Everything is illuminated

The Calamity of war creates existing ghosts
within the subdued spirit of survivors

A review by Nick Pannu, CJSF Radio 90.1 FM.

Writer andDrector, Liev Schreiber 's^y^thinjgjsjlluminqted premiered on Friday, October 7 at Fifth Avenue Cinemas in Vancouver. CJSF's Nick Pannu reviews.

The film follows the introspective quest of Jonathan, an American Jew, to find the women who saved his grandfather from Nazi prosecution. Jonathan acquires the services of a Ukrainian family (a grandfather and his grandson) that specializes in driving American Jews in search of their roots to the places where their ancestors died.

The means through which the films ultimate objective is pursued is unorthodox, but at times quite amusing. Throughout the journey Jonathan collects items, preserves them in zip lock bags, while Alex painstakingly constructs a Ukrainian-English pigeon dialect in order to communicate with Jonathan. All the while, his grandfather drives uttering Jewish obscenities in Ukranian.

The film starts off at a slow pace, hi the beginning there is limited dialogue. Situations and circumstances are implied mostly through Jonathan's demeanor and facial expressions. One peculiar scene involves the death of Jonathan's grandmother. After her death, Jonathan places her dentures in a zip lock bag and pins them to a wall amongst the other items representing relatives that have passed. Scenes like this are used quite often as a means to define characters. Even as the movie progresses and dialogue becomes more prevalent, symbolism is still used to communicate the plot.

Elijah Wood proves his versatility as an actor as he plays the subdued character Jonathan Safran Foer. Lord of the Rings' infamous Frodo demonstrates genuine sentiment and empathy for the hidden calamity that is unveiled at the end of the movie. Also, Boris Leskin and Eugene Hutz, who play the Ukrainian grandfather and grandson, enhance and sustain the realism. Having previously lived and grown up in the Ukraine allows novice actor and punk rock star Eugene Hutz to easily fit into the role as Alex and be the catalyst for comedic scenes in the movie. Laryssa Lauret as well, morphs into her character and effectively conveys how victims of war choose to preserve the past.

Writer and Director, Live Schreiber's communicates a profound statement at the end, which gives substance to the initial stages of the movie that were previously quite vague and had limited meaning. It's tempting to watch the movie again to understand the implied symbolism in the beginning. The first half of the movie is not very poignant nor tactfully aligned to compliment the eloquent way that the theme is presented at the very end.

Everything Is Illuminated is playing at Fifth Avenue Cinemas, 2110 Burrard St, Vancouver, BC. Call +1 604 734 7469 for more information.