Everything Is Illuminated (2005) - Hagfilms Honest Reviews
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 16 окт 2024
- Everything Is Illuminated is a quirky little comedy drama, starring Elijah Wood and is written and directed by the actor Liev Schreiber, his debut in the directors chair. And what an interesting accomplishment it is too. Based on the book by American - Jewish writer Jonathon Foer, we follow, urm, American Jew Jonathon Foer, played by Elijah Wood. In the movie, he proclaims to not be a writer, but a collector, who collects in small plastic bags a vast and odd number of items that relate to his family.
One such item is a photo, handed to him by his grandmother on her death bed, and one which shows his grandfather stood with a mysterious woman named Augustine, who during the holocaust saved his grandfather's life. He embarks on an adventure to the Ukraine, in search of this woman. His guides on the journey are Alex, his translater and a huge fan of the american pop culture, and his anti-Semitic grandfather, who claims to be blind.
The movie starts off as more comedy than drama, and is filled with laughs of peculiar awkwardness, it could almost be categorised in the same vane as Sacha Baron Cohen's Borat, with Alex's out of date knowledge of American culture, and the perculiar behaviour of all three characters, not forgetting the inclusion of the grandfathers demented border collie, or seeing eye bitch, Sammy Davis Junior Junior. All three characters venture on a deeper journey that any of them had bargained for, and one that links them ways they never expected, forcing them to face up to truths about their past and the ever lasting effects of the atrocities of the holocaust.
The cast worked well together, we felt an uncomfortable distance between their characters in the outset, and as the story progresses they take on a natural and convincing process of evolution, and it soon becomes apparent that they are linked through their past. As the movie began, I thought that Elijah Wood was going to annoy me in his role, but as the story unfolds his strange and rigid performance was completely fitting to the role. But to me it was Ukrainian actor Eugene Hutz who stole the show as the eccentric guide, who to be fair gets some brilliant lines to speak in his faltered English.
There are some beautiful and interesting shots, Matthew Libatique's cinematography was inspiring, and gave the film an unnatural oil painting feel. Other notable work of his include Requiem For A Dream and more recently Black Swan. He completely bought a fresh yet gritty life to the movie, a perfect accentuation to Schreiber's artful direction. Schreiber created a steadily paced movie, with perfectly timed humorous moments acutely punctuated by the Jewish soundtrack.
When the movie is funny it is very, very funny, but if I have to find fault with it then to me its that when its supposed to tug at the heart strings, I think that it fails to conjure any real emotion in the same way that other holocaust movies have in the past. I don't know why this is exactly, the theme of the holocaust is obviously brutal and traumatic, but its depiction in this movie failed to ignite any primal fear.
But all in all, Everything Is Illuminated is a movie that I almost missed, and one that I am very glad that I didn't. I would highly recommend it to anyone, as it makes easy viewing, and is very entertaining. However, I must add that as the movie is set in a foreign land, there is a lot of subtitles to be read. I know that a lot of people out there will have a problem with that, which is a shame. There are so many great films out there if people would just take the time to read along.
I agree with your comments except for one: I felt extremely moved by the Holocaust bits. I fail to see how anyone could not be chilled to the bone by the depiction in this most excellently illuminating movie. Would love for there to have been more in Ukrainian, with or without sub-titles. A most premium movie.
17 June 2020. i just watched this movie on AXN and the movie hypnotized me. it's a great movie 💯❤❤
This film is a favorite of mine, and I enjoyed your review of it. Thank you for posting it.
I think the Holocaust parts were much more moving than say, Pianist for example, in my opinion. I recommend this film to everyone.
Thank you for the review. Honest and absent of disingenuous pop culture motivation and expressed with an almost incandescent brilliance. I share a very similar take on this film but, am not sure I could have ever explained it with such accuracy.
WTF, people don't like to read subtitles?1 WTF? I wouldn't have ever saw a foreign movie ever if I would've refused to read subtitles. Someof the best movies I've ever seen were foreign. WTF?!
+RoScFan Im only going by th ereviews this film had on lov efilm by members of the public who rated it low, low scores and as a review wrote something idiotic like 'had to read subtitles - so it was crap'. the public sir, the general public.
nomojojo brought teh pig here
Stopped watching when you called Eugene Hutz an actor. I know hes in movies, but only four, and his bands got 7 albums out. i friggan love Gogol so hearin him dubbed an actor urkes meh
I enjoyed this movie so much I went to buy the book. Unfortunately, in my opinion, the book was awful. It was actually two stories. Only one was depicted in the movie. The book was confusing and convoluted. See the movie. But don't waste your time or money on the book. Again, this is my opinion.
jonfin el furcoat
Jonfen L. Furrcoat