Movies like Jacob the Liar
If you like "Jacob the Liar" you are looking for emotional, realistic and tense movies about / with holocaust, judaism, world war two, shoah, nazi, death and friendship themes of Comedy, Crime and Drama genre shot in East Germany or Czechoslovakia.
Find your next favorite and similar movies in two steps:
1. Identify all themes of interest from this film (block below).
2. Look for them in the presented list.
Jacob the Liar (1974)
2K
Original name: Jakob der Lügner
Genre: Comedy, Crime, Drama, War
Country: East Germany, Czechoslovakia
Duration: 100 min.
Story:
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.
Style:
emotional, realistic, tense, uplifting, serious, gloomy, semi serious, fairy tale, crying, black comedy ...
Plot:
holocaust, judaism, world war two, shoah, nazi, death, friendship, gestapo, genocide, hopes, holocaust survivor, military, radio, nazism, jewish ghetto, murder, social problems, israeli, nazi concentration camp, world history, world war, starvation, war, heroes, misfit ...
Time:
1940s, 20th century, year 1944, 70s, 40s
Place:
east germany, israel, poland, germany, europe, german democratic republic, central europe ...
Most similar movies to Jacob the Liar
The list contains related movies ordered by similarity. Recommendation engine sorted out realistic, serious, emotional and bleak films with plots about holocaust, world war two, nazi, anti semitism, world war, war and wartime life mostly in Drama, War and Comedy genres. Some movies like Jacob the Liar: Life Is Beautiful (1997), The Pianist (2002), Naked Among Wolves (1963), The Last Train (2006), The Counterfeiters (2007). The matching attributes are highlighted in bold.
Genre: Comedy, Drama, War
Country: USA, Germany
Duration: 120 min.
Story:
In 1944 Poland, a Jewish shop keeper named Jakob is summoned to ghetto headquarters after being caught out after curfew. While waiting for the German Kommondant, Jakob overhears a German radio broadcast about Russian troop movements. Returned to the ...
Style:
sad, cult classic, emotional, uplifting, semi serious ...
Plot:
holocaust, world war two, jewish ghetto, shoah, nazi, gestapo, world war, radio, judaism, hopes, lie, death ...
Time:
1940s, year 1999, 20th century, year 1942, year 1939 ...
Place:
poland, germany, europe, russia
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance, War
Country: Italy
Duration: 116 min.
Story:
A touching story of an Italian book seller of Jewish ancestry who lives in his own little fairy tale. His creative and happy life would come to an abrupt halt when his entire family is deported to a concentration camp during World War II. While ...
Style:
touching, inspirational, emotional, sentimental, poignant ...
Audience:
chick flick, teens, family friendly, kids, adult
Plot:
holocaust, world war two, nazi, concentration camp, human spirit, life & death, life philosophy, self sacrifice, nazism, life lesson, destiny, ss ...
Time:
1940s, year 1997, 20th century, 90s, 1930s ...
Place:
italy, poland, europe, tuscany
Similarity:
100%
1.0M
Genre: Biography, Drama, Music, War
Country: France, Poland, Germany, UK, USA
Duration: 150 min.
Story:
The true story of pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman's experiences in Warsaw during the Nazi occupation. When the Jews of the city find themselves forced into a ghetto, Szpilman finds work playing in a café; and when his family is deported in 1942, he ...
Style:
emotional, sad, harsh, reflective, bleak ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
holocaust, world war two, survival, genocide, nazi, classical music, wartime, war, nazism, anti semitism, hunger, nazi occupation ...
Time:
1940s, 20th century, year 1939, 1930s, year 2002 ...
Place:
poland, germany, europe, eastern europe, central europe ...
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Drama, War
Country: East Germany
Duration: 100 min.
Story:
No overview found.
Style:
deep, crying, inspirational, complex
Plot:
holocaust, world war two, prisoner, nazi, concentration camp, communism, shoah, military, wartime life, nazi concentration camp, world war, holocaust survivor ...
Place:
east germany, germany, poland, frankfurt germany, german democratic republic ...
