Everything is Illuminated

I forgot all about this movie: During a travel meet in San Diego, I ran across this on the TV in the hotel. Everyone else was napping for five hours, so I watched it quietly. I wanted to learn more, and the book sounds much better than the movie was. But the movie was also done pretty well. I think I liked it more than I should have because it deals with the past, specifically WWII. I've always been fascinated by stories of the Holocaust, about recovering the histories of the people who suffered.

The plot of the movie as described by imdb.com

"A young Jewish American flies to the Ukraine in search of his grandfather's past. He has a photograph and the name of a village. He hires the Odessa Heritage Tours, made up of a gruff old man and his English-speaking grandson. The three, plus grandfather's deranged dog, travel in an old car from Odessa into Ukraine's heart. Jonathan, the American, is a collector, putting things he finds into small plastic bags, so he will remember. Alex, the interpreter, is an archetypal wild and crazy guy. Alex asks the old man, "Was there anti-Semitism in the Ukraine before the war?" Will they find the village? The past illuminates everything."

I love the way it's filmed, the visuals are stunning. There's a perfect balance of humor and seriousness. I wouldn't recommend watching it with young ones, though. Can't remember perfectly, but there's a couple of scenes (or comments?) that just weren't necessary.

(This is one of my favorite scenes from the movie, they have stopped at a hotel for the night. Of course, there's some stereotypes, but I thought it amusing that if you don't eat meat, that means there's something seriously wrong with you. I think the first two minutes are plenty.)





An amusing quote:

"Make sure to secure the door when I am gone. There are many dangerous people who wanna take things from Americans, and also kidnap them. Good night! " (Alex to Jonathan (the American) after showing him his hotel room.)

So if one night you are extremely bored, go ahead and check this out in the library.

But I look forward to watching "A Man For All Seasons" someday. I heard it's really good from a lot of people I respect. :)