EII review from Hollywood Reporter
It's good but somehow I get the impression the reviewer didn't read the book, despite mentioning it at the beginning...
Sep. 07, 2005
Everything Is Illuminated
By Michael Rechtshaffen
In his behind-the-camera debut, Liev Schreiber brings Jonathan Safran Foer's ambitious 2001 novel "Everything Is Illuminated" to the screen in a considerably scaled down version that still effectively retains the book's warm eccentricity and gently persuasive sentimentality.
A richly observed story about roots and identity that embraces a number of universal truths within a plot line haunted by the Holocaust, the film was screened in Telluride during the weekend and is next headed to the Toronto International Film Festival before getting an early awards season start Sept. 16.
With a nontraditional tone that makes it feels much more like a foreign-language release than a U.S. production, "Illuminated" will require savvy marketing that if done right, combined with good word-of-mouth, could pave the way for a bright future.
Looking like he's about to be consumed whole by his very large eyeglasses, Elijah Wood plays a rather odd young Jewish American man who happens to have the same name as the author.
Very much a loner and an obsessive collector -- his walls are lined with little sample bags containing personal belongings of those now departed -- Jonathan undertakes a journey to Ukraine (played by Prague) where he's hoping to track down the woman believed to have helped to his grandfather escape certain death at the hands of the invading Nazis.
He's assisted in his search by a gangly, American culture-crazed translator named Alex (Eugene Hutz) and Alex's grumpy grandfather, also called Alex (Boris Leskin), who serves as their driver even though he insists he's blind and requires the assistance of his "seeing eye bitch," a crazy mutt called Sammy Davis Jr. Jr.
Their unusual car trip takes the inevitable unexpected turns and, though director Schreiber, who also penned the adaptation, goes a little heavy on the absurdist element early on in the journey, the increasingly reflective mood ultimately reaches an affecting emotional destination.
Themes of alienation and belonging, of family and loss, have been nicely layered into the traditional road movie framework.
While Wood's character comes across as a bit too one-note, with a resulting performance that feels like it, too, had been constrained by one of Jonathan's trusty Ziploc bags, Hutz, lead singer of the gypsy punk rock band Gogol Bordello, reveals a natural comedic ability in his acting debut.
Taking considerable liberties with the English language, his Alex Perchov, who also serves as the film's narrator, handily steals the show.
There is no shortage of great character faces captured by Darren Aronsofsky collaborator, cinematographer Matthew Libatique, while production designer Mark Geraghty ("In America") does a good job soaking up all the colorful scenery.
Everything Is Illuminated
Warner Independent Pictures
Warner Independent Pictures presents a Big Beach production
Credits:
Director-screenwriter: Liev Schreiber
Producers: Marc Turtletaub, Peter Saraf
Executive producer: Matthew Stillman
Based on the novel by: Jonathan Safran Foer
Director of cinematography: Matthew Libatique
Production designer: Mark Geraghty
Editors: Craig McKay, Andrew Marcus
Costume designer: Michael Clancy
Music: Paul Cantelon
Cast:
Jonathan: Elijah Wood
Alex: Eugene Hutz
Alex's grandfather: Boris Leskin
Lista: Laryssa Lauret
MPAA rating: PG-13
Running time -- 102 minutes
Sep. 07, 2005
Everything Is Illuminated
By Michael Rechtshaffen
In his behind-the-camera debut, Liev Schreiber brings Jonathan Safran Foer's ambitious 2001 novel "Everything Is Illuminated" to the screen in a considerably scaled down version that still effectively retains the book's warm eccentricity and gently persuasive sentimentality.
A richly observed story about roots and identity that embraces a number of universal truths within a plot line haunted by the Holocaust, the film was screened in Telluride during the weekend and is next headed to the Toronto International Film Festival before getting an early awards season start Sept. 16.
With a nontraditional tone that makes it feels much more like a foreign-language release than a U.S. production, "Illuminated" will require savvy marketing that if done right, combined with good word-of-mouth, could pave the way for a bright future.
Looking like he's about to be consumed whole by his very large eyeglasses, Elijah Wood plays a rather odd young Jewish American man who happens to have the same name as the author.
Very much a loner and an obsessive collector -- his walls are lined with little sample bags containing personal belongings of those now departed -- Jonathan undertakes a journey to Ukraine (played by Prague) where he's hoping to track down the woman believed to have helped to his grandfather escape certain death at the hands of the invading Nazis.
He's assisted in his search by a gangly, American culture-crazed translator named Alex (Eugene Hutz) and Alex's grumpy grandfather, also called Alex (Boris Leskin), who serves as their driver even though he insists he's blind and requires the assistance of his "seeing eye bitch," a crazy mutt called Sammy Davis Jr. Jr.
Their unusual car trip takes the inevitable unexpected turns and, though director Schreiber, who also penned the adaptation, goes a little heavy on the absurdist element early on in the journey, the increasingly reflective mood ultimately reaches an affecting emotional destination.
Themes of alienation and belonging, of family and loss, have been nicely layered into the traditional road movie framework.
While Wood's character comes across as a bit too one-note, with a resulting performance that feels like it, too, had been constrained by one of Jonathan's trusty Ziploc bags, Hutz, lead singer of the gypsy punk rock band Gogol Bordello, reveals a natural comedic ability in his acting debut.
Taking considerable liberties with the English language, his Alex Perchov, who also serves as the film's narrator, handily steals the show.
There is no shortage of great character faces captured by Darren Aronsofsky collaborator, cinematographer Matthew Libatique, while production designer Mark Geraghty ("In America") does a good job soaking up all the colorful scenery.
Everything Is Illuminated
Warner Independent Pictures
Warner Independent Pictures presents a Big Beach production
Credits:
Director-screenwriter: Liev Schreiber
Producers: Marc Turtletaub, Peter Saraf
Executive producer: Matthew Stillman
Based on the novel by: Jonathan Safran Foer
Director of cinematography: Matthew Libatique
Production designer: Mark Geraghty
Editors: Craig McKay, Andrew Marcus
Costume designer: Michael Clancy
Music: Paul Cantelon
Cast:
Jonathan: Elijah Wood
Alex: Eugene Hutz
Alex's grandfather: Boris Leskin
Lista: Laryssa Lauret
MPAA rating: PG-13
Running time -- 102 minutes