Similarity:
41%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama, War
Country: Germany, Czech Republic
Duration: 123 min.
Story:
A group of people are imprisoned in a rail car bound from Berlin to a concentration camp in 1945.
Style:
serious, realistic, bleak, captivating, entertaining ...
Audience:
date night
Plot:
holocaust, nazism, nazi, gestapo, nazi germany, anti semitism, danger, life is a bitch, pow, war, confined, world war ...
Time:
1940s, 20th century, year 1943, post world war two
Place:
germany, israel, europe
Similarity:
40%
Genre: Crime, Drama, History, War
Country: Austria, Germany
Duration: 99 min.
Story:
The story Jewish counterfeiter, Salomon Sorowitsch, coerced into assisting the Nazi operation of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp during World War II.
Style:
harsh, tense, brutal, bleak, serious ...
Plot:
holocaust, nazi, concentration camp, world war two, nazi germany, counterfeit money, brutality, forgery, counterfeiter, prison, nazi concentration camp, war crime ...
Time:
1940s, 20th century, 1930s, year 1936, year 2008 ...
Place:
germany, europe, poland, austria, canada ...
Similarity:
39%
Genre: Comedy, Drama, War
Country: Austria, Luxembourg
Duration: 109 min.
Story:
Poland 1943: An unlikely pair - a concentration camp prisoner and a captain in Hitler's notorious SS - free themselves from the wreckage of a crashed SS airplane. The two appear to be strangely familiar with each other and the extent of their ...
Style:
serious, captivating, tense, contemplative, realistic ...
Plot:
world war two, friends, friendship, military, life is a bitch, soldier, wartime life, moral dilemma, holocaust, against humanity, concentration camp, nazi ...
Time:
20th century, 1930s, 1940s
Place:
germany, europe, poland, austria
Similarity:
39%
Genre: Drama, History, War
Country: UK
Duration: 143 min.
Story:
During WWII, the death camp at Treblinka had an escape, causing the Commandant at a similar camp in Sobibor to vow (actually threaten) that his camp would never experience the same thing. But those who were its captives, the Jewish laborers that had ...
Style:
tense, realistic, thought provoking, suspenseful, rough ...
Plot:
concentration camp, world war two, pow, holocaust, escape, shoah, against humanity, genocide, military, captivity, nazi, hopes ...
Time:
20th century, 1940s
Place:
poland, europe
Similarity:
38%
Genre: Drama, War
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 94 min.
Story:
When his family moves from their home in Berlin to a strange new house in Poland, young Bruno befriends Shmuel, a boy who lives on the other side of the fence where everyone seems to be wearing striped pajamas. Unaware of Shmuel's fate as a ...
Style:
emotional, touching, heartbreaking, sad, sentimental ...
Audience:
teens, family friendly, family outing, kids, teen drama ...
Plot:
holocaust, world war two, concentration camp, war, children, friendship, childhood, nazi, nazism, gas chamber, boy, morality ...
Time:
1940s, 20th century, ancient times, year 2008, year 1941 ...
Place:
germany, poland, europe, berlin germany, switzerland
Similarity:
38%
Genre: Comedy, Drama, War
Country: France, Netherlands, Romania, Israel, Belgium
Duration: 103 min.
Story:
In 1941, the inhabitants of a small Jewish village in Central Europe organize a fake deportation train so that they can escape the Nazis and flee to Palestine.
Style:
humorous, sad, surprise ending, feel good, road movie ...
Plot:
holocaust, train, nazi, world war two, shoah, judaism, deportation, great ending, railway, wartime life, bittersweet, world war ...
Time:
1940s, year 1998, year 1941
Place:
eastern europe, germany, palestine, europe, central europe ...
Similarity:
38%
Genre: Drama, History, War
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min.
Story:
A Nazi doctor, along with the Sonderkomando Jews – who are forced to work in the crematoria of Auschwitz against their fellow-Jews – find themselves in a moral grey zone.
Style:
depressing, bleak, disturbing, factual, harsh ...
Plot:
holocaust, nazi, world war two, concentration camp, redemption, nazi germany, auschwitz, ss, shoah, moral ambiguity, world war, tragedy ...
