Review of Jakob The Liar

Introduction

My experience of Robin William’s films is a bit of mixed bag – he may be a comic genius at times but seems to pick his fair share of cringeworthy films so I was not sure what to expect with Jakob The Liar.

Considering the subject matter, I expected a serious film but was surprised that some scenes are almost comic although I’m not sure if this was the intention. William’s performance is strong and he is helped by a good cast and well shot locations.

Overall this film was surprisingly enjoyable and offers a different perspective of Jewish suffering in World War 2 from Schindlers List.

Video

The picture is presented in anamorphic widescreen with an aspect ration of 1.85:1. The film is located exclusively in a Polish ghetto during World War 2 in winter - therefore is very grey and has many scenes filmed at night. Most of the cast wear grey/dark clothing and the Germans have grey and black uniforms. There are no compression problems and the picture is stable and clear at all times.

Audio

The sound is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1. Not being an action film, most of the action takes place in front of the viewer with the majority of the sound concentrated on the centre channel and front stereo pair. The dialogue is crisp and clear at all times and is well positioned. The rear channels and subwoofer are infrequently used but overall the sound is adequate.

Features

The extras consist of a trailer for Jakob The Liar, a trailer for The Awakenings, a behind the scenes featurette and a director’s commentary. The featurette is all of 6 minutes long and is little more than an extended trailer with the addition of some voice over by Robin Williams.

Conclusion

Overall Jakob The Liar was an enjoyable film. The subject matter is serious but the film occasionally takes a slightly lighthearted look at life in a Polish Ghetto. The picture and sound are good as are the performances, but this film deserves better supplementary material – there is plenty of archive material about World War 2 in Poland that would have been appropriate.