A young man takes a strange and unexpectedly funny journey in search of a family heroine he's never known in this screen adaptation of the novel by Jonathan Safran Foer. Jonathan (Elijah Wood) is a lifelong collector of any and all objects pertaining to his family, and he has become obsessed with a woman he's never met. The woman saved the life of his grandfather during World War II, when the Ukrainian town where he was born was destroyed by Nazi troops. Wanting to know more about the woman, Jonathan flies to the Ukraine, where with the help of a hip-hop obsessed, gold-toothed tour guide and translator named Alex (Eugene Hütz), Alex's grandfather (a chauffeur who has claimed to be blind since his wife's death, played by Boris Leskin), and a dog named Sammy Davis Junior Junior, Jonathan searches for the meaning of the present that lies buried in the past, unexpectedly shedding the same such light on the lives of those around him. Everything Is Illuminated was the first directorial assignment for acclaimed actor Liev Schreiber. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
Everything Is Illuminated is a quirky, surprisingly comic drama (serious comedy?) with a smart visual style. It's especially confident considering who's behind the camera: actor Liev Schreiber, debuting as both a screenwriter and a director. Not only does he frame his shots with veteran finesse, but Schreiber also undertakes the difficult task of adapting the largely epistolary novel by Jonathan Safran Foer, excising portions and streamlining the remainder toward the main character's journey through the Ukraine (literally) and his family's past (figuratively). Because the main character -- named Jonathan Safran Foer -- collects all manner of symbolic physical artifacts, sealing them in Ziploc bags, the film takes on a richly colored pop-art aesthetic that lends to its arresting visual sense. Paced by Elijah Wood's reticent performance, which uses his Coke-bottle glasses as an essential prop, the film might be sober throughout if it weren't for the blast of fresh air provided by newcomer Eugene Hütz. Hütz is blessed with just the right combination of Western hip-hop posturing and Eastern European good-natured oafishness, allowing him to steal his every moment onscreen. His Alex is especially delightful in his proclivity for shoehorning English words into unusual contexts, such as asking Jonathan if he had a "premium repose" or preparing him for a "very rigid search." Alex, his eccentric grandfather (Boris Leskin), and Jonathan make a motley cross-cultural and intergenerational trio that propels the absurd set pieces that lie in their path. Just when the film lulls the viewer into a false sense of its light-heartedness, however, it effectively grapples with big issues that lie at the core of European Jews' survivor guilt. Some viewers may question Schreiber's decision to make comedy and tragedy equally dominant elements of his film, but one ends up fully illuminating the other, as it were. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide
Zuzana Hodkova - Alex's Mother; Sandra Mikki - Sammy Davis Jr. Jr.; Jan Filipensky - Well Digger; Mouse on Mars - Sammy Davis Jr. Jr.; Jonathan Safran Foer - Leaf Blower; Jana Hrabetová - Jonathan's Grandmother; Stepán Samudovský - Jonathan's Grandfather Safran; Ljubomir Dezera - Young Jonathan; Oleksandr Choroshko - Alexander Perchov (Father); Gil Kazimirov - Igor; Robert Chytil - Breakdancer; Jaroslava Sochová - Woman on Train; Sergej Rjabcev - Ukrainian Band; Jurij Lemeshev - Ukrainian Band; Pamela Racine - Ukrainian Band; Oleksandr Houtz - Ukrainian Band; Ludmila Kartouská - Ukrainian Band; Igor Latta - Old Man at Fair; Eugenin Marandic - Fair Goer; Orest Tkachyk - Fair Goer; Eliás Bauer - Well Digger; Jurij Kokyrc - Well Digger; Sergej Kapitan - Well Digger; Jaroslav Jurichkanc - Well Digger; Igor Savivskij - Well Digger; Bert Schneider - Nazi Officer; Tereza Veselková - Augustine; Laryssa Lauret - Lista; Lukás Král - Young Grandfather (Baruch); Vera Sindelárová - Young Lista
Credit