Time:
1940s, year 1944, 20th century, post world war two
Place:
poland, germany, europe, middle east, budapest ...
Similarity:
38%
Genre: Crime, Drama, Romance, War
Country: USA, Poland
Duration: 98 min.
Story:
A 12-year-old Jewish boy hides with a family of Catholic peasant farmers to escape the Nazis.
Style:
emotional, sentimental, touching, realistic, contemplative ...
Audience:
date night, family outing
Plot:
holocaust, world war two, wartime life, catholic, nazism, nazi, coming of age, human spirit, survival, hidden identity, lifesaver, fish out of water ...
Time:
1940s, 20th century
Place:
poland, europe
Similarity:
37%
Genre: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 177 min.
Story:
Jews rise up in the Warsaw Ghetto against the Nazis in 1943.
Style:
captivating, rough, serious, political, tense ...
Plot:
holocaust, world war two, heroism, resistance, jewish ghetto, nazi, survival, politics, rebellion, shoah, wartime life, against humanity ...
Time:
year 2001, 1940s, 20th century, year 1943, post world war two
Place:
germany, europe, warsaw poland, poland
Similarity:
37%
Genre: Drama, Fantasy, War
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min.
Story:
Hannah Stern, an American-born Jewish adolescent, is uninterested in the culture, faith and customs of her relatives; however, Hannah begins to revaluate her heritage when she has a supernatural experience that transports her back to a Nazi death ...
Style:
emotional, serious, realistic, sentimental, period piece ...
Audience:
family outing, family friendly, teens
Plot:
concentration camp, holocaust, world war two, nazi occupation, time travel, anti semitism, nazi, world war, human spirit, against humanity, hopes, survival ...
Time:
20th century, 1940s
Place:
poland, europe
Similarity:
37%
Genre: Drama, War
Country: Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland
Duration: 125 min.
Story:
Although liberated from Auschwitz on January 27, 1945, Levi did not reach Turin until October 19 of that year. After spending some time in a Soviet camp for former concentration camp inmates, he embarked on an arduous journey home in the company of ...
Style:
sincere, historical drama, captivating, uplifting, gloomy ...
Plot:
holocaust, world war two, concentration camp, children, holocaust survivor, prisoner, writers, biopic, political intrigue, world war, judaism, shoah ...
Time:
year 1997, 1940s, 20th century, post world war two, year 1945
Place:
italy, russia, europe, turin italy, venice
Similarity:
37%
16K

Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama, War
Country: France, Germany, Romania
Duration: 132 min.
Story:
The film "Amen." examines the links between the Vatican and Nazi Germany. The central character is Kurt Gerstein, a member of the Institute for Hygiene of the Waffen-SS who is horrified by what he sees in the death camps. Moreover, he is ...
Style:
sincere, political, disturbing, suspenseful, bleak ...
Plot:
holocaust, genocide, world war two, concentration camp, politics, pope, christian, ss, conscience, nazi, nazism, priest ...
Time:
1940s, year 2002, 1930s, 20th century, post world war two
Place:
germany, poland, rome italy, italy, austria ...
Similarity:
37%
Genre: Drama, War
Country: Czechoslovakia
Duration: 128 min.
Story:
In a small town in Nazi-occupied Slovakia during World War II, decent but timid carpenter Tono is named "Aryan comptroller" of a button store owned by an old Jewish widow, Rozalie. Since the post comes with a salary and standing in the ...
Style:
sincere, atmospheric, emotional, serious, realistic ...
Plot:
world war two, holocaust, store, genocide, nazi, fascist, politics, fascism, rescue, human nature, against humanity, danger ...
Time:
1940s, year 1965, year 1942
Place:
slovakia, israel, eastern europe, czechoslovakia, europe ...
Similarity:
37%
Genre: Drama, War
Country: Germany, UK, Austria, Ireland
Duration: 89 min.
Story:
The deportation of 4000 Jews from Budapest to Auschwitz in July 1944, as told by George Tabori, and how the narrator's mother escaped it, owing to coincidence, courage and some help from where you'd least expect it.
