Robin Williams in "Jakob the Liar."

MOVIE INFORMATION

With 10 as a must-see, Jack gives this film an: Star: Robin Williams Director: Peter Kassovitz Rated: PG-13, with violence Length: 114 minutes

ROCHESTERCRITIQUE

Having seen this film, how would you rate it? 10 5 9 4 8 3 7 2 6 1

By Jack Garner
Democrat and Chronicle

(Sept. 24, 1999) -- See the ads and trailers for Robin Williams in Jakob the Liar, and you can't help thinking Life Is (Still) Beautiful.

A film about humor in the face of Holocaust horror would seem to mirror last year's Oscar-winner. And yes, Robin Williams is the American Roberto Benigni.

But hold on. Once you see Jakob the Liar -- and you should -- you'll recognize the comparisons with Life Is Beautiful are superficial and a little silly. An event so widespread and devastating as the Holocaust is justified in being the powerful backdrop for many moving stories.

Jakob the Liar tells a fable of hope and survival in a Polish ghetto, not in a death camp -- the most basic difference between the films. And Jakob doesn't generate the flat-out comedy that flavors the first half of Benigni's gem.

Jakob's tragicomic tale emphasizes the sense of community and the tribulations of day-to-day ghetto life. In this world, heroes are those who find ways to offer hope. Jakob (Williams), a former pancake shop proprietor, is surprised to find he's become such a man.

As the film opens, Jakob is falsely accused of being on the ghetto's streets after curfew. He's taken to headquarters for questioning, where he overhears a Nazi radio broadcast detailing the Soviet army's advancement to within a few miles of the ghetto.

Surprisingly, Jakob escapes execution and is thrown back into the ghetto. Though he's eager to tell his friends the good news about the approaching Allies, he's worried. If they discover he was released after questioning, they may think he's a spy. So he tells a lie: He says he has a radio hidden in his attic.

That's punishable by death, so this lie carries great risk.

Jakob, though, discovers his lie has given his ghetto neighbors a rare bit of hope. If only they can stop spreading the rumor that he has an illegal radio.

Jakob the Liar is directed with moving restraint, robust Yiddish humor and powerful strains of dark irony by French director and co-writer Peter Kassovit. It's an English-language adaptation of a book by Jurek Becker that previously surfaced as an East German film in 1975.

Williams contributes one of his most subtle, relatively restrained performances, moving us with a gentle gesture or a fearful glance. He makes us fully aware of Jakob's flawed humanity and touching generosity of spirit.

Jakob also benefits from a strong supporting ensemble, including Alan Arkin as a father trying to stick to traditions; Liev Schreiber as a former boxer with a good heart but not much smarts; and Armin Mueller-Stahl as an aging physician, who discovers that hope is the only medicine he can prescribe.

That's why he encourages Jakob and his lies.