretive Mr. Kauffman (Marc Limpach) to use his talents as a studied graphic artist to forge identification papers for fellow Jewish people hiding out and escaping persecution. He discovers he has a particular talent for forgery and takes a liking to the job, using his new salary to continue having fun despite the war going on, whilst maintaining the tightly-kept secrecy of his position from the Stasi members and their unexpected visits.
Cioma is helped along the way by an ensemble of sad people who themselves are in turn comforted by his optimistic nature. His best friend Det illegally stays with him in his apartment and helps keep his Forgery secret, as Cioma works to get blank passports for the both of them to leave Berlin. Gerda, a young woman Cioma meets on a date night whilst pretending he is a German officer days from deployment, and eventually becomes romantically entangled with despite waiting on her fiance to come back from the frontlines. And then there’s Mrs. Peters, his understandably strict landlady, a stickler for the rules, who hates the Stasi just as much as him.
The concept of a comedy set in World War II is nothing new, but this film does something different by being largely a straight drama with a few light hearted moments sprinkled throughout. It’s a very bittersweet film. It’s easy to be enamoured by Hofmann’s performance, the strongest element of the film, to be able to laugh with him in the lighter scenes and engage with the dramatic scenes, as the filmmaking doesn’t always clear up the tonal dissonance.
The cinematography is that of a dark war film: bleak, cold, very naturalistic lighting, which is entirely suitable due to the incredibly tragic time in history that it takes place, with only a few breaks for scenes of Cioma enjoying himself, with some warmer and more inviting colours. But the soundtrack throughout is more like that of a light comedy, which, while not devoid of humour, it isn't really. However, it goes to match the more cheerful disposition of the main character, so it’s not entirely out of place.
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The Forger is screening as part of the 2022 German Film Festival, running in Melbourne from the 25th of May to the 19th of June. For tickets and more info click here.