Everything Is Illuminated (film): Difference between revisions

Everything Is Illuminated
Everything Is Illuminated
	Everything Is Illuminated movie poster
Directed by	Liev Schreiber
Screenplay by	Liev Schreiber
Based on	Everything Is Illuminated; by Jonathan Safran Foer
Produced by	Marc Turtletaub; Peter Saraf; Matthew Stillman;
Starring	Elijah Wood; Eugene Hütz; Boris Leskin; Laryssa Lauret;
Cinematography	Matthew Libatique
Edited by	Andrew Marcus; Craig McKay
Music by	Paul Cantelon; Sergei Shnurov
Production; companies	Deep River Productions; Big Beach; Stillking Films; Cinetic Media;
Distributed by	Warner Independent Pictures
Release date	September 16, 2005;
Running time	104 minutes
Country	United States
Languages	English ; Russian ; Ukrainian
Budget	$7 million
Box office	$3.6 million

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Everything Is Illuminated is a 2005 American biographical comedy-drama film, written and directed by Liev Schreiber and starring Elijah Wood and Eugene Hütz. It was adapted from the novel of the same name by Jonathan Safran Foer, and was the debut film of Liev Schreiber both as a director and as a screenwriter.^[6]^[7]

Plot

Jonathan Safran Foer, a young American Jew, goes on a quest to Ukraine to find Augustine, the woman who saved his grandfather, Safran Foer, during the Holocaust. He searches for a small town called Trachimbrod that was wiped off the map when the Nazis liquidated Eastern European shtetls.

Jonathan arranges to hire Odesa-based Heritage Tours. This company has specialized in escorting wealthy Americans in search of their roots for decades, despite generally thinking Jewish people are stupid for wanting to revisit their past and not being very knowledgeable about the subject of finding Jews. Thus, the company usually simply attempts to scam them by taking them on long journeys. His guides, who drive up from Odesa to meet Jonathan as he arrives at the train station in Lviv, are a cranky, seemingly antisemitic grandfather, Alexander Perchov; his wound-up dog, Sammy Davis Jr. Jr.; and his enthusiastic grandson, Alexander III ("Alex"). Alex constantly chatters with a unique command of English and a passion for American pop culture that keeps the arduous journey lighter.^[8] Despite the tour guides' general uncaring attitude, after hearing Jonathan's compelling story, they decide they actually want to help him.

Along the way in Volhynia, as they travel in search of the shtetl in the region around Lutsk, they have a series of misadventures, many of them humorous and based on the culture shock Jonathan experiences as an American tourist in Ukraine.

Traveling through much of rural western Ukraine, the three men eventually find Augustine's sister, Lista. She lives by herself in a house in the midst of a great sunflower field, isolated from technology and from news of the outside world. Lista tells them that Augustine, the pregnant first wife of Jonathan's grandfather, was killed by Nazi soldiers after her father refused to spit on the Torah. She leads them to the site where the town had been. Jonathan's grandfather had left for the United States the week before the massacre.

The next night Alex's grandfather quietly kills himself. Through flashbacks, it was revealed he was Jewish. During the massacre of the Jews of his town in the Holocaust, he was shot and thrown into a mass grave. Hours later, he regained consciousness and crawled out of the pit alive, and managed to survive the war himself by hiding his identity as a Jew. He abandoned this identity permanently, symbolically walking away from it.

Jonathan returns home to the United States after saying farewell to Alex, to whom he has grown close. They strike up a correspondence.

Both Jonathan and Alex sprinkle soil gathered from the site of the massacre on their respective grandfathers' graves. Alex's grandfather is given a Jewish tombstone.

Cast

Elijah Wood as Jonathan Safran Foer
Boris Leskin as Grandfather
Eugene Hütz as Alex
Laryssa Lauret as Lista
Jonathan Safran Foer as Leaf Blower

Music

The score for Everything Is Illuminated features eight original tracks composed by Paul Cantelon,^[9] along with songs by Russian ska punk band Leningrad, Arkady Severny, Csókolom, Tin Hat Trio, and Gogol Bordello, whose lead singer Eugene Hütz plays Alex. The band members of Gogol Bordello play the band in the train station where the character Alex has come to meet his US client, Jonathan Foer. DeVotchKa's single "How It Ends" is featured in the trailer, but not in the official soundtrack.

