Jacob the Liar (1974) User Reviews (17)

The Best East German Film Ever Made

[jingvillareal · 8/10 · 19 September 2005]

The Holocaust has been told in many different ways. We have seen the brutality of it in documentaries on cable as well as in a number of contemporary films. The visuals of Aryan supremacy in Leni Reifenstahl's Nazi propaganda films, images of mountains of dead Jews and extremely inhumane conditions in death camps in Schindler's List, serve not merely to drive the film narrative but stir our emotions as well. These images have conditioned us to read such films and documentaries using stereotypes of both the Jews and the Nazi – Jews are good and the Nazi, evil. The film Jakob the Liar explores the holocaust in a new light, presenting anti-Semitism in a relatively subtle way without compromising its substance as well as the film's power to move human emotion.

The music is monotonous suggesting the monotony of the protagonists' lives in the ghetto. Shots are limited to medium shots and lots of close-ups making one feel claustrophobic, enveloped, and asphyxiated even. This immensely adds to an atmosphere of hopelessness and despair. Close-ups also give specific information about the character, their feelings, the way they live, the things they've gone thought and their relationships with each other. The personal information provided us makes us develop a sense of closeness with the characters. Midway in the film, we already have a bond with the characters, we already know their real feelings despite the lightness, surrealistic and oftentimes humorous treatment of the scenes.

It is also quite extraordinary to depict the Nazi they way this film did considering that this is a holocaust film and one of the first East German film to tackle the subject. Unlike in other film where the Nazis are portrayed as unreasonably evil and sadistic, here we are given a glimpse of their humanity. In the introductory scene where a tower guard tells Jakob to report to Gestapo headquarters for not complying with the curfew, we saw instances where Jakob would have surely been severely punished or even killed but the officers were surprisingly reasonable and just. One officer caught him eavesdropping but lets him go, Jakob then wakes up a sleeping head officer to report his misdemeanor yet even with being irritated for being roused awake, he lets Jakob go without a scratch. The tower-guard, proved wrong, lets Jakob go as well. We also saw guards who are not necessarily the perfect Aryan depicted in Riefenstahl films. There was one guard who walks with a limp and another having the runs. There was also a scene where one guard beats up a Jew (Kowalski), then later returns and drops two sticks of cigarettes for Kowalski - an unspoken apology for having beaten up the Jew. A Nazi apologizing to a Jew in a holocaust film! Is that something or what?

But then, the film doesn't make us hate the Nazi guards or to view them as the villains in the film. Instead we are made to understand the situation and the circumstance is the real enemy here. This is not a movie pitting the Jews against their Nazi guards like the director's own "Naked among Wolves"; this is a film about a people's struggle to maintain their dignity and humanity amidst the hardships they have suffered.

The film started with glimpses of the ghetto and Jakob checking out his sick niece, all these visuals already gives us an idea of the life of the protagonist and the place he lives in. Then in a very short verbal exchange with one of the ghetto's denizen, Jakob gives us a background of his situation, that a guard took his watch from him. The guy he was talking to on the other hand warns him about the curfew to which he answers that without his watch, has no way to tell time. This sequence tells us that first, the guards can take and do take from the Jews anything they want and second, that the people are in constant fear of the guards and dare not disobey any rules lest one wants to be severely punished or killed. It also tells us that in the event that Jakob gets killed, he will be leaving his young and sick niece to care for herself.

The character's actions and mood also imply of a prevailing state of constant fear - whether that of being killed or seeing someone close to you die a meaningless death.The Jews in the film were waiting for an inevitable annihilation, a fate they have long accepted until Jakob gave them an alternate view of the future because of his news of a possible liberation by the Russians.

Through out the film, we are still constantly given pieces of Jewish life before the ghetto. Through flashbacks and what the characters say, we are presented concrete glimpses of how their lives of the films protagonists were before the ghetto. We also shown that in the ghetto, former actors, lawyers, businessmen and even people from the church lose their former identities. In the ghetto, they are made to wear the star and made to work and follow rules like everybody else, albeit their former position or affiliation. Everybody suffers, everyone is subjected to the harshness of ghetto life everyday there's no distinction in class, social status, age and/or sex. We see old people doing hard labor, children getting sick and eating mere crumbs or pieces of vegetables. We see the protagonists picking flies out of their soup and making a feast out of minced onion and a slice of bread. Frank Bayer told the story and made us feel what the characters felt using visuals – and very powerful visuals at that.

