Jakob the Liar

I won't repeat the plot as many other comments have taken care of that. Many of Robin Williams' performances have been Robin Williams playing a character -- there's a wink and a hint that he'll bust out with some shtick at any time. He (or the director, or both) contain that impulse to an impressive degree in this movie and do so without the excessive sincerity that Williams often substitutes for emotion in his other parts. (Good Will Hunting contains an overrated performance of this type.) Example: in the scene where he takes on the voices of Churchill, Stalin, and others, it's wholly within his character's desire to persuade the little girl (who's wonderfully played, by the way) that hope remains. I agree that some of the actors, notably Alan Arkin, aren't very good, but other, less-well-known ones support the movie well. In addition, I thought the production design, cinematography, and editing were thoughtful and well-done. And I liked the ending...

Perhaps best described as Good Morning Vietnam meets Schindler's List. Robin Williams plays Jakob, a Jewish prisoner in WW2 Germany who hears some news about the approaching Russian army, and lets it slip to his friend Mischa who believes Jakob has a radio to have gotten this news. Rumors then spread throughout the Jewish ghetto and soon everyone believes he has a radio, so he decides to make up news in order to give them some sense of hope in this holocaust. It's important to note that Williams is NOT trying to be funny in this film, which is appropriate considering the setting. Well written and produced with noteworthy performances

If you are interested in the holocaust, and want to be entertained at the same time, Jakob the Liar is your film. This is not intended to be an historical film. And, to be sure, it isn't.

Just speaking for myself, I wish everyone would educate themselves about this horrible episode in human history. If you have a friend who refuses to watch honest historical films, turn them on to Jakob the Liar. It IS Robin Williams, after all. For sure, this film will encourage them to learn more about the holocaust. Its very entertaining and does give some superficial insight into what the atrocity was all about.

Robin Williams did his best. He did a fine job in this film, and deserves even more credit just for making the attempt. On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd give it an 8.

Over the years, I have found Robin Williams to be one of the most frustrating actors around. Clearly loaded with talent, in my opinion at least most of his movies have been disappointments. He either gives unnecessarily over-the-top performances that really don't fit the context, or he controls his natural comedic instincts to the point at which he comes across as uninspired. So I wasn't sure what to expect in "Jakob the Liar." What I found was a surprisingly good performance in a wonderful movie.

Williams plays Jakob Heym, confined to the Jewish Ghetto of Warsaw by the Nazis during the Second World War. With hope fading, Heym accidentally discovers that Russian troops aren't far away, and begins to spread the news. Others become convinced that he has a radio hidden, and Heym's fictional "news reports" from the BBC provide enough hope to keep the residents of the Ghetto going through this dark time.

Williams (also executive producer) did a fine job as Heym. As one would expect, his character comes across as something of a comedian ("I believe we're God's Chosen People; I just wish He had chosen someone else!") but his humour is appropriate; the sort of dark humour one would expect from people in this situation. The other performances faded into the background, not because they were bad but because Williams so dominated the movie. Special mention should go to Justus von Dohnanyi, though, who played the Nazi Commandant "Preuss." Dohnanyi manages to capture exactly the sort of slimy, inhuman character one would expect to be put in charge of such a business. The rest of the cast (primarily Hannah Taylor-Gordon as Lina and Liev Schreiber as Mischa) are good, but overshadowed by Williams.

The character of Kirschbaum (played by Armin Mueller-Stahl) filled me with sadness and represents a clear statement of the evils of Nazism. A world-famous cardiologist, Kirschbaum, because he is Jewish, is forbidden to practice medicine, and ends up cleaning toilets. Mueller-Stahl plays the character with a quiet dignity, and next to Williams is the clear highlight of the movie.

This movie represents a wonderful testimony to the importance of hope in helping people see themselves through what must seem to be impossible situations. Although fictional, it is an important movie for those with an interest in the events of this era.

7/10

Personally, I found very touching & heart wrenching this story of one man's efforts to lift spirits in a World War II Jewish ghetto in Poland. Many have compared it to Life is Beautiful, and there are some similarities. I can understand why some viewers take offense at any film which might seem to trivialize the Holocaust, but I found Life is Beautiful not disrespectful but deeply moving, and consider this particular tale to be a captivating depiction of one individual's unique attempt to keep hope alive in a desperate situation.

The story revolves around a lonely Polish shopkeeper & widower, Jakob, who is confined to a Jewish ghetto in 1944. When summoned to ghetto headquarters for being out after curfew, he hears a radio report about Russian troop movements. To prevent a friend's suicide, he claims to have heard on his radio that the Russians are very close (within a few hundred kilometers) and will liberate the ghetto soon, causing rumours that Jakob has a secret radio. Instead of telling the truth, he tries to lift spirits and impart hope to the war weary & depressed ghetto inhabitants by maintaining the fiction of possessing this radio, and regularly disseminating uplifting fictional news bulletins about the Allies' progress. Meanwhile, Jakob is also hiding a young Jewish girl who escaped from a camp transport. The Germans hear reports of this forbidden radio and are seeking out the resistance operator of it.

Robin Williams dominates this movie and is brilliant as usual in the endearing, sympathetic role of the kind Jakob who must try to balance getting out lots of hopeful (if fictitious) war reports to keep spirits up while at the same time avoid Nazi suspicion and detection.

The movie portrays the despair of the ghetto's inhabitants and the grave injustice of their captive state. For example, Jewish people are prohibited from practicing medicine and a cardiologist is reduced to cleaning toilets, though does so with good humour, grace, and dignity. On the whole it is a very poignant tale, with any humour having a sad note to it. Jakob the Liar shows another tragic aspect of the Holocaust. Rather than the horrors of the concentration camps that are often the setting of such stories, here we see the injustice and despair of prolonged ghetto captivity.