Gogol
Everything is Illuminated (Film by Liev Schreiber)
Sunday, July 20th, 2008 | Film Reviews | 1 Comment
Two totally contrary characters shape the plot of this film. Jonathan (Elijah Wood), a young shy American, who just collects everything, packing things in plastic bags, and Alex (Eugene Hutz), an extroverted and cool Ukrainian from Odessa, who acts (with strongest Russian accent) as translator throughout the story. Jonathan is a Jew and travels to Ukraine, just after his grandmother`s death, to look for Augustine, a woman from an old pic his grandpa gave to him, and a place named “Trachimbrod“. Alex`s father runs a business named “Jew Heritage Odessa”, which is “helping” rich Jews from the West to find their Jewish roots in their homeland Ukraine. This family business is supported by Alex, his old and anti-Semitic grandma and his beloved, crazy dog “Suchka” (Russian for “bitch”).
Their trip by a small blue “Trabbi” in search of “Trachimbrod” is a mix of grandpa`s crude Russian swearing and Jonathan`s weird nature. The scene “I don`t eat meat, I`m a vegetarian!” is just brilliant! At that point the director (Liev Schreiber) and the actors did a great job in turning out differences of mentalities and hit the mark!
The journey reveals another aspect, which turns the viewer`s attention to Alex`s grandpa. He seems to remember the places and landscapes they are driving past. Russian and Ukraine background melodies give the scenery a special coloring and authenticity.
Eventually the Trio comes to a field of sunflowers. Augustine`s sister lives here far from civilization an reality. Grandfather shares a secret with her which turns out to be his own Jewish roots. He regains his own identity and ends up in a bath full of blood – content an silent. Everything is illuminated!
This film is really unusual and worth seeing particulary in original if you can understand Russian and English…