Radio and Cotton Balls

[claudio_carvalho · 7/10 · 15 February 2016]

In 1944, in Poland, the Jew Jakob Heym (Vlastimil Brodský) breaks the curfew in the ghetto where he lives and a guard in the lookout sends him to see the chief of the guards. Jakob is released by the German, but overhears a radio broadcasting that the Russians are advancing towards their town. On the next morning, his comrade Mischa (Henry Hübchen) wants to risk his life to steal a couple of potatoes in a German store, Jakob tells that the Russians are coming and confides that he has a radio. Soon the secret Jakob has told to Mischa is known by the residents of the ghetto and Jakob notes that his lies give hope to the Jews, reducing the number of suicide. Meanwhile his niece Lina (Manuela Simon), who is sick, gets better with Jakob stories and believes that clouds are made of cotton balls.

"Jakob, der Lügner" is a dramatic film with a beautiful and heartbreaking story of hope and survival in one of the saddest and darkest moments of the contemporary history. The analogy between Jakob's radio that gives hope to his comrades and the cotton balls that helps his niece to live a fairytale is the summit of this tale and the open conclusion where the viewer does not know what he will tell to Lina are amazing. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Jacob, o Mentiroso" ("Jacob, the Liar")

The original award-winning "Jacob the Liar"

[carioca-6 · 8/10 · 16 August 2000]

This was the first and only East German film ever to be nominated for the Best Foreign Language film Oscar. It won many other awards, and features three actors, who are still very much active today. It has been re released in video throughout the world. I saw it after ordering it recently from Amazon.com. For all the accolades the film received, I must say that I enjoyed the recent American remake, directed by a Hungarian Holocaust Survivor, much more. I know the critics panned this version, but curiously the same things critics hated about the remake are taken right out of this, the original. In any case, the original is also good, though disappointing if you enjoyed the recent JACOB... The film does offer us the opportunity to see the famous Czech actor, V. Brodsky, still very active in Czech film and TV. We also see a young (late 30s) Armin Mueller-Stahl, prior to his defection from Communist East Germany. Interestingly, he also starred in the recent remake as the sixtyish doctor in the film. The young romantic (played by L. Schreiber in the remake) is played by the still active Henry Hubchen, recently featured in the German hit SONNENALLEE. In my opinion, the film is mostly worthwhile for these hindsight curiosity values. However, many will feel it is indeed a landmark film, on its own. Watch it and decide what you think.

The Real McCoy

[diacad · 17 March 2001]

One of the legacies of the late GDR (East Germany) is a treasure-trove of cultural productions, much of which has been inaccessible to us. An exception is the 1974 DEFA (GDR successor to pre-1945 Ufa Film Studio) production "Jacob the Liar", which enjoyed a brief exposure in the US in the late '70s, even being nominated for an Academy Award. If you missed it, this is your chance to have it, beautifully transferred to DVD (also another justification for splurging on a DVD player, if you haven't already). Although it can be viewed without, the subtitles (your choice of language)are well-worded and legible.

"Jacob" centers on a man inadvertently finding himself a focus of hope among the doomed in a Polish ghetto. Circumstances have him reluctantly pretending to possess a forbidden radio, which leads to dramatic (and comedic) situations, and even raises moral questions and insights about truth and responsibility in such an adverse context. Billed as a tragic comedy, the acting and pacing of the story are equal to the serious nature of the subject.

Director Frank Beyer's "Jacob" should not be confused with the 1999 Hollywood remake starring the talented (but often glib and facetious) Robin Williams. This Columbia distribution is a sort of roadrunner-cartoon version trying to be profound. It has the frantic pacing and excessive gratuitous violence evidently presumed necessary to put it over. If you must have a Holocaust-era drama that can bear watching more than once, get the real McCoy.