Critical response

American Chronicle counted the film among the "rare films that encapsulate the emotion of discovery and drama with humor",^[10] while Time Out New York called it Liev Schreiber's "unbelievably assured debut as a director".^[11] Roger Ebert praised the film, assigning it 3 and a half stars out of 4, and suggested that one might well see it a second time, as he did, "to understand the journey it takes".^[3]

Awards

2005: Lanterna Magica Prize and Biografilm Award: Venice Film Festival: Liev Schreiber
2005: Best Screenplay: São Paulo International Film Festival: Liev Schreiber
2006: Best Actor: Pacific Meridian: Boris Leskin^[12]^[13]

References

^ Foer, Jonathan Safran (2002). Everything Is Illuminated: A Novel. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 0-618-17387-0.
^ "Everything Is lluminated (2005)". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on January 12, 2021.
^ ^a ^b Ebert, Roger (September 22, 2005). "An illuminating journey". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
^ "His work illuminated". Los Angeles Times. January 16, 2005. Retrieved December 17, 2022.
^ "Everything Is Illuminated (2005". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
^ Scott, A. O. (16 September 2005). "A Journey Inspired by Family Becomes One of Forgiveness". The New York Times. Retrieved 2016-10-03.
^ Etherington, Daniel. "Everything Is Illuminated [Film Review]". Channel 4. Archived from the original on 19 June 2006. Retrieved 2016-10-03.
^ "Everything is Illuminated". IMDb.
^ "Everything Is Illuminated". AllMusic. Retrieved December 17, 2022.
^ Simpson, Mary Anne (19 January 2007). "A Review of the Movie: Everything is Illuminated". American Chronicle. Archived from the original on 13 August 2012. Retrieved 2016-10-03.
^ "Everything Is Illuminated". Time Out Worldwide. October 28, 2005. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
^ "Vladivostok International Film Festival". vladivostokfilmfestival.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 2022-12-17.
^ ""Сокурсники"". Herzen Library (in Russian). Retrieved 2022-12-17.

External links

[1] Foer, Jonathan Safran (2002). Everything Is Illuminated: A Novel. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 0-618-17387-0.

[2] "Everything Is lluminated (2005)". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on January 12, 2021.

[ebert-3] Ebert, Roger (September 22, 2005). "An illuminating journey". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved October 3, 2016.

[LA-4] "His work illuminated". Los Angeles Times. January 16, 2005. Retrieved December 17, 2022.

[5] "Everything Is Illuminated (2005". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved October 3, 2016.

[6] Scott, A. O. (16 September 2005). "A Journey Inspired by Family Becomes One of Forgiveness". The New York Times. Retrieved 2016-10-03.

[7] Etherington, Daniel. "Everything Is Illuminated [Film Review]". Channel 4. Archived from the original on 19 June 2006. Retrieved 2016-10-03.

[8] "Everything is Illuminated". IMDb.

[9] "Everything Is Illuminated". AllMusic. Retrieved December 17, 2022.

[10] Simpson, Mary Anne (19 January 2007). "A Review of the Movie: Everything is Illuminated". American Chronicle. Archived from the original on 13 August 2012. Retrieved 2016-10-03.

[11] "Everything Is Illuminated". Time Out Worldwide. October 28, 2005. Retrieved October 3, 2016.

[12] "Vladivostok International Film Festival". vladivostokfilmfestival.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 2022-12-17.

[13] ""Сокурсники"". Herzen Library (in Russian). Retrieved 2022-12-17.

