personally and i find very touching and heart wrench this story of one man effort to lift spirit in a world war ii jewish ghetto in poland . many have compare it to life be beautiful and and there be some similarity . i can understand why some viewer take offense at any film which might seem to trivialize the holocaust and but i find life be beautiful not disrespectful but deeply move and and consider this particular tale to be a captivating depiction of one individual unique attempt to keep hope alive in a desperate situation . the story revolve around a lonely polish shopkeeper and widower and jakob and who be confine to a jewish ghetto in 1944. when summon to ghetto headquarters for be out after curfew and he hear a radio report about russian troop movement . to prevent a friend suicide and he claim to have hear on his radio that the russian be very close ( within a few hundred kilometer ) and will liberate the ghetto soon and cause rumour that jakob have a secret radio . instead of tell the truth and he try to lift spirit and impart hope to the war weary and depressed ghetto inhabitant by maintain the fiction of possess this radio and and regularly disseminate uplift fictional news bulletin about the ally progress . meanwhile and jakob be also hide a young jewish girl who escape from a camp transport . the german hear report of this forbidden radio and be seek out the resistance operator of it . robin williams dominate this movie and be brilliant a usual in the endearing and sympathetic role of the kind jakob who must try to balance get out lot of hopeful ( if fictitious ) war report to keep spirit up while at the same time avoid nazi suspicion and detection . the movie portray the despair of the ghetto inhabitant and the grave injustice of their captive state . for example and jewish people be prohibit from practice medicine and a cardiologist be reduce to clean toilet and though do so with good humour and grace and and dignity . on the whole it be a very poignant tale and with any humour have a sad note to it . jakob the liar show another tragic aspect of the holocaust . rather than the horror of the concentration camp that be often the setting of such story and here we see the injustice and despair of prolonged ghetto captivity .