Very good, though a tad sanitized

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 20 November 2006]

This East German movie is a very unusual movie about the Holocaust because it focuses on life within the ghetto. However, the film seemed a bit sanitized in how the residents looked and how they were treated. Unlike some later films, some of the Jews in this film looked awfully well-fed and conditions didn't seem all that bad. The cattle car where the remaining Jews were placed seemed rather spacious and not all that bad either--even though in reality many died on the cars due to conditions. In addition, some of the German soldiers seemed pretty nice. Perhaps this might have been that the Soviet-dominated East Germans were more willing to talk about their sordid past but were still struggling with fully accepting it. Whatever is the case, this aspect of the film did surprise me a bit.

Now as for the rest of the film, it was marvelous and provided an odd insight into life in the ghettos. The acting was excellent and the film is very much worth seeing, though not nearly as compelling as THE SHOP ON MAIN STREET, SCHINDLER'S LIST or AU REVOIR LES ENFANTS. I have not seen the recent remake starring Robin Williams, so I can't really compare the two, but my inclination is almost always to go with the originals.

PS--The English captioning for this film is pretty poor. Instead of directly translating what is said, it's often summarized or even wrong. My knowledge of German isn't too bad, and several times what they said did not correspond at all to the captioning. You can't blame the film makers for this, but the company that released the film.

Both touching and sadly funny, a special film.

[runamokprods · 9/10 · 17 April 2014]

Only a very few films have succeeded in treating the plight of the Jews under the Nazis with a sense of humor, but this is one of them. Sort of an earlier variation on 'Life is Beautiful', but this is far less saccharine, and the humor here is dry and sad, not slapstick and wacky.

In a Jewish ghetto in 1944, Jacob is brought to the police station for curfew violation. There he hears news on the radio that the Russians are advancing nearer. He uses this hopeful news to stop a fellow ghetto resident from committing sure suicide by trying to steal extra food. But in a moment of foolishness, Jacob claims he heard the news on his own secret radio. Soon the entire town is hounding him for positive news, and the shy quiet Jacob has become an unwanted celebrity and bringer of hope, forcing him into a moral quandary and more lies. The power of this simple fable is enhanced by some very touching flashbacks where we see these now beaten down characters as their lives were just a few years before – full of love, laughter, food to eat, nice homes.

Vlastimil Brodsky is great as Jacob, even if he's unfortunately dubbed into German. He avoids the traps of sentimentality or self-pity. Right to the end this is an honest and moving tale of trying to retain one's humanity in the face of ever more overwhelming odds. The hard-to- find DVD could have a better image, but the print was apparently in bad shape from ill- storage in East Germany. (This was the only East German film ever nominated for an Oscar)

Carried by the lead actor

[Horst_In_Translation · 6/10 · 13 June 2016]

The following paragraph is my short review for this movie from summer 2016:

"Jakob, der Lügner" or "Jacob the Liar" is an East German 100-minute movie from 1974, so this one is already over 40 years old. And unlike many other films from the GDR, this one is in color. Then again, by the mid-1970s, this is almost to be taken for granted already. The special aspect about this film is that it is the only GDR film that managed to score an Academy Award nomination, a huge success for director Frank Beyer and his co-writer Jurek Becker, who also wrote the novel that this film is based on. When this film came out, World War II had been over for 30 years approximately, so this is also the gap in time between what we see and when this was made. A bit strange to see now that the gap between today and this film is already over a decade more. It may have been the subject that appealed to the Academy as it plays in the Jewish ghetto in the final years of Nazi Germany. And it is the story of one man, the title character, a career-defining performance by Czech actor Vlastimil Brodský. He is not really known today anymore, which is sad because his portrayal here got me curious about other works from him. Other than him, most of the cast is German however. Most German cinema fans will have heard of Erwin Geschonneck, Armin Mueller-Stahl and the very young Henry Hübchen. They all add their fair share to make this film a success. I would not call it great or one of the very best I have seen from the year 1974, but it was still a pretty good watch, mostly thanks to Brodský. Go see it.