Style:
thought provoking, captivating, bleak, disturbing, realistic ...
Plot:
holocaust, world war two, genocide, wartime life, world war, auschwitz, rape, concentration camp, deportation, hopes, holocaust survivor, battles ...
Time:
1940s
Place:
budapest, berlin germany, hungary
Similarity:
36%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min.
Story:
In the Warsau Ghetto of 1943, one man's struggle to keep his family together leads him to the ultimate crisis of faith, and one final chance at redemption. Written by legendary 'Twilight Zone' creator, Rod Sterling.
Style:
contemplative, emotional, disturbing, bleak, gloomy ...
Plot:
world war two, holocaust, rabbi, shoah, german soldier, world war, religions or cults, family relations, injustice, danger, against humanity, war ...
Time:
1940s, year 1942
Place:
poland, europe, warsaw poland
Similarity:
36%
Genre: Drama, Romance, War
Country: West Germany
Duration: 105 min.
Story:
In the winter of 1942-43, a Jewish family leaps from a train going through Silesia. They are separated in the woods, and Leon, a local peasant who's now a farmer of some wealth, discovers the woman, Rosa, and hides her in his cellar. ...
Style:
political, insightful, serious, realistic, psychological ...
Plot:
holocaust, world war two, forbidden love, captivity, female nudity, nazi, older man younger woman relationship, desire, ghetto, holocaust survivor, nude girl, israeli ...
Time:
1940s, year 1985
Place:
eastern europe, israel, europe, poland, holland ...
Similarity:
36%
Genre: Drama, History, War
Country: France, Germany, Hungary
Duration: 115 min.
Story:
1942. Joseph is eleven. And this June morning, he must go to school, a yellow star sown on his chest. He receives the support of a goods dealer. The mockery of a baker. Between kindness and contempt, Jo, his Jewish friends, their families, learn of ...
Style:
emotional, disturbing, realistic, serious, bleak ...
Plot:
holocaust, concentration camp, nazism, holocaust survivor, german occupation, world war two, nazi, genocide, nazi concentration camp, shoah, world war, injustice ...
Time:
20th century, 1940s, year 2009, post world war two, year 1942
Place:
paris france, vichy, france, middle east, europe ...
Similarity:
36%
Genre: Biography, Drama, War
Country: Sweden, Hungary
Duration: 115 min.
Story:
Swedish account of Raoul Wallenberg, the man responsible for the largest rescue of Jews during World War II.
Style:
contemplative, bleak, emotional, uplifting, thought provoking ...
Plot:
world war two, politics, genocide, rescue, nazi, nazi soldier, world war, struggle, revolutionary, revolutionary war, shoah, judaism ...
Time:
1940s, 20th century
Place:
israel, hungary, europe, moscow russia, stockholm sweden ...
Similarity:
36%
178
Genre: Drama, War
Country: West Germany
Duration: 125 min.
Story:
Although members of the Hitler Youth chant anti-Semitic paroles in front of his house during the Purim festival, Rabbi Singer is still profoundly convinced that Germany will stay a safe country for him, his family, and his fellow believers. But ...
Style:
realistic, serious, emotional, rough, bleak ...
Plot:
holocaust, world war two, nazi, holocaust survivor, boy, chess, hitler youth, little boy, rabbi, family relations, survival, anti semitism ...
Time:
1930s, 20th century, 1940s
Place:
europe, germany, black sea, new york, vienna ...
Similarity:
36%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama, War
Country: Germany, Netherlands
Duration: 136 min.
Story:
When Ruth's husband dies in New York, in 2000, she imposes strict Jewish mourning, which puzzles her children. A stranger comes to the house - Ruth's cousin - with a picture of Ruth, age 8, in Berlin, with a woman the cousin says helped ...
Style:
uplifting, serious, emotional, touching, contemplative ...
Plot:
holocaust, nazi germany, world war two, anti semitism, nazi, wartime life, human spirit, hopes, couple relations, society, world war, strong female character ...