Martin Vackar - Art Director, J. John Corbett - Animator, Kelley Cribben - Associate Producer, Roman Rigo - Boom Operator, Avy Kaufman - Casting, Kate Dowd - Casting, Nancy Bishop - Casting, Ted Sperling - Conductor, Michael Clancy - Costume Designer, Helena Rovna - Costume Designer, Patrice Soptenkova - Costume Designer, Ljuba Reznickova - Costume Designer, Kieron Phipps - First Assistant Director, Jude Gorjanc - First Assistant Director, Maggie Murphy - First Assistant Director, Jan Mensik - First Assistant Director, Victor Quinaz - First Assistant Director, Liev Schreiber - Director, Andrew Marcus - Editor, Craig McKay - Editor, Matthew Stillman - Executive Producer, Lucie Vybiralová - Hair Styles, Petr Skvor - Location Manager, Paul Cantelon - Composer (Music Score), Susan Jacobs - Musical Direction/Supervision, Wolfram Koessel - Musical Direction/Supervision, Magela Crosignani - Camera Operator, Mark Geraghty - Production Designer, Matthew J. Libatique - Cinematographer, Peter Saraf - Producer, Marc Turtletaub - Producer, Gary Chester - Recording, Petr Forejt - Sound Mixer, Gary Chester - Sound Mixer, Thomas Karnowski - Unit Production Manager, Amy J. Kaufman - Unit Production Manager, Liev Schreiber - Screenwriter, Wendy Finster - Production Assistant, Pavel Jumer - Production Assistant, Sara Pollack - Production Assistant, David Vana - Visual Effects Supervisor, Boone Narr - Animal Trainer/Wrangler, Jiri Stamfest - Matte Artist, Wyatt Sprague - Special Effects Editor, Emma Cooper - Unit Publicist, Vera Koháková - Dialogue Coach, Kate Eales - Associate Editor, Franta Novák - First Assistant Camera, Vaclav Cermak - Gaffer, Petr Prochazka - Gaffer, Ivo Gresak - Key Grip, Suzana Peric - Music Editor, Nancy Allen - Music Editor, Katka Silná - Production Coordinator, Martina Burgetová - Production Supervisor, Karel Jinda - Properties, Michal Pokorný - Properties, Jiri Fleischer - Properties Master, Tom Fleischman - Re-Recording Mixer, Nada Pinter - Script Supervisor, Jakub Dvorák - Second Assistant Director, Zdenek Vávra - Still Photographer, Neil Davidson - Still Photographer, Paul Urmson - Supervising Sound Editor, Oksana Batuik - Translator, Lidiya Nychyk - Translator, Vit Komrzy - Visual Effects Producer, Kenna Doeringer - ADR Editor, Bobby Johanson - ADR Mixer, David Bolton - ADR Mixer, Michal Svoboda - Assistant Art Director, David Vondrasek - Assistant Art Director, Gábina Horská - Assistant Costumer Designer, Daniela Buzgová - Assistant Location Manager, Veronika Riehs - Assistant Makeup, Goran Uljanic - Assistant Production Coordinator, Lenka Pavlakova - Assistant Production Coordinator, Zdenek Richter - Assistant Properties, Igor Nikolic - Assistant Sound Editor, Ivo Cervenka - Best Boy Grip, Olga Záhrobenská - Casting Assistant, Branka Mrkic-Tana - Dialogue Editor, Jiri Gazda - Dolly Grip, Tomas Konvalinka - Electrician, Radek Kuzdas - Electrician, Josef Valta - Electrician, Jiri Horych - Electrician, Jirí Hrstka - Extra Casting, Conor Guy - First Assistant Editor, Marko A. Costanzo - Foley Artist, Steven Visscher - Foley Editor, Georgina Abanto - Key Hairstylist, Georgina Abanto - Key Make-up, Lucie Ryan - Personal Assistant, Victor Quinaz - Personal Assistant, Lauren Barnhart - Personal Assistant, Jennifer Freed - Post Production Accountant, Yana Collins Lehman - Post Production Accountant, Mandy Butler - Production Accountant, Jiri Tichacek - Production Accountant, Jan Vojtech - Second Assistant Camera, Helena Franková - Second Second Assistant Director, Mira Mika - Set Production Assistant, Justin Salem - Set Production Assistant, Kurt van der Basch - Storyboard Artist, Pavel Vorácek - Transportation Captain, UPP Prague - Visual Effects, Johnny Byrne - Set Decorator, Jonathan Safran Foer - Book Author, Deborah Wallach - ADR Supervisor, Tomas Jeseticky - Craft Service/Catering, George A. Lara - Foley Mixer, Randall Balsmeyer - Title Design, Big Film Design - Title Design, J. John Corbett - Title Design, Sárka Halastova - Art Department Coordinator, Beth Moran - Assistant Editor, John Carbonara - Assistant Music Editor, Rick Chefalas - First Assistant Sound Editor, Zdenek Machuta - Compositor, Maros Kesjar - Compositor, Vladimir Koller - Compositor, Robert Loudil - Compositor, Vladimir Matousek - Compositor, Robert Pik - Compositor, Amanda Taylor - Key Second Assistant Director