Today, in February 2023, this was shown again at a movie theater and there was no fee to go and watch it, so I decided to give it another shot and see what stays in the mind for me this time:

I would say that I stay with the overall rating of 3/5 or 6/10 here, but I will certainly add some more thoughts now: I still think that Brodský was quite good, but maybe not as enthusiastic about his performance anymore. Geschonneck was older than I thought here and this kinda fits that he looked younger because he led such a long life and made it to the age of 101. The female cast members I have not mentioned yet. Blanche Kommerell had a lot of screen time here and she was a pretty prolific actress for decades and she is still alive, even if her last credit is now already over 15 years ago. Early on, her character was about romance, but towards the end then the hardships of war really get to her. Her own life may be saved thanks to her boyfriend pretty much, but her parents get deported. Manuela Simon must also be mentioned and I think she gave a really good child performance here. She also did so much with her eyes and face expressions. She captured the spirit of her character really in a perfect manner. The last shot with the clouds and her talking about those and wondering of what they consist while making a connection to a tale she heard earlier was pretty good, even if it was mostly her elevating the material there I would say. Other than that, it did not feel as memorable and spot-on as I would have liked it to be. But Simon was a scene stealer in every scene she was in. It's such a pity to see that she has not acted in anything other than this film which also surprises me a bit because her role here was pretty significant. You don't even find an information apparently what happened. Probably she just led a normal life away from the limelight. She must be in her mid50s now closing in on 60. I hope she is still alive. If so, she is not the only cast member who is still alive. Hübchen of course is still shooting movies and he was so young here. Mueller-Stahl was not that young anymore, but he is also still with us in 2023 and over 90 now. Klaus Brasch is in here too and he died at a really young age a little over five years later.

The GDR is often remembered for its fairytale films especially and for good reason because I agree that those are among the best the country had to offer movie-wise. So it is no surprise that they brought in a little fantasy component here too when the protagonist read or told this little story to the girl listening to him. She's a smart one though, instantly understood that it was Jakob who had the radio and got the news. Well, at least that is what everybody was thinking. Maybe he was especially mad that one moment because he did not want the girl to know and did not want to lie to her too because of her youth and innocence. I was wondering nonetheless what was up with this key story. I mean I understand that it got them hope when they received news that the Russians are coming closer or just simple news unrelated to war when one character is happy that a Jewish singer is having success in America. Or the mention of the foundation of Israel etc. I still felt that there was no need really for Jakob to come up with the lie about the radio early on. At that point he would not know the effects of this lie and the other lies, so I really did not understand why he said this. Came out of nowhere. Speaking of the effects, there are also some that Jakob himself was not aware of. Like there was a guy who actually possessed a radio and he destroyed it to make sure that it won't be found if they are going through everybody's stuff and raid all the apartments in the ghetto. Another consequence was the death of a character, namely we see him being shot by a German soldier there when he talks to a man inside a train or so after they were prohibited to talk to them. And he was actually talking about the radio there, so this lie in a way resulted in him getting shot you could say. At least indirectly. This was still a moment of slightly shoddy editing. I would say that this production area was not the movie's biggest strength.

So this is not really a film that encourages telling lies as we also see when it is depicted as some kind of relief when towards the end Jakob comes up with the truth towards his closest friend. The latter's reaction was among the more memorable moments of the film. It can also be added then of course that you can easily say this is a GDR production because the way in which the Russians are depicted here as the ones that are basically saviors for the prisoners felt a bit exaggerated at times, but oh well if they saw it like this really back then, then I did not say a thing. I personally would say that the beginning that you can almost call a prologue here was the bets the film had to offer. The fact that Jakob got send to the police office because he ignored the curfew when he really didn't was absurd enough. Add to that the fact that they had no watches to see what time it is, so they did not even know when they had to stay home was additional absurdity. Plus the sign at the door that Jews are strictly prohibited from entering the building and he is told to go inside. Or that Jakob wakes up the guy working there and said guy asks Jakob for the time then and so on. There were so many absurd moments in that scene that I easily remember it. Of course, in terms of the story, this scene was also needed because there Jakob got the news that the Russians are really not far and this news was basically what started the entire lying process. Fake news alert! I have read that people compared this film on many occasions to Roberto Benigni's "La vita è bella" and I can see the key parallel between the two protagonists, even if I would say that, other than that, I don't see too many parallels between the two films. The girl here is also not as much of a crucial part to the story as the boy in the Benigni film, but this is clear of course because he is the protagonist's son. That other film also included a more frequent depiction of the enemy. Here German soldiers/officers are missing almost completely if we ignore the start for a moment and the shooting of one character and the toilet scene. I think other than those, there are none.

