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Jakob the Liar
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Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Binding: DVD
DVD Layers: 1
DVD Sides: 2
EAN: 9780767821476
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC
ISBN: 0767821475
Label: Sony Pictures
Languages: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1English (Subtitled),
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
MPN: D02844D
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Sony Pictures
Region Code: 1
Release Date: March 21, 2000
Running Time: 120 minutes
Studio: Sony Pictures
Theatrical Release Date: 1999
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Editorial Review:
Roberto Benigni's Life Is Beautiful aside, milking the Holocaust for laughs is a dangerous game. Even the blackest, most therapeutic humor turns queasy in the shadow of such monstrous evil; it's like dancing on a mass grave. So Jakob the Liar's got a hard road to hoe--its eponymous schlemiel plays out his semi-farcical adventures in the mean streets of the Warsaw Ghetto circa 1944. The skies are always leaden over Jakob's hometown, reflecting the comic climate that pervades this mostly unfortunate adaptation of Jurek Becker's autobiographical book (first filmed in 1975).
Jakob Heym (Robin Williams in overbearingly earnest mode) gets tangled in a string of self-perpetuating lies about a hidden radio, supposedly broadcasting news that the victorious Red Army is nearing. His desperate attempts to convince a clutch of insistently idiosyncratic friends (clichés to a man: Liev Schreiber, Bob Balaban, Michael Jeter, Alan Arkin) and obligatory Nazi bad guys that the radio doesn't exist are complicated by the fact that he's stashed a fugitive kid (a dead ringer--sorry!--for Anne Frank) in his attic--and by abundant evidence that lies are the best medicine for the ghetto's skyrocketing suicide rate. Copious unfunny misunderstandings and pratfalls eventuate in this Holocaust rendition of Fiddler on the Roof (you expect Williams to break into song: "If I were a funny man...."). Ultimately, Jakob the Liar loses its way for good in some very ugly violence and a rather nasty final twist: the film's ending might just be rubbing our noses in another feel-good lie. --Kathleen Murphy
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Jacob The Liar
Bought Jakob The Liar because am a fan of Robin Williams, actors will make a bad movie every now and then, this is one.
Rating:  - Highly Recommended
Excellent film! Shows a realistic view of life in the Ghetto during WWII without the gore of "The Pianist." This is the only comedy that I have ever seen regarding the Holocaust; Robin Williams gives a stellar performance! I highly recommend this movie to anyone interested in WWII or the Holocaust, but who is turned off by intense brutality or gore. Of course, the movie loses quite a bit of historical accuracy by cutting this reality out, but in my opinion it still captures the event well and ... Read More
Rating: - Beware of the Reviews
There are two films named "Jacob the Liar". The Robin Williams film (actually spelled "Jakob the Liar") is a remake of the film displayed above, which was an award-winning East German film of the 1970s. You can ignore any of the reviews below which mention Robin Williams, since they have been posted here in error.
Rating:  - An honest liar
Jakob the Liar/Jakob der Lugner was the only East German film to be Oscar-nominated and, considering how neatly it falls into the ever-popular tradition of East German films reminding the population of their sins during the war as a means to engender guilt and stifle criticism, it's surprising to learn how difficult it was to get made after the government detected a possibly subversive thread - you don't think the Nazis could be symbolising the communists, do you? It's a good film but not a great ... Read More
Rating: - Sincere but not entirely successful remake
Jakob the Liar/Jakob der Lugner was the only East German film to be Oscar-nominated, yet it was long-forgotten by the time this much-delayed Robin Williams remake finally made it to cinema screens. Indeed, many people thought it a ripoff of Life is Beautiful, despite being finished long before it's rival.
It's certainly isn't really deserving of the contempt poured on it when it was initially released in the wake of Roberto Begnini's surprise hit. The film certainly has better design ... Read More
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