Movie reel

The Counterfeiters

Based on a true story and scripted from the novel The Devil's Workshop by Adolf Burger, this Austrian film reveals the untold tale of Salomon Sorowitsch and a group of concentration camp inmates as they struggle with the principles of survival.

Professional forger Salomon, or Sally, is arrested in Berlin and taken to Sachsenhausen to produce counterfeit dollars. His decision to willingly collude with the Nazis does not sit well with fellow conspirator Adolf Burger, who would rather damage the operation than help finance the Nazi war effort.

Writer-director Stefan Ruzowitzky scores the picture with Latin dance rhythms, and especially tango, which is meant to represent Sally as being seductive, insolent and triumphant.

Starring Karl Markovics, August Diehl and Devid Striesow, the film was well-received at the 80th Academy Awards, where it won the foreign language film award.

Iron Man

The movie sees director Yin Li and screenwriter Liu Heng team up for the third time after successfully producing Zhang Side and The Knot. Their latest offering centers on oil-rig worker Wang Jinxi, an ordinary person recognized several decades ago as a model worker in China.

In portraying Wang's life and career, the film is an ode to the previous generation of oil workers who sacrificed much of their youth for the good of the country's industry. The film also chronicles the development of China's oil industry over the last 50 years.

Iron Man pays tribute to the steely spirit of a hero in the face of great hardship. The film shows how he deals with being exploited and his selfless contribution to the oil industry. Locations include China's northwestern Tarim oil fields and the Daqing oil field in the country's northeast. Yin said the crew braved all sorts of hardships during shooting.

Wu Gang plays Wang and Liu Ye plays Liu Si, a new generation of oil worker and the son of one of Wang's colleagues.

Star Trek

The 11th film of this seminal sci-fi series covers the early days of Captain Kirk and Spock when they meet in fleet school. J.J. Abrams and producers of hit American TV series Lost are the brains behind this flick, which has astounded hardcore Trekkies and newcomers alike.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

In this prequel to the X-Men film trilogy, we finally learn the whole story behind Wolverine, X-Men's most conflicted hero. Gavin Hood directs and Hugh Jackman stars.

(China Daily 05/23/2009 page14)