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@@ Line 22: / Line 22: @@
 | cinematography = [[Matthew Libatique]]
 | editing        = [[Andrew Marcus]]<br />[[Craig McKay (film editor)|Craig McKay]]
-| studio        =  {{Plainlist|
+| studio         = {{Plainlist|
-* [[David T. Friendly|Deep River Productions]]<ref>{{cite web|title=Everything Is lluminated (2005)|work=[[British Film Institute]]|url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b8a9d3b4b}}</ref>
+* [[David T. Friendly|Deep River Productions]]<ref>{{cite web|title=Everything Is lluminated (2005)|work=[[British Film Institute]]|url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b8a9d3b4b|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112023939/https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b8a9d3b4b|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 12, 2021}}</ref>
 * [[Big Beach (company)|Big Beach]]
 * [[Stillking Films]]
@@ Line 33: / Line 33: @@
 | country        = United States
 | language       = [[English language|English]] <br> [[Russian language|Russian]] <br> [[Ukrainian language|Ukrainian]]
+| budget         = $7 million<ref name=LA>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-jan-16-ca-schreiber16-story.html |title=His work illuminated |date=January 16, 2005 |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |access-date=December 17, 2022}}</ref>
-| budget         = $7,000,000{{citation needed|date=May 2014}}
-| gross          = $3,601,974<!-- worldwide --><ref>"[https://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=everythingisilluminated.htm Everything Is Illuminated (2005)]". ''Box Office Mojo''. Retrieved 2016-10-03.</ref>
+| gross          = $3.6 million<ref>{{cite web|url=https://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=everythingisilluminated.htm |title=Everything Is Illuminated (2005 |website=Box Office Mojo |access-date=October 3, 2016}}</ref>
 }}
 '''''Everything Is Illuminated''''' is a 2005 American [[biographical]] [[comedy-drama]] film, written and directed by [[Liev Schreiber]] and starring [[Elijah Wood]] and [[Eugene Hütz]]. It was adapted from the [[Everything Is Illuminated|novel of the same name]] by [[Jonathan Safran Foer]], and was the debut film of [[Liev Schreiber]] both as a director and as a screenwriter.<ref>Scott, A. O. (16 September 2005). "[https://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/16/movies/a-journey-inspired-by-family-becomes-one-of-forgiveness.html A Journey Inspired by Family Becomes One of Forgiveness]". ''The New York Times''. Retrieved 2016-10-03.</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.channel4.com/film/reviews/film.jsp?id=152820|title=Everything Is Illuminated [Film Review]|last=Etherington|first=Daniel|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060619110933/http://channel4.com/film/reviews/film.jsp?id=152820|archive-date=19 June 2006|access-date=2016-10-03|publisher=[[Channel 4]]}}</ref>
 ==Plot==
+ <!-- Per WP:FILMPLOT, plot summary should be between 400 to 700 words. -->
-<!-- {{Expand section|date=May 2014}} full plot including ending needed -->
-Jonathan Safran Foer ([[Elijah Wood]]), a young American [[Jew]], goes on a quest to find the woman, Augustine, who saved his grandfather, Safran Foer, during the [[Holocaust]] in a small [[Ukraine|Ukrainian]] town called [[Trachimbrod]] that was wiped off the map when the [[Nazism|Nazis]] liquidated Eastern European [[shtetl]]s.
+Jonathan Safran Foer, a young [[American Jew]], goes on a quest to [[Ukraine]] to find Augustine, the woman who saved his grandfather, Safran Foer, during the [[Holocaust]]. He searches for a small town called [[Trachimbrod]] that was wiped off the map when the [[Nazism|Nazis]] [[Einsatzgruppen|liquidated Eastern European]] [[shtetl]]s.
-His guides are a cranky, seemingly [[Antisemitism|antisemitic]] grandfather ([[Boris Leskin]]), his wound-up dog named Sammy Davis, Jr., Jr., and his enthusiastic grandson, Alex ([[Eugene Hütz]]), who constantly chatters with a unique command of English and a passion for American [[popular culture|pop culture]] that keeps the arduous journey lighter. These guides have been escorting wealthy Americans in search of their roots for decades. They are generally not very knowledgeable about the subject of finding Jews, and usually just attempt to scam them by taking them on long journeys. However, after hearing Jonathan's compelling story, they decide they actually want to help him.
+Jonathan arranges to hire [[Odesa]]-based Heritage Tours.  This company has specialized in escorting wealthy Americans in search of their roots for decades, despite generally thinking Jewish people are stupid for wanting to revisit their past and not being very knowledgeable about the subject of finding Jews.  Thus, the company usually simply attempts to scam them by taking them on long journeys.  His guides, who drive up from Odesa to meet Jonathan as he arrives at the train station in [[Lviv]], are a cranky, seemingly [[Antisemitism|antisemitic]] grandfather, Alexander Perchov; his wound-up dog, Sammy Davis Jr. Jr.; and his enthusiastic grandson, Alexander III ("Alex"). Alex constantly chatters with a unique command of English and a passion for American [[popular culture|pop culture]] that keeps the arduous journey lighter.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0404030/ | title=Everything is Illuminated | website=[[IMDb]] }}</ref>  Despite the tour guides' general uncaring attitude, after hearing Jonathan's compelling story, they decide they actually want to help him.
