EVERYTHING IS ILLUMINATED (FILM AND OST)

Everything Is Illuminated (2005)

September 16, 2005

A Journey Inspired by Family Becomes One of Forgiveness

By A. O. SCOTT

Published: September 16, 2005

The title of Liev Schreiber's "Everything Is Illuminated," adapted from the best-selling novel of the same title by Jonathan Safran Foer, refers to the way the past casts a glow of understanding onto the present. A less charitable interpretation is also possible. The film, more emphatically than the book but in keeping with its spirit, suggests that even the darkest page of history can be bathed in a glow of consoling, self-congratulatory se

ntiment. Taking place in Ukraine (though filmed mainly in the Czech Republic), "Everything is Illuminated" is a gentle comedy of understanding and forgiveness played in the shadow of the Holocaust.

This is a difficult feat to attempt in the best of circumstances, as well as, perhaps, an unseemly one. Mr. Foer's verbal and imaginative energies brought him close to succeeding. Mr. Schreiber, plucking a single thread of the novel's interwoven narratives, shows himself to be a sincere and serious reader, but his effort at translation does not quite work. Taken on its own, without comparison with its literary source, the movie, Mr. Schreib

er's first as writer and director, is thin and soft, whimsical when it should be darkly funny and poignant when it should be devastating.

Elijah Wood, his pale eyes magnified by Coke-bottle glasses, plays a young American writer named Jonathan Safran Foer, who is obsessed with his family history. He is especially fascinated with his grandfather and namesake, Safran Foer, who died when Jonathan was a boy and who had escaped from the Nazis as a young man. A wall of Jonathan's room is devoted to old family photographs and small, everyday objects sealed in plastic bags, functioning both as keepsakes and as clues to the past. One picture, of the young Safran with a woman named Augustine, sends Jonathan to Ukraine in search of the village where his grandfather lived.

Jonathan's guide, and the narrator of the film, is his Eastern funhouse-mirror-image, a young man from Odessa named (or, as he would say, "dubbed") Alex. Played by Eugene Hutz, a musician of Gypsy descent who left Ukraine at the age of 14, Alex is as besotted by the post-cold-war American present as Jonathan is haunted by the Ukrainian wartime past. The American, with his neatly parted hair, dark suit and white button-down shir

t, could be a funeral director, or perhaps an I.B.M. junior executive, circa 1962. His Ukrainian counterpart, in contrast, could be the lost Slavic member of Run-DMC, decked out in gold chains and Adidas tracksuit. He speaks in a fractured idiom that works better on the page than on the soundtrack, his English a stew of improbable slang ("I also dig Negroes") and cracked eloquence ("Many girls want to be carnal with me because I'm such a premium dancer.")

This is all a bit much - would someone whose vocabulary includes words like "repose" and "distress" not know the word "fear"? - but Mr. Hutz at least shows some life. Mr. Wood, perhaps trying to suggest watchfulness and timidity, comes off as a shy zombie. Boris Leskin, as Alex's grandfather, a crusty old codger who makes his living chauffeuring American Jews on "heritage tours" of their ancestral villages, brings some old-world ham to the table. The three of them drive around (accompanied by a dog named Sammy Davis Jr., Jr.) looking for Jonathan's grandfather's vanished hometown, and in the process reveal new sides of their rather static personalities. For its part, the movie meanders, through flashbacks and evocative glimpses of landscape (shot by the excellent cinematographer Matthew Libatique), hoping to gather emotional and narrative momentum.

It never really does, leaning instead on the inherent power of its historical back

ground. It does not really illuminate much of anything about the destruction of Ukraine's Jews or survivor's guilt or the problems of historical memory, though these are its announced themes. Rather, the film chiefly dramatizes its own earnest desire to engage these topics, and to make something beautiful out of them - a desire that is admirable enough in its way, but not one that should be mistaken for artistic achievement.

"Everything Is Illuminated" is rated PG-13 (Parents strongly cautioned). It has some scenes of violence, though more is implied than shown.

Everything Is Illuminated

Opens today in New York and Los Angeles.

Directed by Liev Schreiber; written by Mr. Schreiber, based on the novel by Jonathan Safran Foer; director of photography, Matthew Libatique; edited by Craig McKay and Andrew Marcus; production designer, Mark Geraghty; produced by Marc Turtletaub and Peter Saraf; released by Warner Independent Pictures. Running time: 104 minutes. This film is rated PG-13.

WITH: Elijah Wood (Jonathan Safran Foer), Eugene Hutz (Alex), Boris Leskin (Grandfather) and Laryssa Lauret (Lista).

BAJA 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

By	Ariel Mahon (Sonoma County, CA USA) -

I dearly loved this movie, to begin with. So entranced with it was I, that I h

unted down the soundtrack immediately. Instantly enamored of Gogol Bordello upon hearing them, I went out and got everything I possibly could. I'm still working on finding Leningrad.

Down to the album's bits:

Paul Cantelon's compositional skills are phenomenal, and the "Illuminated Gypsy Band" etc. are incredible at capturing the singular flavor of eastern European gypsy music. Without a doubt my favorite tracks on here of his are, 'Odessa Medley', 'Sunflowers' (the hauntingly beautiful vocal piece, reminiscent of the Bulgarian Women's Choir) and 'Inside-Out'.

Onto the other bits!
- Leningrad (Ленинград) is an amazing band, and try as I might, I can't find any of their stuff (PLEASE HELP ME OUT IF YOU KNOW HOW TO GET MY GREASY PAWS ON SOME!). First take some Cuban samba/tango/cumbia-esque music, teach it to some insane drunken Romany, and sing everything in Russian. It's brilliant, danceable, and addicting. Again, if you know where I can get some of this brilliance, do let me know. Thanks.
- The track by Csókolom, a traditional song, also very fun and bouncy, with the "la la la la la la's"
- 'Ya Takoy' by The Con Artists is basically a vehicle for some of the more inspired Russian-to-English mistranslations Alex (Eugene Hutz) has during the movie. Included are 'Many girls are want to be carnal with me, because I am such a premium dancer!" and "I am unequivocally tall. I do not know any women taller than me. The women who are taller than me, are lesbians!" Good hip hop beat, some swank sounding violin, and of course Alex ('because this is much more pleasant to utter').
- Tin Hat Trio, one of my favorite jazz groups, provides us with a sweet and haunting song (I believe from when they are driving in the car). It's hard to describe, other than incredibly touching. Made me think of the smell of grass and sunshine right after a rain.
- Which brings us, finally, to Gogol Bordello. If you are not aware of this band, I cannot even begin to explain how much fun this band is. Think Ukranian Gypsy Punk Rock, mixed with some wierd Rai-dub. Bublitschki is their pretty traditional arrangement of a traditional Russian song. It only slightly shows off their antics. As far as original songs go, 'Start Wearing Purple' is not the best example from these guys to showcase Eugene Hutz's genius, but it's a start. Go get some of their albums. Now. I suggest starting with Multi Kontra Culti, or East Infection (the EP).

So, in a nutshell: This album has great play-through value (especially because it is chronological to the film) thanks to Mr. Cantelon's inspired compositions, and the inclusion of some shining stars of Slavic music.
BAJA