Speaking of comparisons, this film was successful enough for an American/Hollywood version being made a quarter of a century later and the lead actor there was the late Robin Williams. I have not seen that film (yet?), so I cannot talk about parallels and differences between the original and remake, but I will only focus on this original here. I have also not read Becker's novel, so no elaborations there either. This movie here to which he contributed as well, even if not as much as Beyer obviously, is still remembered in Germany and here and there they are showing it on national television. Not sure what it is like in other countries. Animals are not a factor in this film. The only ones you see briefly are flies around the food. It is a rather bleak film you could say, but this should also surprise nobody looking at which country made it and also what it is all about. The ending is also pretty sobering and depressing for sure with the elaboration on the hairdresser and everybody being on the train to an unknown destination, which in the best case is just a labor camp and in the worst case their death. The shot before that when the girl runs around joyfully and screams happily about their upcoming travelling is maybe the most heartbreaking moment of the film. The ending comes pretty abrupt I would say as we look at the sky and see the clouds and keep wondering what they consist of. The violin music that is featured pretty heavily at the ending especially is pretty nice though, but then again I am biased there because I love violin music in general. Overall, this film still gets a thumbs-up from me, even if I would say now that it is closer to a mediocre film, maybe even to a weaker film than to a really great film, but overall the outcome is good enough. See it if you care about the subject.

Excellent Film Excellent Perspective

[chrissso · 8/10 · 20 August 2015]

Life in the ghettos of Poland … we can't see it enough … the lessons are that important!

Lives condemned to Purgatory … stripped of their possessions … relocated … waiting for the trains … waiting for "resettlement" … waiting to see if the unthinkable was more than rumor.

The feeling of hopelessness would be overwhelming … yet the feeling of hope would also be present as that is human nature … and that is perfectly captured in this remarkable East German film!

It is a cleaver script that makes a clever statement. The acting in the film by all principals was superb, as was the location and sets. It just looked and felt so accurate. More so the ending was an incredibly well done!

Who would think that such a great film could come out of E Germany in 1975! And talk about aging well!!! Highly recommended!!!

PS: Agree with the review that stated that "the English captioning for this film is pretty poor." I don't speak German but could easily tell it was off.

8/10

Powerful ending, but a chore to get there

[nyctc7 · 6/10 · 9 February 2007]

This move has a very powerful ending, but unfortunately it is a chore to get there. The script and many of the characters aren't all that interesting. The acting is mixed--Manuela Simon, who plays Jacob's ten-year old (or so) niece, out-acts them all, except for of course Vlastimil Brodský (Jacob) and Erwin Geschonneck (Kowalski) who do give fine performances. There is nothing notable about the other performances. The film moves along at a stagy, slow pace. The deprivations of life in the Ghetto are not fleshed out. Same with the brutality of the Nazis. This makes the film seem at best ungenuine and at worst dishonest. But the powerful ending makes up for it all. However, I wish there had been more interesting drama along the way. There's no tension in the film at all. It reminded me a bit of Gus Van Sant's "Elephant," where we see the mundane, somewhat boring day in the life of some high school students--it moves at a snail's pace, but that's what makes the ending especially shocking and disturbing. Also in Jacob the Liar there are some (in my opinion unsuccessful) attempts at humor. But the subject of the film is no laughing matter. So I have a lot of nits to pick with this film, but I'll be haunted by the ending forever. forever.