+Along the way in [[Volhynia]], as they travel in search of the shtetl in the region around [[Lutsk]], they have a series of misadventures, many of them humorous and based on the culture shock Jonathan experiences as an American tourist in Ukraine.
-Traveling through much of rural Ukraine, they eventually find Augustine's sister, Lista ([[Laryssa Lauret]]), who tells them that Augustine was killed by Nazi soldiers after her father refused to spit on the Torah. And she leads them to the site where the town had been.
+Traveling through much of rural western Ukraine, the three men eventually find Augustine's sister, Lista. She lives by herself in a house in the midst of a great sunflower field, isolated from technology and from news of the outside world. Lista tells them that Augustine, the pregnant first wife of Jonathan's grandfather, was killed by Nazi soldiers after her father refused to spit on the Torah. She leads them to the site where the town had been. Jonathan's grandfather had left for the United States the week before the massacre.
-The next night Alex's grandfather quietly kills himself. Through flashbacks, it was revealed he was Jewish and managed to survive the war himself by hiding his religion. Jonathan returns home after saying farewell to Alex, to whom he has grown close.
+The next night Alex's grandfather quietly kills himself. Through flashbacks, it was revealed he was Jewish. During the [[Einsatzgruppen|massacre]] of the Jews of his town in the [[The Holocaust in Ukraine|Holocaust]], he was shot and thrown into a mass grave. Hours later, he regained consciousness and crawled out of the pit alive, and managed to survive the war himself by hiding his identity as a Jew. He abandoned this identity permanently, symbolically walking away from it.
+Jonathan returns home to the United States after saying farewell to Alex, to whom he has grown close. They strike up a correspondence.
 Both Jonathan and Alex sprinkle soil gathered from the site of the massacre on their respective grandfathers' graves. Alex's grandfather is given a Jewish tombstone.
+== Cast ==
+* [[Elijah Wood]] as Jonathan Safran Foer
+* [[Boris Leskin]] as Grandfather
+* [[Eugene Hütz]] as Alex
+* [[Laryssa Lauret]] as Lista
+* [[Jonathan Safran Foer]] as Leaf Blower
 ==Music==
-The score for ''Everything Is Illuminated'' features eight original tracks composed by [[Paul Cantelon]],<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THSJ4DZAVTc ''Everything is Illuminated'' Soundtrack]</ref> along with songs by [[Russia]]n [[ska punk]] band [[Leningrad (band)|Leningrad]], [[Arkady Severny]], [[Csókolom]], [[Tin Hat Trio]], and [[Gogol Bordello]], whose lead singer [[Eugene Hütz]] plays Alex. The band members of Gogol Bordello play the band in the train station where the character Alex has come to meet his US client, Jonathan Foer. [[DeVotchKa]]'s single "How It Ends" is featured in the trailer, but not in the official soundtrack.
+The score for ''Everything Is Illuminated'' features eight original tracks composed by [[Paul Cantelon]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Everything Is Illuminated |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/everything-is-illuminated-original-motion-picture-soundtrack--mw0000703069 |access-date=December 17, 2022 |website=[[AllMusic]]}}</ref> along with songs by [[Russia]]n [[ska punk]] band [[Leningrad (band)|Leningrad]], [[Arkady Severny]], Csókolom, [[Tin Hat Trio]], and [[Gogol Bordello]], whose lead singer [[Eugene Hütz]] plays Alex. The band members of Gogol Bordello play the band in the train station where the character Alex has come to meet his US client, Jonathan Foer. [[DeVotchKa]]'s single "How It Ends" is featured in the trailer, but not in the official soundtrack.
 ==Critical response==
-''American Chronicle'' counted the film among the "rare films that encapsulate the emotion of discovery and drama with humor",<ref>{{cite news|last=Simpson|first=Mary Anne|title=A Review of the Movie: Everything is Illuminated|url=http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/19430|date=19 January 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120813135337/http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/19430|archive-date=13 August 2012|access-date=2016-10-03|work=American Chronicle}}</ref> while ''[[Time Out (company)|Time Out New York]]'' called it Liev Schreiber's "unbelievably assured debut as a director".<ref>Rothkopf, Joshua (28 September 2005). "[https://www.timeout.com/us/film/everything-is-illuminated Everything Is Illuminated]" [film review]. ''Time Out New York''. Retrieved 2016-10-03.</ref> [[Roger Ebert]] praised the film, assigning it 3 and a half stars out of 4, and suggested that one might well see it a second time, as he did, "to understand the journey it takes".<ref name="ebert">{{cite news | date = September 2005 | last = Ebert | first = Roger | authorlink = Roger Ebert | url = http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050922/REVIEWS/50919003/1023 | work = Chicago Sun-Times | title = Everything is Illuminated ['Coming Soon' blurb; reporting from the 2005 Toronto Film Festival] | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20050923032039/http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20050922%2FREVIEWS%2F50919003%2F1023 | archivedate = 23 September 2005 | url-status = dead }} [https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/everything-is-illuminated-2005 Full review], dated 22 September 2005, retrieved from www.rogerebert.com, 2016-10-03.</ref>
