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It is indeed true that films can play a vital role in conveying the horrific experiences and sufferings of people during historical events of the past, which bring about feelings of empathy amongst all those who view the film. Indeed films enable us to be witness to how creativity and ingenuity plays an important role in lighting up the darkest of situations and how they are portrayed in the film. It is in this context that we will be examining the films “Jacob the Liar” and “Life is Beautiful” to show how historical events such as the Holocaust can create hope and imagination into leading to survival in the most difficult situations.
Certainly hope is a very positive spiritual trait amongst humans with the potential to carry us away from the most difficult situations and has the potency to empower us with the strength to get over disappointment and unhappiness. The most significant of the powers and capability of hope is that it is often available in unexpected situations and places. This is exactly what is portrayed and conveyed in the film “Jacob the Liar” which is a very sober drama. The film is directed by Peter Kassovitz and has its settings in Poland while it was occupied by the Nazis during the Second World War. The film depicts the character of Jakob as played by Robin Williams who has also been the executive producer of the film. Jacob, who owns a small café, is portrayed as a middle aged widower living in a small Polish town which had been converted into a ghetto for Jews. Jakob is shown as having very little money and struggles to keep his soul and body together in the dangerous shadow of the Third Reich. He was shifted to the headquarters of the Nazis for having broken the curfew limitations, and while standing close to a German officer, he overhears by chance from a radio message that the Russian army had advanced to nearby locations and were very close to the town thus posing a serious threat to the Germans. This kind of news was forbidden for the inmates of the ghetto. He informs of these positive developments to another character in the film, Mischa, who was a close associate from the past and very soon everybody in the ghetto gets to know of the news and they start assuming that Jacob has in his possession a forbidden radio set which enabled him to get the news. In consequence everyone is hopeful and expects Jacob to keep providing them news about the latest progress and developments in the war. Jacob, being the seasoned man that he is portrayed as being, takes the opportunity in keeping the spirits of his people in high mode and begins a fabricated account of the consistent and regular advancements in the movement for their liberation, raising in them the hopes that freedom was just around the corner. Having observed that his stories were giving hope to the people in making life easier for them, he began to invent stories and passed them along by creating imaginary reports of war that suggested the occupation of their country would be ending soon.
Jakob the Liar is a typical example of how deception from a positive angle can be used for a good cause in playing a vital role in raising the spirits of people in avoiding loss of life and in bringing contentment during difficult situations. The film is also in the nature of emphasizing the use and effectiveness of ancient Jewish techniques of storytelling that lead to coping with difficult situations and for survival at such times. As a consequence of the techniques used by Jacob in his story telling, the people begin to see a ray of hope for their freedom and survival. His fancy portrayal of the fabricated events considerably reduces the number of people in the Jewish ghetto community who attempt to commit suicide. Even his close friend Kowalski who is a barber is able to get over his fatalistic feelings in feeling the comfort from his hope raising stories. Lina, the ten year old girl, who was terribly ill and was all along hiding away from him, also gets over the pangs of fear and insecurity and starts feeling healthier and happier. His false hopes are however not able to influence Frankfurter, an aged theatre worker, and he is angry at Jacob for having adopted such means. However another character in the film, Kirschbaum, who is a doctor, is highly inspired by Jacob and his positive efforts in uplifting the morale of his people, and he eventually dies in attempts to continue with his welfare activities for his people and community.
However the movie portrays that with the passage of time the story about the radio becomes cumbersome and difficult to cope with by the people. It becomes tedious for them to keep giving attention to such stories which never seemed to end. Under the circumstances Jakob starts pretending that the radio has developed defects, but he continues to get pressurized by people who desperately want to have the latest news and start pampering him and feigning friendship to get some news from him. Ultimately Jakob is unable to withstand the pressure and confides in his friend Kowalsky about the factual position. The film creates sensitive moments here when Kowalsky consoles him and assures him that there was nothing wrong since he too would have behaved in similar circumstances. However very soon the film takes a tragic turn when Kowalsky hangs himself following the confession by Jakob. The Germans somehow come to know of the stories spreading amongst the people and they become sure that someone is having communication equipment stored somewhere, and they get involved in frantic efforts to trace the operator at any cost. In consequence they questioned as to who possessed the radio and Jakob surrenders to stop them from carrying out their threat of killing other hostages in the event of the radio not being placed before them. While being interrogated, Jacob confides in the same German officer whose radio he had listened to in the beginning of the film and about the subsequent spreading amongst his compatriots of the fast approaching Russians. The German officer in panic, asks Jakob to declare in public that this was all a big lie, but when brought before the public, Jakob declines to say anything. As a consequence Jacob was shot dead and the real meaning of the film becomes clear when the Jews are being deported and the Russians launched an attack thus saving them from the clutches of the Nazis, and proving as correct all the information that Jakob had been providing them. Indeed a heart rendering movie that unleashes the power of hope in making life worth living. The film Jakob the Liar is indeed heart touching in celebrating the power of hope as being an essential element of the strengthening of human existence.
