12. Everything is Illuminated (2005); Leave normal behind.

Everything is Illuminated

Directed (and screenplay) by Liev Schreiber

Based off the novel by Jonathan Safran Foer

Starring Elijah Wood, Eugene Hutz

Let me just start off by saying that I have a small thing for Liev Schreiber… so when I started the movie and saw that he actually directed the film, I kind of freaked out a little bit.

Everything Is Illuminated is the story of a Jewish-American young man (Elijah Wood), named Jonathan Safran Foer, who goes across the world in search for information about his late grandfather. He hires a translator (Eugene Hutz), a man named Alex, and a driver, Alex’s grandfather, to accompany him across the country. Little does he know that Alex doesn’t speak English very well and the grandfather claims to be blind and hates wealthy Jewish people. Along the way, they realize that their stories are tangled in some twisted up web of memories and connections, only to then realize that they were meant to take the trip together.

Ever since Sin City (2005) I have not been able to accept Elijah Wood as anything else than a jumpy cannibal that looses all this appendages but his devilish eyes. And while this movie didn’t help with the creepy eyes thing, due to the fact that his glasses were 4X’s over magnified, about halfway through I was able to put aside his previous role and believe that he was a Jewish-American that kept strange things in Ziploc bags that hung on his wall.

About that- I loved the idea of keeping a little something from all your memories. He said that he was afraid he’ll forget things, and I’m sure we can all relate to that. Of course, I’m not saying that I want to go about with tons of plastic bags in my pocket and keeping small things like rocks that are stuck in a tire or half of a half of a skinned potato that fell on the ground. It just made me remember some of the things that I had forgotten.

I thought this movie was good. There were only a few things that I didn’t care for. I felt like one of the only things keeping it interesting was the comedy aspects through the dialogue or awkward gestures. Alex’s incorrect translation of English words is an example of this. He would use other synonyms for words that only barely resemble the original meaning. For an example, (Alex to Jonathan) “You were proximal with your grandfather, yes?” Or “My legal name is Alexander Perchov, but all of my friends dub me Alex, because this is much more flaccid to utter.” These mistakes seemed to carry the movie along a bit faster. The dog was another scratch at comic relief throughout the film. For one, Jonathan was deathly afraid of dogs but was forced the sit next to the “demented seeing eye-bitch” for hours. This uncomfortable arrangement forced on Jonathan was only foreshadowing how much worse their cultural differences would be. One of my favorite parts was their first meal together. Jonathan, being a vegetarian, orders potatoes for supper. Only then to be served one skinned potato. The awkwardness of Alex and his grandfather watching Jonathan pick at the potato was so silent and still that it was funny.

The content was so serious, that they needed something to keep the entertainment aspect afloat. Each character was searching for something, whether it was answers to questions that bared no response or simply their own purpose in life.

The soundtrack to the film was pretty awesome. Eugene Hut, being the lead vocal performer in the band GoGol Bordello, was very involved in the musical selections chosen for the film. I then had to go and listen to some of their stuff. While their music might only be good alongside the context of this film, they weren’t all that bad by themselves either. (Check them out- http://s0.ilike.com/play#Gogol+Bordello:Start+Wearing+Purple:109971:s2075283.8771891.2663693.0.2.55%2Cstd_3b2ad78b43ba496d916fb2d5e27d092f)

Favorite quote: Alex- “I have reflected many times upon our rigid search. It has shown me that everything is illuminated in the light of the past. It is always along the side of us, on the inside, looking out. Like you say, inside out. Jonathan, in this way, I will always be along the side of your life. And you will always be along the side of mine. “

So, if you are in the mood for a serious film about family history guided by a crazy translator and a blind elderly driver, then this is the movie for you : )