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EVERYTHING IS ILLUMINATED Send This Review to a Friend
The title notwithstanding, there are things that remain in need of illumination in the new film written and directed by Liev Schreiber based on the novel by Jonathan Safran Foer. Some confusing elements persist as to what really happened during the Holocaust with respect to the quest by a young American writer to trace the background of his grandfather by searching for a village in the Ukraine. Elijah Wood is cast as Foer and he plays him as rather unassuming, which doesn’t make the character all that compelling.
The film’s ambience and subject matter are the strongest points, abetted by the local characters whom Foer encounters. With the Czech Republic used as a stand-in for the Ukraine, a countryside feeling is established. Foer is escorted by a crusty old man, played by Boris Leskin, and his grandson Alex, amusingly portrayed by Eugene Hutz, in a jalopy used for the business of escorting visitors on tours to trace their roots. The idea is both poignant and darkly funny as humor is mined from this post-Holocaust enterprise.
Much is made of the contrast between Foer and his guides. “Everything Is Illuminated” is a jumble of bits ad pieces in the storytelling, which plays havoc with coherency. Yet there is considerable charm in the pursuit and the feelings that lie beneath the leading character’s determination to learn about the past. What really happened in that village? Has guilt been hidden? How can a link be established between the past and those who wish to know the truth about it?
The journey is worth taking, even if the film is somewhat messy in style and unpolished in its presentation. A Warner Independent Pictures release.
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