Everything Is Illuminated, from the novel by Jonathan Safran Foer, represents the writing and directing debut of the actor Liev Schreiber. Retaining chapter headings from the book and adding picture-postcard cinematography, it’s a movie for literary types. Elijah Wood stars as a Jewish character, also named Jonathan Foer, who heads to the Ukraine to find a woman who helped his grandfather escape the Nazis. Ukrainian-born musician Eugene Hutz plays his tour guide. As with the novel, Schreiber uses Wood’s intentionally stiff character to set off the gregarious Ukrainian, and absurdist humor to underscore pathos. There were parts that I (and the audience) laughed at, such as the guide’s incredulity at Foer’s vegetarianism. On the other hand, much feels affected. The script partly carries over the book’s device of having the Ukrainian base his English on a careless reading of a thesaurus. (Or perhaps a careful one; he precisely chooses an amiss synonym.) I found it silly rather than funny that he repeatedly refers to his grandfather’s dog as a “seeing-eye bitch.” The grandfather insists that he’s blind but agrees to serve as driver. It’s just a metaphorical blindness. Foer (the character) memorializes his life in small plastic bags (instead of a camera, I guess). Despite all this, I enjoyed the strange journey through the Ukrainian countryside (actually Prague and environs) and the emotional payoff that does eventually result.
IMDB linkreviewed 10/3/05
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