Review of Everything Is Illuminated (2005) by Kevin R — 14 Jan 2010

Iâ??ve yet to read the book (of the same title) by Jonathan Safran Foer, but I found this movie adaptation directed by Liev Schreiber (who has been in several Holocaust-themed dramas, such as â??Jakob the Liarâ?? and most recently â??Defianceâ??) to be engrossing and entertaining with a blend of both the comic and tragic. This is quite impressive considering the movie marks Schreiberâ??s directorial debut.

The story centers around a young Jewish man, Jonathan Safran Foer (played by Elijah Wood) who has a penchant for collecting things in little ziploc bags, ranging from the ordinary to the truly bizarre(his grandmotherâ??s dentures). This obsessive collecting is due to his fear of forgetting the past, and when his dying grandmother passes him two keepsakes that belonged to his deceased grandfather, Jonathan decides to travel to Odessa, Ukraine in an attempt to discover his grandfatherâ??s past. One of these keepsakes is a picture with his grandfather Safran and a young woman who apparently saved Safran from the Nazis during WW II. To aid him on his quest, Jonathan hires two guides, Alexander Perchov (Eugene Hutz in a brilliant performance) who is obsessed with Michael Jackson, and his grouchy and anti-Semitic grandfather (Boris Laskin who also delivers a powerful performance). Grandpa has a psychotic dog named Sammy Davis Jr. Jr. (go figure) and the trio proceed on their journey â?? destination is Trachimbrod, which used to be a Jewish shtetl.

Most of the movie focuses on the road trip and is quite hilarious, especially in watching the dynamics of three very different people travelling together. Grandpaâ??s virulent anti-Semitism is softened by Alexâ??s creative translation efforts (since Grandpa only speaks Ukrainian, Jonathan relies on Alex to translate for him). I could not help but laugh out loud at Alexâ??s overzealous attempts at speaking English â?? â??Do you repose?â?? he asks Jonathan, eliciting a sort of â??huhâ?? response until Jonathan figures out he means â??sleepingâ??! The last third of the movie focuses on what happens to the trip after they finally find a home in the countryside where an old woman (Laryssa Lauret) helps Jonathan find some closure. There are also some interesting twists in the story at this point, with some startling revelations.

I found this a refreshing Holocaust-themed drama. The Holocaust by its very subject matter is hard to depict on screen without resorting to the usual depictions of stomach-churning brutality (as evidenced by dramas like â??Schindlerâ??s Listâ??, â??The Grey Zoneâ??, â??War and Remembranceâ??, and â??Holocaustâ??, amongst others). In â??Everything Is Illuminatedâ?? there is a balance between the tragic and the comic, and even the flashbacks to the past involving violence is subtly done. The focal point here is not so much the horrors of the Holocaust but of people searching for closure and making peace with events of the past. The strong cast makes this an above-average film, delivering credible and compelling performances. The cinematography is gorgeous, capturing the lush beauty of the countryside. The DVD itself contains no bonus worth mentioning (just some deleted scenes and a trailer). Final verdict â?? compelling and engaging drama.