A Jewish ghetto in the east of Europe, 1944. By coincidence, Jakob Heym eavesdrops on a German radio broadcast announcing the Soviet Army is making slow by steady progress towards central Europe. In order to keep his companion in misfortune, Mischa, from risking his life for a few potatoes, he tells him what he heard and announces that he is in possession of a radio - in the ghetto a crime punishable by death. It doesn't take long for word of Jakob's secret to spread - suddenly, there is new hope and something to live for - and so Jakob finds himself in the uncomforting position of having to come up with more and more stories.
Acting
Brodsdý's exhausted eyes carry the weight of an entire ghetto's hope
Direction
Beyer finds humor in horror without ever trivializing either
Writing
Each fabricated broadcast grows harder to invent—and to watch
Director
Frank Beyer
Vlastimil Brodský
Jakob Heym
Erwin Geschonneck
Kowalski
Henry Hübchen
Mischa
Blanche Kommerell
Rose Frankfurter
Zsuzsa Gordon
Mrs. Frankfurter
Armin Mueller-Stahl
Roman Schlamm
Friedrich Richter
Dr. Kirschbaum
Margit Bara
Josefa
Reimar Johannes Baur
Herschel Schlamm
Dezső Garas
Frankfurter
Hermann Beyer
Wachhabender
Klaus Brasch
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
East Germany's only Oscar-nominated film, it was banned briefly for not being sufficiently anti-fascist—ironic given its subject.
Beyer's camera rarely shows Germans directly; the oppression becomes atmosphere, making the invisible violence more suffocating.
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