Everything is Illuminated, directed by Liev Schreiber, is the story of Jonathan Safran Foer, an American Jew searching for the woman who helped save his grandfather’s life from the Nazi's invasion of Russia and the Ukraine. Though laced with breath-taking imagery and remarkably gorgeous scenes, it is the unusual curve that Schreiber throws with his movie that defines its limits. Jonathan opens the film staring at his grandfather’s grave, suggesting that a mystery is about to unfold: one that seems to be only solved by the Schreiber and the characters in the movie.
An Odd Mixture
The film's strength comes from the curious chemistry of three main characters. Jonathan (played by a muted Elijah Wood), is a reserved and mysterious Jew who spends his life collecting, well, anything, in what seems to be a lifetime supply of Glad bags that he carries in a black leather fanny-pack. We are briefly introduced to his grandmother before she passes away and the beginning of Jonathan's journey of understanding. The bags are later seen tacked to a wall and organized by their particular memory. Schreiber surely intended the scene to show Jonathan’s dedication to his family and his own understanding, but instead, it produced only a faint nostalgia of Robin Williams’ performance in One Hour Photo. Jonathan’s pain, motive, or intensity, whatever it may be that drives him, is never shown.
Next, Jonathan’s soon-to-be translator, Alex (Eugene Hutz) and driver, Alex’s grandfather (Boris Leskin), enter the film. The family lives in Ukraine and makes a living helping Jews find the homes of their ancestors. Their introductory scene is absolutely hilarious, especially with Alex’s unique gift for broken English, but one that is incongruous with the sombre introduction we've had to Jonathan.
After a boisterous meeting of the three characters, the film begins its slow arc from an off-the-wall comedy to a slow and silent ending. It's an admittedly interesting idea, but one that Schreiber fails to pull off.
Misplaced Beauty
One of the highlights of the film, though, is Schreiber’s ability to escape his sometimes clichéd and confused script with images of surreal and visceral beauty. He fills his camera with glorious shots of sunflowers, the country-side of Ukraine (suddenly giving you the urge to vacation there, regardless of an inability to speak Russian), and rivers lit by moonlight with characters being little more than ghosts. With Schreiber’s characters, the grandfather best exemplifies this strength, though with so many cut scenes and emotional memories described only by heavy music and through a fuzzy lens, it’s no wonder Hutz decided to play the character with perpetually wet eyes and little else.
Theme vs. Questions
Everything is Illuminated is supposed to be Schreiber’s attempt to show how all events are illuminated by the past, a light that we cannot escape and in which we are always bathed, how Jonathan and Alex have now changed because of their increased understanding of the Jewish history. Instead, the film begins with questions and ends with questions, and none of the “illumination” has seemed to pass onto the characters themselves.
Near the end of the film, Jonathan returns home with his apparent understanding shown by a small smile on his face, but still no believable motive. Alex walks away wondering if he will ever understand the events that just took place while the audience can only sigh at the questions they, too, have unanswered.
