A Jewish ghetto, World War II. Jakob Heym is caught by the guards walking on the streets after 8pm, and thus sent to report to the office for punishment. In the hallway, Jakob overhears a radio announcement that the Soviet Army is 20 km away from Bezanika. A superior releases him. In order to stop friend Mischa from stealing potatoes from a wagon, Jakob lies that he has a radio and heard the news of the Soviet Army. The rumors of the radio spread, and the people keep asking Jakob about further news, so he has to make stuff up, or lie that the radio is broken. Jakob also takes care of a little girl in his apartment, Lina. Mischa on the other hand marries Rosa. When Jakob reveals the truth, that there is no radio, his friend Kowalski hangs himself. The Nazi Army orders all the Jews deported from the ghetto on to a train, to an unknown direction.
One of the most famous movies from East Germany, a brave, honest and cathartic depiction of an episode from the Holocaust made by the Germans themselves, "Jacob the Liar" is a giant meditation on the ethical problem of lying in the name of giving people hope. Is it justified? Can a lie be used for good? Is it not better to simply accept reality, no matter how depressing it is? Can these lies create even more problems? The director Frank Beyer uses a "raw", minimalist style without music to depict the disturbing environment of a Jewish ghetto in World War II as a direct contrast to his protagonist's imaginary lies and pipe dreams, and is much more "grounded" and realistic than Benigni's similar "Life is Beautiful"—among other things, Jakob finds a fly in his bowl of soup, whereas when he decides to use a public toilet intended for German officers, his friend Kowalski has to deliberately throw some boxes on the ground, to distract a German guard who was waiting in front of said ocuppied toilet, so the guard beats Kowalski while Jakob secretly escapes from the toilet. One Jew who defied an order and approached a wagon was shot on the spot. On the other hand, Jakob is surprisingly optimistic and stoic as a character, which gives the story optimism—there is just enough humor for this whole story to not be unbearably depressing and dark. In the opening, a text says: "The story of Jakob the Liar never happened like that". But then another text adds: "Definitely not". "Maybe it happened like that, nontheless". In one scene, Jakob talks to the girl Lina: "I think school is a great invention. Dumb kids go in, and smart kids come out". Some illogical moments bother (why would nobody demand to see Jakob's alleged radio?) and certains scenes don't work (the cringe attempt of Jakob changing his voice to deceive Lina that she is listening to a radio hidden behind a wall), yet the story's overall grip is simply superior and intelligent.
Grade:+++
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