Time:
1940s, year 1943, 20th century, post world war two
Place:
berlin germany, germany, europe, new york, usa
Similarity:
36%
Genre: Comedy, Drama, War
Country: France
Duration: 100 min.
Story:
In 1942, in an occupied Paris, the apolitical grocer Edmond Batignole lives with his wife and daughter in a small apartment in the building of his grocery. When his future son-in-law and collaborator of the German Pierre-Jean Lamour calls the Nazis ...
Style:
realistic, serious, tense, exciting, captivating
Plot:
holocaust, world war two, nazism, child, wartime life, anti semitism, soldier, life is a bitch, against humanity, confined, society, occupation ...
Time:
1940s, year 2002, year 1942
Place:
france, paris france, switzerland, europe
Similarity:
36%
Genre: Drama, War
Country: Germany, USA, UK
Duration: 131 min.
Story:
While subjected to the horrors of WWII Germany, young Liesel finds solace by stealing books and sharing them with others. Under the stairs in her home, a Jewish refuge is being sheltered by her adoptive parents.
Style:
touching, sentimental, emotional, serious, sad ...
Audience:
girls' night, chick flick, teens, family outing, adult
Plot:
holocaust, world war two, childhood, nazi, adoption, nazi germany, war, human spirit, against humanity, death, youth, nazism ...
Time:
1940s, year 2013, ancient times, year 1941, 2010s ...
Place:
germany, europe
Similarity:
36%
Genre: Drama, Romance, War
Country: Hungary, Germany, UK, Israel, France, USA
Duration: 140 min.
Story:
An Hungarian youth comes of age at Buchenwald during World War II. György Köves is 14, the son of a merchant who's sent to a forced labor camp. After his father's departure, György gets a job at a brickyard; his bus is stopped and its ...
Style:
sincere, emotional, serious, disturbing, gloomy ...
Audience:
teens, date night, pre-teens, teen drama
Plot:
holocaust, concentration camp, world war two, nazi, estrangement, orthodox jew, youth, confined, shoah, survival, world war, self discovery ...
Time:
1940s, year 2005, post world war two
Place:
hungary, eastern europe, germany, europe, slovakia ...
Similarity:
36%
Genre: Drama, War
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 120 min.
Story:
A WWII Drama about a German/Jewish industrialist who, in order to ensure his family's safe passage out of Germany, is forced to hand over his business to the Nazis.
Style:
serious, psychological, captivating, suspenseful, realistic ...
Plot:
concentration camp, world war two, holocaust, undercover, survival, forbidden love, genocide, german army, gestapo, anti semitism, moral dilemma, life is a bitch ...
Time:
1940s, year 1944, post world war two
Place:
germany, switzerland, hungary, europe
Similarity:
36%
Genre: Drama, War
Country: Poland, Germany, Canada
Duration: 145 min.
Story:
A dramatization of one man's rescue of Jewish refugees in the Nazi-occupied Polish city of Lvov. In Darkness tells the true story of Leopold Soha who risks his own life to save a dozen people from certain death. Initially only interested in his ...
Style:
harsh, sincere, uplifting, social, tense ...
Plot:
holocaust, nazi, world war two, atrocity, shoah, survival, genocide, outside help, hitler youth, judaism, world war, sewer ...
Time:
1940s, 2010s, 20th century, 2000s, year 1945 ...
Place:
poland, germany, eastern europe, europe, israel
Similarity:
36%
483K
Genre: Comedy, Drama, War
Country: New Zealand, USA, Czech Republic
Duration: 108 min.
Story:
A World War II satire that follows a lonely German boy whose world view is turned upside down when he discovers his single mother is hiding a young Jewish girl in their attic. Aided only by his idiotic imaginary friend, Adolf Hitler, Jojo must ...
Style:
black comedy, cute, sad, dark comedy, funny ...
Audience:
kids, teens, family friendly, adult
Plot:
world war two, nazi germany, boy, nazi, satire, jewish girl, coming of age, nazism, first love, hitler youth, hitler, imaginary friend ...
Time:
1940s, 2010s, year 1945, year 2019, year 1944
Place:
germany, los angeles, central europe, europe
Similarity:
35%
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