Jacob the liar, one of the great German films

[vaynard_12 · 8/10 · 28 September 2005]

As you can see in, the film, different kinds of aesthetics were used to create this kind of environment that the director wants us to experience. By using close-up shots, we could see and feel the character's feelings and emotions first hand, as if we are right in front of them, every detail of it, and we can really relate to that kind of scene, and that makes the film more personal and up-close to the viewers. Another thing is the claustrophobic environment which depicts the kind of life in the polish ghetto and makes us feel and experience that we are also in that environment. Another interesting shots in these film is the long shot used in the somewhat castle like structure and the clouds in the end part. You could not usually see that in a Frank Beyer film specially that most of his films shows close-up and mid-ranged shots. Another intriguing fact here, that's the first ever German Film that I had watched in colored and so does Frank Beyer's first time to use modern technology to enhance his film. The blending of colors as I may say is good and it really enhances the scenes and the character's emotion. You could see that much livelier and lighter colors appears when Jacob and his niece were in a dream sequence, so does when people gets hope from the news Jacob brings, their faces light-up and so does the surrounding. When it come to the storyline and background of the film, you could easily see that the film really focuses on people's reactions, emotions and their life as a whole in the ghetto rather than really opposing and getting into the antifascist theme that Beyer usually does in his films. Natzis here portrays a different side of the story as they are somewhat humanized or rather has shown the soft side of the Natzis as rationale beings and considerable ones if I may add. I have also seen the remake of this film, the one starred by Robin Williams. I really never thought that this film is much better than the remake. Nothing beats the original.To sum it all up, I think it's really one of the best movies Frank Beyer has ever done.

Worthy of its awards.

[gorney001 · 7 May 2003]

I think this film was very well done. I was drawn into the plot and characters very quickly. I would reccommend this film to anyone who would enjoy a new outlook on life. I know that is one of the things I got from watching this movie. Jakob was a very charismatic person and I could not wait to find out what would happen to him and his comrades. Though this movie was not very fast paced, there was enough going on that kept me interested during the entire movie.

Award winning and very interesting

[davorka46 · 27 April 2003]

This movie is a story full of lies that brought more hope to the Jews living in the Ghetto. Jakob was the one being outside after curfew and he had to report to the Police, and after walking into the station he heard some news on the Radio. He thought that it was good news that the Russians were coming closer. He could not m=keep that to himself so he went and told this to one of his friends who was not supposed to say anything. After a short while the whole Ghetto was talking about those news. Jakob saw that everybody was feeling much better so he continued to tell lies about the news. This is a movie that gets better and better as it moves along. It also gives hope to the Jewish people in the Ghetto and Jakob was having good intentions but it just complicated itself more and more.

My feelings on this award winning movie.

[Erb502 · 15 April 2003]

Jacob the Liar

I liked this movie, and I think it had good lessons to learn from. I liked Lena's character. She was completely innocent throughout the entire movie, and I felt that she showed not everyone had lost hope during the time. Even at the end, she was excited that they were going away, and she had no clue where. She was just being a kid, and going anywhere is exciting when you are young. Jacob starting telling stories about the Russians and other things he knew about the war. The reality was that he knew nothing more than anyone else. In a way, it did help the people's spirits though. But in the end, everyone was unhappy because their optimism was crushed with the sign that said everyone was to gather together with less than 5 kilos in luggage so they could `go away'.

I think my favorite scene was when the old man thought he heard voices in the freight car. While I was watching the movie, I thought he was crazy and apparently so did everyone else. They all thought he was just hearing things that weren't there. The reality was that there was someone in the car, but they never showed who and a guard shot the old man before he could tell anyone. The scene sparked my curiosity on who it was exactly in the car and why that person was being held in there, or if they were being held in the at all.

The whole radio lie caused a lot of problems in the movie, and that's why I said above that there were some good lessons to be learned in the movie. One lie sparked another for him, and that got him in deeper into his stories until so many people were asking about the radio that he just couldn't make anything else up and he finally told his friend. Surprisingly enough, the friend took the news very well. In a way, it almost seemed like he was expecting it all along. The movie shows that lying for whatever cause is never a good cause no matter how much you think it may help the situation. The lies turned everyone against him in the end, and they all ended up the same way anyhow unfortunately. Although this wasn't my favorite movie in class so far, I did enjoy watching it, and it kept my attention throughout the story.

