Everything Is Illuminated (2005)
Coming Out at 4 November 2005 in theaters.
Comedy, Drama
Everything Is Illuminated is 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.
Jonathan Safran Foer (Elijah Wood), a young American Jew, goes on a quest to find the woman, Augustina, who saved his grandfather, Safran Foer, during the Holocaust in a small Ukrainian town called Trachimbrod that was wiped off the map when the Nazis liquidated Eastern European shtetls. His guides are a cranky, antisemitic grandfather (Boris Leskin), his deranged Border Collie named Sammy Davis, Jr., Jr., and his over-enthusiastic grandson, Alex (Eugene Hütz), whose fractured command of English, passion for American pop culture, and constant chatter threaten to make the worst of every situation.
The guides are not very knowledgeable about the subject of finding Jews, and usually just attempt to scam them by taking them on long journeys, but after hearing about Jonathan’s compelling story, they decide they actually want to help him. After traveling through much of rural Ukraine, they eventually find Augustina’s sister, Lista (Laryssa Lauret), who leads them to where Augustina was killed by Nazi soldiers after her father refused to spit on the Torah. Alex’s grandfather kills himself after 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. 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 burial.
Director: Liev Schreiber
Writers: Jonathan Safran Foer (novel), Liev Schreiber
Stars: Elijah Wood, Eugene Hutz, Boris Lyoskin, Jonathan Safran Foer, Laryssa Lauret
Cast:
| Eugene Hutz | … | Alex |
| Elijah Wood | … | Jonathan Safran Foer |
| Jonathan Safran Foer | … | Leaf Blower |
| Jana Hrabetova | … | Jonathan’s Grandmother |
| Stephen Samudovsky | … | Jonathan’s Grandfather Safran |
| Ljubomir Dezera | … | Young Jonathan |
| Oleksandr Choroshko | … | Alexander Perchov, Father |
| Gil Kazimirov | … | Igor |
| Zuzana Hodkova | … | Alex’s Mother |
| Mikki | … | Sammy Davis Jr. Jr. |
| Mouse | … | Sammy Davis Jr. Jr. |
| Boris Lyoskin | … | Grandfather |
| Robert Chytil | … | Breakdancer |
| Jaroslava Sochova | … | Woman on Train |
| Sergei Ryabtsev | … | Ukrainian Band Member |
| Yuri Lemeshev | … | Ukrainian Band Member |
| Pamela Racine | … | Ukrainian Band Member |
| Oleksandr Houtz | … | Ukrainian Band Member |
| Ludmila Kartouska | … | Hotel Waitress |
| Igor Latta | … | Old Man at Fair |
| Eugenin Marandic | … | Fair Goer |
| Orest Tkachuk | … | Fair Goer |
| Elias Bauer | … | Goatherder Boy |
| Jurij Kokyrc | … | Well Digger |
| Sergej Kapitan | … | Well Digger |
| Jaroslav Jurichkanc | … | Well Digger |
| Igor Savivskij | … | Well Digger |
| Jan Filipenský | … | Well Digger |
| Bert Schneider | … | Nazi Officer |
| Tereza Veselkova | … | Augustine |
| Laryssa Lauret | … | Lista |
| Lukas Kral | … | Young Grandfather, Baruch |
| Vera Sindelarova | … | Young Lista |
Sources: imdb & wikipedia