Jakob tries to contain his secret, but soon it has leaked out and gotten terribly blown out of proportion by the other Jewish residents. He sees that this one little news bulletin has substantially lifted the group s spirit. And so, he begins to give them hope by telling false stories about the approaching Russians. All of it is basically hooey, but the suicide rate is down, and everyone seems to be more optimistic about the future. Audiences sure did love the film, but it got some of the worst critical reception of the year.
Life is Beautiful pressure.
The atmosphere, as envisioned by director Peter Kassovitz, is successfully portrays the horror of the Holocaust in an effective and subtle manner. It s too bad that often during the 2nd act, he doesn t allow the audience room enough to appreciate all that. Williams, in a well rounded and laid-back performance, manages to contain his usual goofiness with style for virtually every minute of the running time. Williams improvises a radio transmission with Winston Churchill with restrained but hilarious success. The supporting cast, full of veteran character actors, is easily one of the aspects to marvel at in Jakob the Liar.