21/02/2022 - BERLINALE 2022: Based on true events, Maggie Peren’s fourth feature depicts the story of Cioma Schönhaus, a young Jewish man who discovers his talent for forging documents

In 1942 Berlin, a 21-year-old Jewish man begins playing a dangerous game when he discovers his talent for forging documents, especially passports and postal IDs. This is the premise of Maggie Peren’s fourth feature, titled The Forger [+see also:
trailer
interview: Maggie Peren
film profile], which premiered in the Berlinale Special Gala section of this year’s Berlinale. Based on true events, the film tells the tragic but also very adventurous story of Cioma Schönhaus, a brave young man comfortably portrayed here by Louis Hofmann, best known for playing Jonas in Netflix hit Dark. After some time, we realise that his family has already been deported and that Cioma is provisionally exempted since he works in a munitions factory. This becomes clear when a Gestapo agent visits Cioma’s apartment and seals some rooms to prevent him from accessing his relatives’ confiscated belongings.

His newly-found talent may be the only possible way out, and the man soon understands that “mimicry” and hiding in plain sight, at least initially, can be winning strategies to go unnoticed. On his journey, Cioma will be accompanied by his friend Det (Jonathan Berlin) and by Gerda (Luna Wiedler), a sudden, but feeble love interest the man meets along the way.

The war always remains in the backdrop – we can sense it mostly through tense conversations, the distant sound of air raid sirens and the presence of food vouchers as valuable currency. Visually speaking, The Forger is a delight thanks to the excellent half-light cinematography by Christian Stangassinger, the highly accurate production design by Eva-Maria Stiebler and the costumes courtesy of Diana Dietrich. 

Viewers shouldn’t expect to see much action, though. The mise-en-scene is closer to that of a psychological drama, as the movie is filled with dialogue, with just a few scenes staged in exterior locations. In the long run, this lack of dynamism may be a bit disengaging, but the charisma of the leading actors make up for this flaw. In addition, the characters could have been better developed. For example, Cioma does not seem very emotionally concerned about his close relatives’ recent “disappearance,” and perhaps acts way too playful — or too ingenuous — in some very risky circumstances to be fully credible. However, the latter aspect may also be considered an unusual trait of his personality, a sort of “genius and recklessness” attitude that might be precisely what makes him so successful as he navigates the dark waters of the Nazi regime. Another good example is embodied by Mrs Peters (Nina Gummich), a neighbour whose stiffness seems too unshakable from its first appearance and may be slightly irritating to witness until the end.

On the whole, Peren’s film is a remarkable tale, even though some ingredients work better than others. It is surely worth watching, at least to discover the turbulent existence of this young man who did his best to save himself and his loved ones.

The Forger was staged by Munich-based firm Dreifilm. Germany’s Beta Cinema is in charge of its world sales.