Film Review: THE FORGER (2022) DIR. MAGGIE PEREN
Film Still from The Forger © DREIFILM
Written by Belle McIntyre
The opening scene introduces the title character, Cioma Schönhaus (Louis Hoffman), a young boyishly handsome Jewish man, as he enters his comfortably homey family apartment. His friend Det (Jonathan Berlin) drops in to say his family has just been sent east and he needs a place to stay. It seems Cioma’s family has also been deported five days earlier. These two do not seem overly emotional about this. We can infer that the reality of what this means has not been grasped by the Jewish civilians yet. They appear able to chalk it off to the privations of war, like the food rationing, lack of heat, and the ominous presence of Nazi officers and functionaries performing random searches, demanding identity cards, and taking people and property into custody.
Film Still from The Forger © DREIFILM
Cioma and Det are more worried about being sent to the front to fight. To avoid this they have taken menial jobs in a munitions factory for the exemption. They try to get by as best they can in the black market of bartering. Det is a skilled tailor and does alterations for the ladies in return for ration cards. Cioma is recruited by a prosperous lawyer, Herr Dietrich (Andre Jung) who knows about his art school training. His task is to alter identity cards and he is paid well for his work.
Film Still from The Forger © DREIFILM
In the evenings these resourceful fellows dress in military uniforms and pretend to be Wehrmach officers, which gets them into all the good restaurants and bars. Cioma is particularly good at mimicry and moves about with a convincing sense of entitlement, a necessary skill to allow him to succeed at his highly risky endeavor. He calls it “hiding in plain sight.” He seems immune to the dangers inherent in his profession. He even manages to have a lover who he woos with ration cards and flowers.
Film Still from The Forger © DREIFILM
Film Still from The Forger © DREIFILM
The ominous grimness of Berlin in 1942 as the war rages on abroad is palpably depicted by the agility of the camera as it scans the darkened streets and alleys of the city, sparsely populated by equally grim people who seem to behave more like rodents furtively going about their business while trying to be invisible. The charm, optimism and sheer chutzpah of Cioma, the accidental forger, at the center of this decidedly grim period in Berlin is incongruously maintained in spite of his world closing in on him. He finally gives into desperate behavior when it becomes obvious that the next person he must save is himself. Cioma is an extremely appealing character even when he seems unfazed and cannot fathom the situation transpiring around him. “The Forger” is an imminently watchable film that juxtaposes the despondent war-torn and frightened German society with a story of survival and friendship that resonates to this day.
Film Still from The Forger © DREIFILM
