Based on Jonathan Safran Foer's highly acclaimed 2002 novel of the same name, this film is the poignant yet often very funny story of Jonathan, a geeky young Jewish man who decides to journey to the Ukraine in an attempt to find the woman who helped his grandfather to escape from the Nazis. As a bizarre road trip unfolds, as does the truth about Jonathan's family, while the Holocaust inevitably casts a shadow over their enterprise. Elijah Wood (Lord of the Rings) manages to shed Frodo's cloak to give an excellent performance in this fine directorial debut for actor Liev Schreiber, who also wrote the screenplay, and whose acting credits include The Hurricane and The Manchurian Candidate. The film is a clever and unusual mixture of humour and sentimentality, which reflects the feelings engendered by the book.
Everything is Illuminated is a Film programme that first aired in 2005 and has been classified a 12 certificate.
