Everything Is Illuminated (2005)

They used to show films like this in art houses, which became retail space for drugstores.The tone, story, and camera work is impeccable. Details like the faded boxes and impossible sunflowers remain with us forever. The amber necklace becomes the collection, the story, the film, but only after.Due to translation or what remains unspoken, much of the conversation hangs unfinished in the air, or done with eye contact-even from Sammy Davis. Every character carries out a critical part of the story, with minimal dialogue. Each time the day dawns, the story moves forward.As with the Jarmusch movie Paterson, this film is like a poem about the source material. Rather than simply trying to replicate the book, the movie pays homage by creating its own rich space and mood.

This movie gave me a big laugh from the first half of the story, then turned out to be a serious and heartbreaking historical drama towards the end. Elijah Wood, who played an Jewish American man with a OCD-like compulsion, did a great job. His road trip fellow, Alex (played by Eugene Hutz) is wonderful in portraying a hip-hop-loving Ukrainian guy who speaks English with a funny accent. I loved how he translates in English with a sprinkle of jokes and sarcasm towards Americans. I think the screenwriter did some research to create unique English sentences which often happens when non-English speakers speak English.A young American guy named Jonathan, played by Elijah Wood, is a collector who always brings small plastic bags to collect anything whenever he finds things that are meaningful. With a pendant he collected when his grandfather died and a picture when his grandmother dies, he flies to Ukraine to find the root of his family and a Ukrainian village. He hires Odessa Heritage Tour, run by an old Ukrainian man Alexander (Oleksandr Choroshko) who claims he is blind (but is not). Along with his English-speaking grandson, Alex (played by Eugene Hutz) and Alexander's clinging guided dog, a strange road trip starts. While looking for a Ukrainian village called Trachimbrod, Alexander's old memory comes back which helps Jonathan find a historical background hidden in the picture and the relationship between his grandfather and grandmother.The story has a little puzzle that took me time to resolve, such as where Jonathan's grandmother met his grandfather, where his grandmother died, how grandmother's sister kept the grandmother's ring, etc. While the story depicts a cruel history around the Nazi's conquest in Ukraine and how his grandfather survived his life, the tone of the story is somehow poetic and aesthetic which makes the film impressive. When Augustine's sister was told that the war was over, everything was solved as if a tangled thread got loosen, and Jonathan's investigation put an end to the story and so did Alexander's. The movie also tells that one cannot choose a place to be born, so you could be someone else in another country.I marked this movie in my watchlist in 2005, and finally had the mood and time to watch it. I feel time passed so quickly.

My friend recommended me to watch this movie. And it was a complete disappointment for me. I am half Jew and half Ukrainian, so I can judge it from both points of view. First, it is not a comedy at all, since it is not funny. Second, the movie is full of oxymoron and ridiculous things. For example, the constant usage of word 'jid', which is a swearword in Russian, in general. But most of all... Trabant!!! It is not a popular car in the former Soviet Union, it is even not rare, it is simply nonexistent. During my childhood in the USSR I even have not heard about such a car! It may be used as a symbol of GDR, but certainly not of the USSR or Ukraine. The most interesting thing is that the director and the most actors are Russians/Ukrainians (maybe former). So they probably should have noted all these inconsistencies. And third, the Elijah Wood's play is simply weak and not convincing.

Everything is Illuminated is far better than I was expecting, it's nearly impeccable.The story is about a young man who pays for a guide to help him find the woman who saved his father from death during WWII. He embarks on a journey with a guy and his grandfather.Eugene Hutz is absolutely hilarious and his accent is amazing. He definitely was a great choice, not sure why they chose a musical artist, but he definitely was the best choice for all the right reasons. Elijah Wood does great portraying his character, the sophisticated young American.Although you will enjoy this film, it should be noted that the comedy is extremely apparent in the first half of the film, but it slowly dims down, then dies altogether as the film transitions into a more dramatic story. You should think of this film as a Comedy -> Comedy/Drama -> Drama, in that precise order.Enjoy it for what it is, and enjoy the artistic value of such a film.