The film “Life is Beautiful” is a World War II film by Roberto Benigni who has virtually accomplished the impossible in shaping together a haunting and hilarious comedy from a horrific event such as the Holocaust. The film proved to become an international sensation and was judged the best amongst the foreign language films in American history. Roberto Benigni is the director, co-writer and star of the film and he was awarded the Oscar for the Best Actor and Best Foreign Language Film. Benigni plays the role of Guidi, a Jewish country lad who is portrayed as a crazy romantic in Italy during the time of Mussolini and where he wins over his beloved Nicoletta Braschi, who is interestingly, also his real life sweetheart. The couple is blessed with a son whom they name Joshua and is raised in the intense atmosphere of fascism prevailing in Italy during the time. During the declining years of the war the men folk were sent of to concentration camps and under such circumstances, Guido was determined to prevent his son from suffering the pangs of the cruelty and hardships of such camps. In making such efforts, Guido is able to convince his son that they are in an intricate exercise of contests which are targeted at winning a tank. He convinces his son that if he cried or complained in any way, he would lose points and if he successfully hid himself from the German guards, he would get more points in carrying him forward towards the goal of getting the tank. Guido is also able to convince Joshua that the guards are very cruel and unkind and that they too are on the lookout to make more points in getting the tank. In order to motivate him in protecting himself and hiding from the Nazi guards, he tells his son that all the other children too are hiding so that they get more points for the tank. As and when Joshua makes attempts at returning home, Guido would tell him they are almost complete with the points to be eligible for the tank. It is indeed admirable that despite facing death from all angles in the horrific environment and the increasing prevalence of life threatening diseases, Joshua has the perseverance to accept Guido’s story because of his innocence and his father’s convincing explanation of the entire flows of action.
In this process Guido is able to diligently maintain the stand about the contest with humorous and hilarious resourcefulness and initiative in the face of a constant dwindling of the camp population and the escalating and horrific treatment being meted out to the imprisoned people. These developments proved to be a bigger reason for Guido to take more precautions in keeping his son secure, safe and hidden from the cruel motives of the Nazi perpetrators. Throughout the film Guido walks the tight rope in creating his comedies to keep the hopes afloat and in keeping the thoughts of tragedies away from the minds of his compatriots. All his efforts are in the nature of pure fantasy and he is able to achieve feats that no normal person in any circumstances could accomplish in the given circumstances.
The fiction created by Guido is maintained throughout the film. In the confusion that is caused by the advancing American forces, Guido strictly advises his son to remain hidden in a sweatbox until all have left and that this would be his final test before the tank could be given to him. There is touching tragedy in the film when Guido, while searching for his wife is caught by the Nazis and shot dead, but this too not before he could use his humor in making his son laugh and feel good. He moves and marches in imitating action of the Nazi guard who had caught him, as though they were both marching together. Ultimately Joshua does survive and realizes that he has won the game when he sees an American tank that has come to liberate them from the clutches of the Nazis. The end of the film portrays a happy Joshua who has been united with his mother.
Nevertheless despite the lighter side in the movie that is present in its entire length, the movie has its moving moments in narrating the poignant story of how a desperate father goes to every imaginable extent, whether by using his comedy tactics or by appealing to concerns for humanity, in protecting not only the life of his young son but also his innocence while confronting the challenges of one of the most barbarous and heinous crimes committed on mankind by the merciless and evil perpetrators. The film is full of moving moments that could throw any sensitive human into a feeling of empathy for the sufferers and the innocence with which the young child is carried away with the inventive gags and humor as initiated by Guido
References
- Jurek Becker, Jakob the Liar, 1996, Arcade Publishing
- Roberto Benigni, Life is Beautiful, 1999, Faber and Faber
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