+''American Chronicle'' counted the film among the "rare films that encapsulate the emotion of discovery and drama with humor",<ref>{{cite news|last=Simpson|first=Mary Anne|title=A Review of the Movie: Everything is Illuminated|url=http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/19430|date=19 January 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120813135337/http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/19430|archive-date=13 August 2012|access-date=2016-10-03|work=American Chronicle}}</ref> while ''[[Time Out (company)|Time Out New York]]'' called it Liev Schreiber's "unbelievably assured debut as a director".<ref>{{Cite web |last= |date=October 28, 2005 |title=Everything Is Illuminated |url=https://www.timeout.com/movies/everything-is-illuminated |access-date=October 3, 2016 |website=Time Out Worldwide |language=en-GB}}</ref> [[Roger Ebert]] praised the film, assigning it 3 and a half stars out of 4, and suggested that one might well see it a second time, as he did, "to understand the journey it takes".<ref name="ebert">{{Cite web |last=Ebert |first=Roger |date=September 22, 2005 |title=An illuminating journey |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/everything-is-illuminated-2005 |access-date=October 3, 2016 |website=RogerEbert.com}}</ref>
 ==Awards==
 * 2005: Lanterna Magica Prize and Biografilm Award: [[Venice Film Festival]]: [[Liev Schreiber]]
 * 2005: Best Screenplay: [[São Paulo International Film Festival]]: [[Liev Schreiber]]
-* 2006:   Best Actor: [[Pacific Meridian]]: [[Boris Leskin]]<ref>[http://vladivostokfilmfestival.ru/ru/archive/2006/prizes/ Лауреаты владивостокского международного кинофестиваля (2006)]</ref><ref>[http://www.herzenlib.ru/main/news/detail.php?ID=15881&sphrase_id=588826 Рената Литвинова вручает приз за лучшую мужскую роль Борису Лескину]</ref><ref>[https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0504007/awards?ref_=nm_awd Boris Leskin. Awards]</ref>
+* 2006: Best Actor: [[Pacific Meridian]]: [[Boris Leskin]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Vladivostok International Film Festival |url=http://vladivostokfilmfestival.ru/ru/archive/2006/prizes/ |access-date=2022-12-17 |website=vladivostokfilmfestival.ru |language=ru}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title="Сокурсники" |url=http://herzenlib.ru/main/news/detail.php?ID=15881 |access-date=2022-12-17 |website=Herzen Library |language=ru}}</ref>
+== See also ==
+* [https://www.ushmm.org/information/exhibitions/online-exhibitions/special-focus/ukraine The Holocaust in Ukraine]
+* [https://www.bkmag.com/2022/12/05/eugene-hutz-gogol-bordello/ Eugene Hütz of Gogol Bordello]
 ==References==
@@ Line 68: / Line 84: @@
 * {{official website|http://www.warnerbros.com/everything-illuminated}}
 * {{IMDb title|id=0404030|title=Everything Is Illuminated}}
-* {{Amg movie|306146|Everything Is Illuminated}}
+* {{AllMovie title|306146|Everything Is Illuminated}}
 * {{rotten-tomatoes|id=everything_is_illuminated|title=Everything Is Illuminated}}
-* {{metacritic film|everything-is-illuminated|Everything Is Illuminated}}
+* {{Metacritic film|title=Everything Is Illuminated}}
 * {{mojo title|everythingisilluminated|Everything Is Illuminated}}
 {{Authority control}}
-{{DEFAULTSORT:Everything Is Illuminated}}
 [[Category:2005 films]]
+[[Category:2005 independent films]]
 [[Category:2000s road comedy-drama films]]
 [[Category:American road comedy-drama films]]
-[[Category:American films]]
 [[Category:2005 black comedy films]]
 [[Category:2000s biographical films]]
 [[Category:American black comedy films]]
-[[Category:English-language films]]
 [[Category:American biographical films]]
 [[Category:Films based on American novels]]
-[[Category:Russian-language films]]
+[[Category:2000s Russian-language films]]
 [[Category:Ukrainian-language films]]
 [[Category:Big Beach (company) films]]
@@ Line 94: / Line 108: @@
 [[Category:Films about the aftermath of the Holocaust]]
 [[Category:Magic realism films]]
+[[Category:Films set in Lviv]]
+[[Category:Films set in Odesa]]
 [[Category:Films set in Ukraine]]
 [[Category:Ukraine in fiction]]
@@ Line 99: / Line 115: @@
 [[Category:Jonathan Safran Foer]]
 [[Category:2005 directorial debut films]]
-[[Category:2005 comedy films]]
+[[Category:2000s English-language films]]
+[[Category:2005 multilingual films]]
+[[Category:American multilingual films]]
+[[Category:2000s American films]]
+[[Category:English-language black comedy films]]
+[[Category:English-language independent films]]
+[[Category:English-language biographical films]]

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