Everything is Illuminated – The Movie
Since everyone else seems to post about non-reading items – I felt compelled to give my critique on a movie I saw last night – Everything is Illuminated. Now I believe that many of us read this book by Jonathan Safran Foer and thought it was brilliant. What made the book brilliant was the writing style, and the sequencing back and forth between life in a small Ukranian shetl and the modern day search for a woman who saved Safran Foer’s grandfather. The characters on this search are Alex, the hilarious Ukranian translator who loves everything American, Alex’s grandfather, his seeing eye dog, Sammy Davis Jr. Jr and Safran Foer. Unfortunately – I didn’t think any of this translated well on film. The entire film centers around the search through the Ukraine for this woman and there are no flashbacks to life in the shetl. Safran Foer is played by Elijah Wood who just seems stiff and lifeless and wears this weird black suit throughout the entire movie. The pacing of the movie is extremely slow; there are many scenes of them driving through the countryside which was such a contrast compared to the fast, almost manic, pace of the book. The best part of the film were the two Ukranian characters, Alex and his grandfather, who are great actors and made the movie. And Liev Schrieber (who apparently bought the rights to the book before it was even published), the director, did do a good job of the hilarious broken English spoken by Alex. Other than that – a disappointment. I would love to get someone’s opinion of the movie who had not read the book – anyone?
October 19, 2005 9:02 am 
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By DJ Cayenne, October 19, 2005 @ 10:34 am
I have wanted to see this move for some time, and I am sorry to hear that it wasn’t so hot. I read an interview with Liev Scheiber about his decision to change the format of the story, so I had a heads up on that. He also changed the ending of the story, for complicated reasons I’m noure that I followed. He apparently bought the rights before the book was released. I will eventually go see it myself and get back to you.
I should also point out again that the guy who played Alex is actually Ukranian. He is the lead singer of the band Gogol Bordello – who I love. Think punk/klezmer – the Clash meets Fiddler on the Roof. They prefer “gypsy cabaret” – whatever. I love them.
Also: It’s definitely ok to post on things other than books read – otherwise there’d be a very long time between posts. You have the DJ Seal of Approval.