Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer

…also der Film hat mich auf mehrere Arten mitgenommen. Da wären die herrlich schrägen Charaktere (und damit meine ich wirklich, wirklich schräg – oder welche ukrainische, antisemitische Fremdenführerfamilie kennen sie sonst noch, welche speziell für jüdische Touristen Touren zusammenstellt und welche einen Hund mit Namen “Sammy Davis jr. jr.” hat und welcher ein Großvater angehört, der vermeintlicherweise angibt, blind zu sein und doch immer dazu verdonnert wird mit dem Tourauto für die jüdischen Gäste zu fahren?), die allesamt mit Herz geschrieben und erfunden wurden und ebenso auf der Leinwand mit Herzblut verkörpert werden. Und dann wäre da noch die Handlung, die derartige Höhen und Tiefen hat, dass man schon nach der Hälfte des Filmes nicht mehr weiß, wie das alles überhaupt noch weitergehen soll.

Amerikanischer, neurotischer Junge trifft auf über-typische ukrainische Touristenführer – und beide Seiten kommen am Ende zu ihrer eigenen, ganz persönlichen Erleuchtung (genauso wie der Zuschauer auch).

Ein wirklich schöner, spannender, verrückter Film mit genau der richtigen Dosis feinfühligem Humor. Echt meine Empfehlung.

———

und noch zur Technik. Das Bild ist ebenfalls total herrlich. Man muss die Szene mit den Sonnenblumen gleich noch einmal anschauen, wenn man diesen herrlichen Kontrast sieht.

Der Ton ist zweckdienlich und hat sich meiner Meinung nach keine Schnitzer geleistet. Natürlich werden hier keine Surroundwunder fabriziert – schließlich liegt der Hauptwert auf den Dialogen – und die sind glasklar direkt aus’m Hauptlautsprecher.

Zu den Extras kann ich nur sagen, dass die geschnittenen Szenen diesmal wirklich eine schöne Rolle erfüllen. Sie wurden meiner Meinung nach nämlich wirklich zu Recht herausgeschnitten. Ansonsten hätte ich mir natürlich gewunschen, dass noch mehr Bonus drauf ist, aber ok – alles kann man nicht haben.

—–

so, und jetzt lese ich noch das Originalbuch zum Film. Mal schauen, was von den beiden besser ist 🙂

This is one of my absolute favourite films and would highly recommend watching it. The dvd came wrapped and intact and works fine.

One of those movies that has it all a serious historically relevant plot, comedy, and tragedy/drama. Highly recommend this film, especially if you like more international movies, not just Hollywood blockbusters.

This movie is a well-kept secret and quirky treasure. “Everything is Illuminated” came out of nowhere and stole my heart. I liked it so much that I watched it all the way through a second time, less than a week after my first viewing – something I only do for exceptional movies, when there are so many other things to watch. Directed by Liev Schreiber, the movie came out in 2005, and is based on a book of the same name by Brooklyn-based author Jonathan Safran Foer. I found the movie after reading a non-fiction book on a totally different subject by Safran that knocked my socks off. I searched Amazon to see what else this creative genius had done, since his writing and his mind are exceptional. What struck me so much about Safran’s work was that he has a rare talent for luring us into very “difficult” subjects by disarming us with humor. I feel I needed to say that first, because otherwise, it would be almost impossible to explain that this is a Holocaust-related film that is both poignant and laugh-out-loud funny.
I cannot comment on differences between the novel and movie, as other reviewers have, because I stumbled across the movie without having read the book. But what Liev Schreiber has done with this story is so remarkable that any handwringing about its faithfulness to the novel might be irrelevant. Sometimes two minds are better than one, and this movie truly works. Let’s make that “soars” – this is not a workhorse translation of book to movie – it’s more of a collaborative metamorphosis. Indeed, the mind-meld between Safran and Schreiber to make this movie cannot have been less awkward than the movie-story’s collaboration between the two oddball main characters. (They share the stage so completely, that it’s not possible to say which is the real protagonist.) The story follows the “odd couple” of Elijah Wood as seriously near-sighted, urban Jewish vegetarian Jonathan—on a “heritage” tour to find evidence of the woman who saved his grandfather, and Eugene Hutz as “Alex,” the Ukrainian “premium dancer” who has to make ends meet by conducting tours for “rich Jews” who want to find their dead ancestors.
Much of the allure of this movie stems from the playful way it uses “translation” to make us crack up laughing while pondering the reasons why different cultures use language so differently. Since the narrator is the Ukrainian Alex, you hear that they are on a “seriously rigid search” for Jonathan’s family’s past. As you get into the swing of Alex’s translation, you will find yourself captivated by the ways that translation affects thought.
The dog in the movie is also a scene-stealer, and the dog’s namesake and personality are interesting highlights of the story.
I cannot end this review without also addressing the serious and tragic underpinnings for the story. As we watched the movie, my husband and I realized that the germ of the story may have come from the sad World War II events in the beleaguered Ukrainian town of Lviv. I did not hear the town’s name mentioned in the movie, but my husband spotted one train-station-related clue in the film scenery, suggesting that Lviv was an inspiration. (I won’t spoil it – see if you can find it.)
Approach this movie with an open mind – it does not fit in any typical film genre, and kudos to its makers for that. It has elements of such disparate genres that it would seem almost schizophrenic to use these “bins” to tag or categorize the movie. Imagine a file clerk, in the old days, who would have to decide how to file “Humor-Tragedy.” Or “Off-Beat Holocaust.” There are elements in the story, such as a tiny cottage in the middle of a hundred acres of sunflowers, that I can only categorize as “Magical Realism,” but the movie is very direct, not fanciful. All I can say is that everyone has heard the phrase “laugh so hard you cry.” Well, I come away from everything Jonathan Safran Foer is associated with thinking that I “cried so hard I laughed.” Oy, I know that sounds insane. Become familiar with Safran Foer’s work and you will know.

First of all, the music was hypnotic. Secondly, the humor was understated and fit perfectly with the topic. Finally, it is as memorable a film as any I have ever watched.