The People's Review of Jakob The Liar
Aaron Sha
score = 80
Jakob the liar was a great film. Although that the custumes and scenes
aren't really fancy the plot had developed ver clearly. Sadly the film
wasn't a big hit because it came right after the holocaust movie Life is
beautiful. Another reason is that the film has almost no actions which would
affect the viewer's point! It was mostly about Jakob Heym's life with his
friends in the Polish ghetto. It also show that hope is the key towards
survival. This film is not a must see one but it is definetly good when you
have a lot of time on your hands. And that you want to see a tragic film.
Gumby
score = 100
This movie has an incredible and heart warming performance by Williams. Great movie
all together
Trex
score = 70
Most characters in this film remain undeveloped and even unknown. Robin Williams however
can act better with only his eyes than most performers with their entire being. This is
not a spine tingling suspense film and it is not really about the holocaust. It is a
quiet film about the power of hope, and the need that people have for it. If you
stick to that as the purpose of the film, it is outstanding. We have come to expect
all films in this setting to be primarily about racism and tyranny. I have read
others reviews, all basically saying that it just isn't as good as Schindler's List. The
truth is that it is not even about the same thing.
G. lerner
score = 90
Don't believe the cynical, Robin williams-baiting reviews of the mainstream press. JAKOB
is among the best movies of the year, easily taking its place alongside SHINDLER'S LIST
and LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL as a brilliant cinematic evocation of how people survived the
holocauts. Its themes are broader, more universal than either of the other films. See it
before it leaves the theaters!!!
Robin
score = 100
This is the wickedesr movie i ever swa since 1936
Craig Humphrey
score = 80
I think that this is a good film and Robin Williams plays his charcter well. It's a moving
film and is well worth seeing
iseult
score = 80
As someone who has studied representations of the holocaust in cinema, the
critic in me would have said that this is a fairly standard holocaust film,
employing most of the usual tropes and covering messages that have been
explored before. However, This analytical appraisal just doesn't
account for how sensitively handled and moving the picture actually was.
Being made to wittness atrocities and suffering in a medium meant for
entertainment does give the audience a difficult task, but Williams' leading
performance was engaging and sensitive, creating an ultimately bittersweet
figure but without devolving into kitsch. I believe that the
slightly surreal ending in particular was a strong point which in some ways
surpasses that of Begnini's La vita e Bella (comparisons can't really be
avoided.) There cannot, in all honesty, be a happy ending to a
Holocaust story, and it is to this film's credit that it does not try to
pass one off, at least as the "real" ending. As to whether
this undermines the theme of hope-as-a-countermeasure-to-death that the film
works to build, as I'm sure some critics may comment, I don't believe it is
detrimental at all. The film is as much about the power of suggestion
of hope, as it is of hope itself, and in this sense, the suggestion of a
happy ending alongside the implied tragic reality is perfectly appropriate.
mo |
In Nazi-occupied
Poland during World War II, poor Jewish café owner Jakob Heym (Oscar® winner Robin
Williams) accidentally overhears a forbidden radio news bulletin signaling Soviet military
successes against German forces. To combat the overwhelming depression and suicide that
pervades the ghetto, Jakob invents fictitious news bulletins about Allied advances against
the Nazis. These lies keep hope and humor alive among the ghetto inhabitants-spirits are
lifted, hearts are refreshed and optimism is reborn. The Germans learn of the mythical
radio, however, and begin a search for the resistance hero who dares operate it... -- © 1999 Sony