Yes of course it's that good

[pvtsew · 31 March 2014]

The movie starts with a violin and scenes of the Jewish ghetto. Jakob is one of many Jews in a German-controlled, Polish ghetto. While walking home one night he is sent by a guard to headquarters. There he hears a brief broadcast that Russian troops are doing well against the Germans. The next day, in a desperate attempt to save his friend from committing a rash act and stealing potatoes, he tells him of the Russian advance. He twists the story and it soon is believed that he possess a radio. In order to protect his exaggeration, he continues to tell more and more lies by pretending he hears them on the radio. His lies have a huge impact on camp, but he eventually needs to tell the truth to his friend Kowalski, who kills himself out of despair for living another day in the ghetto. The Jakob's lie remains largely undiscovered, his street is eventually deported to their presumed death.

At the beginning of watching the movie I was quite sick of seeing another German movie about WW2. However this movie was amazing. I like how it toys with the perception of truth. Plenty of truths are told that are harmful, and lies are told that are good. Furthermore, truth is merely the acceptance of truth and is useful in so far as it accomplishes an act. Though Jakob may never had possessed a radio, his initial statements were disbelieved. The same way a cloud is out of water, though it is really out of tiny drops of frozen water. Though the obvious interpretation is that life in the ghetto was terrible, and that Jakob's lives were pure hearted, it's also a statement on underlying scientific notions that we cannot legitimately achieve through personal work what we can do together. That notion is very clear for an East German movie.

I enjoyed the way the film cut to flashbacks to explain who characters were. It's a short, concise and brilliant method of exposition. The relationships were very well-developed. Rosa and Mischa's courtship was handled well. Although it's obviously sincere, no reasonable parent would approve of such a love in the ghetto.

Though abuses are shown, such as when Herschel Schtamm is killed after investigating a boxcar. Much of the movie focuses on the psychological damage forced by isolation, poverty, and a general racism. The movie knows that abuses are known, it's the stories of relationships that aren't as things like letters and radio were banned. For example, Uncle Jakob's care for his niece, and the niece herself, show a compassion. The explanation of his lamp helps to put emphasis on the love of families that was destroyed, frankly by any organized government and especially that of the 3rd Reich.

Substitution of Someting Better than Reality

[maxbolam · 12 May 2003]

Exemplary Situations of life in a Jewish Ghetto, during the reign of Hitler's forces were very much present in "Jakob der Lügner". One such occurrence of how the Jews tried to deal with their new realities involved the substitution of thoughts about reality and the invading/controlling Nazi War machine in many of their lives, for other exciting and positive experiences, of which they tried to focus. Jakob tries to focus on such an experience, which occurred in his past, before he was forced to move to the Ghetto. He thinks of his former wife, and the happy times they spent together. Through his invention of the "radio broadcasts", he helps others living in the Ghetto to think of a reality, on which they can believe, due to its similarity with their wishes for their futures and even for their reality under Nazi control to be different than it was in reality.

A historically very significant east German movie

[dijaz · 25 April 2003]

The role of Jacob is that he is a Jewish man who lives in Poland at the time of the Nazi-rule. He falsely tells a coworker about a radio he owns and he tells him good news about the Russian Army getting closer and closer everyday. This lie spreads quickly thru the Jewish ghetto and immediately all coworkers ask Jacob daily about news. In desperation Jacob makes up good news and spreads them around the ghetto. As the movie moves along it shows violence and prosecution of the Jewish people. At the end of the movie the ghetto including Jacob leave their home town and head in unknown direction. Jacob lied about the radio and spread good news to keep hope and live in his community. He did not reach his goal because his predictions of freedom of Jews never occurred.

Bernandin Mali

I expected something different

[medena_20 · 2 May 2003]

This is an interesting film. However, I must say that I was very disappointed at the end. I expected something totally different. First, I thought it would be a comedy. But soon I found out that this was not the case. The film is about Jacob, an old Jewish man. He lies throughout the movie that he has a Radio, just to keep the hopes up of the people around him. Everyday he tells the people around him that the Russians are moving closer and that soon they will be free from the Nazis. As the movie goes on things get more complicated and at the end he decides to tell the truth, but no one believes him. Even though he had good intentions, Jacob did not achieve his objective. All he did is cause more problems in the ghetto.