Film Archive

Jakob The Liar (Jakob, der Luegner)

Jakob Heim is stopped by the police in the ghetto because he allegedly did not keep to the curfew. As his penalty, he must report to the Commander. On the radio at the police station, he hears that the Red Army is advancing. New hope for himself and his fellow sufferers! He secretly passes on the news to the others, pretending that he has his own well-hidden radio equipment. He becomes a hero in spite of himself and the faith of all those in the ghetto hangs on his invented news reports.

Frank Beyer was born in 1932 in Nobitz. From 1952-1957, he studied at the FAMU film school in Prague. From 1958-1966, he was a director at the DEFA Studio in Babelsberg, but was forced to leave following his film The Trace of Stones (Spur der Steine, 1966), which was considered a critical affront by the government of the German Democratic Republic, and was forbidden to work in Berlin and Potsdam. He was director at the State Theater in Dresden from 1967-1969 and began making TV films for East German Television in 1970. He started making features for DEFA again in 1974. After the banning of his film Geschlossene Gesellschaft, he was permitted to make films in West Germany. His films include: Five Cartridges (Fuenf Patronenhuelsen, 1960), Invincible Love (Koenigskinder, 1962), Naked Among Wolves (Nackt unter Woelfen, 1963), Carbide and Sorrel (Karbid und Sauerampfer, 1964), Traces of Stone (Spur der Steine, 1966), Jacob the Liar (Jakob der Luegner, 1974), The Hiding Place (Das Versteck, 1978), The Turning Point (Der Aufenthalt, 1983), Bockshorn (1984), Der Bruch (1989), and Nikolaikirche (TV, 1995), among others.
 

Genre Drama
Category Feature Film Cinema
Year of Production 1974
Director Frank Beyer
Screenplay Jurek Becker
Director of Photography Guenter Marczinkowsky
Editor Rita Hiller
Music by Joachim Werzlau
Producer Herbert Ehler
Production Company DEFA/Berlin
Principal Cast Vlastimil Brodsky, Erwin Geschonneck, Blanche Kommorell, Armin Mueller-Stahl
Length 100 min, 2,743 m
Format 35 mm, color, 1:1.66
Original Version German
Subtitled Versions English, French
Sound Technology Mono
Festival Screenings Berlin 1975
Awards Silver Bear Berlin 1975
German Distributor PROGRESS Film-Verleih/Berlin

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