baratillo @ cubao

Will Elijah Wood suffer the same fate as his character Frodo in the Lord of the Rings?  After the end of the quest Frodo, damaged by the rigors and effects of the Ring, slowly and surely faded away to oblivion. Would Wood suffer the same fate, forever to be typecast as the noble and self-sacrificing Hobbit? It would seem that Wood like any good actor is determined to overcome this. The roles he essayed after Lord of the Rings seem to be a determined and marked departure from the path of the gentle and playful hobbits – in Sin City he was the morally myopic yet deadly serial killer – cannibal and in Eternal Sunshine of … his character took advantage of patient’s dilemma.  And it seems to be working.

And in the film adaptation of Jonathan Safran Foer’s novel “Everything Is Illuminated.” Wood teams up with Eugene Hurtz, Boris Leskin and director Liev Schreiber to deliver a witty and sensitive movie about discovery and the horrors of discrimination and prejudice.

THE STORY

The film is the story if Jonathan Safran Foer and his journey to find the woman “Agustina” who saved his Grandfather (who exactly looks like him) from the Nazis. His Grandfather was a Ukrainian Jew.  Accompanying the quirky Safran is an equally eccentric trio: the translator - Western-infatuated Ukrainian from Odessa; the driver - the translator’s grandfather who has deluded himself; and the official tour bitch - the neurotic seeing eye dog of the grandfather. The dog’s name is Sammy Davis Jr Jr. This road movie is filled with entertaining conversations, scenes, cultural misunderstanding, and quirkiness of the characters. It keeps you entertained enough to see the end of the story.

THE ACTORS

Woods seemed to have stepped out of mild of Frodo. And he is on the road not frequently travelled. He gives justice to his portrayal to the eccentric American Jew Foer enmeshed in the unknown and alien environment of Ukraine. Eugene Hutz and Boris Leskin as his companions in this romp are equally good. Portraying the slightly off-centre characters with their colourful use of the English language, insight and epiphanies they deliver the good.

DIRECTION

The story was directed by Liev Schreiber, himself a descendant of Immigrant Jews. The flow of the story is smooth. And it shows you the story visually as well audit orally. And it filled with subtle symbols and characters that they meet along the way. Schreiber makes effective use of Ukrainian song and music to delineate the mood of the story. He has also harnessed effectively the actors and their parts. You clearly feel the individual eccentricities and the twist in the story is endearing and surprising.

OVERALL

It was entertaining piece of film story telling. The visual shots were beautiful and the use of the music strengthened the offbeat nature of the movie. Ripostes were flying thick and fast. The characters were interesting and three-dimensional. And the resolution surprising, enigmatic and … yes illuminating

Everything Is Illuminated
Starring: Elijah Wood, Eugene Hutz, and Boris Leskin
Running Time: 1 hr 40 minuntes
Directed by: Liev Schreiber