Jonathan Foer, a young American Jewish man, goes on a quest to find the woman who saved his grandfather during the Holocaust in a small Ukrainian town called Trachimbrod that was wiped off the map when the Nazis liquidated Eastern European shtetls. His guides are a cranky, anti-semitic grandfather, his deranged Border collie, Sammy Davis Jr. Jr., and his over-enthusiastic grandson, whose fractured command of English, passion for American pop culture, and constant chatter threaten to make the worst of every situation. But what starts out as the tour from hell turns into a meaningful journey, with an unexpected series of revelations that will change all of their lives[2].
Everything Is Illuminated's score features eight original tracks composed by Paul Cantelon,[3] along with songs by Russianska punk band Leningrad, Arcady Severny, Csókolom, Tin Hat Trio and Gogol Bordello, whose lead singer plays Alex. The band members of Gogol Bordello play the band in the train station where the character Alex has come to meet his US client, Jonathan Foer. DeVotchKa's single "How It Ends" is featured in the trailer, but not in the official soundtrack.
Differences between the film and the book
In the film, Alex smacks Sammy Davis, Jr., Jr., and he is then assaulted by his grandfather. This does not take place in the book.
The book involves an additional plot line regarding much of the complex back story to the present. The film focuses on the present time and vastly alters this other plot line.
In the book, Alex's grandfather was forced by the Nazis to choose between his own life (and the life of his son) and his best friend's, and due to his pain and fear, he covers it up by taking on the persona of being anti-semitic. In the movie, he is portrayed as having survived the massacre by pretending to be dead, then assuming a new identity to hide the fact that he himself was Jewish.
Near the end of the book, Alex's father leaves the family. In the film, he plays a much smaller role and is seen at the interment of his father.
The roads pictured in the movie look brand new, as the film was shot in the Czech Republic and not Ukraine.
In the movie, Lista is portrayed as Augustine's sister. In the book, Lista is not related to Augustine and does not know her.
In the movie, Alex refers to Jonathan as "The Collector" rather than "The Hero." Also, Jonathan plays down being a writer in the film, but in the novel he says that he feels sometimes that he was "born to write."
Alex's grandfather is a Christian in the book, whereas in the movie he is eventually revealed to be a Jew.
In the movie, there is a scene when they sleep outside, whereas in the book there is not.
There is a scene in the movie in which a little goat herding boy asks for gum and lets the air out of their tires. This scene is not in the book.
In the movie, Alex's grandfather commits suicide during their trip by slitting his wrists in a bathtub, while in the book, he does not commit suicide until later, after Jonathan has returned to the USA.
Notes
The subtitles translate the headstone as "Alexander Baruch Perchov", whereas the Ukrainian reads "Aleksandr Barukh Perets". Presumably "Peretz" was the original family name.
Many clever things that the Grandfather said are similarly missing in the subtitles.[citation needed]
The Grandfather says "Take the Jew with you", while the subtitles read "Leave the Jew here".
Alex and the Grandfather keep referring to Jonathan as "zhyd" ("жид"), which is translated as "Jew". In some regions/dialects of Ukraine "жид" is an acceptable word for Jew, while others consider it offensive.
Critical response
American Chronicle recounted the film as one of the "rare films that encapsulate the emotion of discovery and drama with humor"[4], while Time Out called it "an unbelievably assured debut as a director".[5] Noted film critic Roger Ebert praised the film and gave it 3 and one half stars out of 4.[1]
