Hey folks, Harry here with our low level NRG guy again, but this time he's here to tell us about the testing of the JAKOB THE LIAR trailers. We haven't heard too much about this film other than people drawing parallels to LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL. Well, gosh... I guess we can't get enough holocaust movies right? I am especially fond of treating it all with a sense of humor. Well, I for one can't wait for the Winston Churchill impersonation! I am assuming that what the NRG is testing is the Television Ad Campaign, since the Theatrical Trailers are in theaters already.
It's the low level NRG guy again, and for the past two days we've been testing four different trailers for Jakob the Liar, the Robin Williams/Alan Arkin WWII concentration camp flick. The basic premise of it is Robin Williams plays a member of a jewish concentration camp (along with Liev Schrieber) and tries to instill hope in his comrades by lying to them and telling them he has a radio that keeps broadcasting good news that the war's about to end. Along the way, he picks up an orphan girl. The trailers didn't play too much into that storyline, in fact, one didn't even mention it.
There's bound to be a token romantic lead against Williams. Although the trailers never showed one, the questions kept hinting at it (Would you rather see Robin Williams in a WWII epic drama or a 1940's Jewish romance? I'm serious. That was one of the questions). The trailers don't give too much away, in fact the only one long scene they had was Williams impersonating a Winston Churchill speach over the radio for the camp workers.
The overall reviews from our respondents have been pretty negative. One particular line sticks out in my mind "I remember when Robin Williams was funny, not just trying to make funny dramas." The trailers should be out in about two weeks, so keep your eyes open and decide for yourself.
Oshwitz
Harry here, and this time we have a look at the film itself from Desslock. This'll spell out a bit better what the film is about. And just for those that didn't know, this is a remake of a 25 year old East German film entitled 'Jakob, der Lügner' which is considered to be quite wonderful in it's own right. Here's Desslock...
Desslock here. I was able to see a working print of Jakob not too long ago and I figured I'd drop you a line with my impressions. First off the film is very good, the copy I saw was still rough and missing the soundtrack but it was still very powerful. First off you should know that this film is a remake, I haven't seen the original so I can't compare them but I believe it was an East German film.
The basic story as you know is that Williams is Jakob, a Jewish man living in the Getto in Poland before they cleaned them all out. Well, one day he is out accidentally after curfew and is called into the Commandants office. While there he is able to hear a radio for a brief few minutes that say the Russians are near. He then tells one friend what he hears and before long the rumor is that Jakob has a radio (punishable by death) and people start coming to him for news. He is afraid and doesn't know what to do, so he goes to see a dear friend only to find out that he has hung himself out of despair and hopelessness.
Knowing that if people have hope that there might be fewer suicides and believing that the Russians are infact near he decides to make up news that will hopefully keep his friends alive to see their liberation. There are quite a few sub plots going on and one in particular involves Jakob hiding a little Jewish girl ala Ann Frank. I won't go into all those but the film is worth seeing. It bears a slight resemblance to Life Is Beautiful but since it is a remake of another film the reviewers that do their research will come short of saying it was a rip off of LIB. Also I saw that your trailer review says that Williams more than likely has a love interest, well this is not the case at all. When you see the film you will understand why this is. Well that's all for now, hope this sheds some light on the film for everyone.
Desslock
