Everything is Illuminated
It’s been awhile (actually only two weeks) since I saw a film at home, and boy that is a strange feeling. Watching movies is such an integral part of my life, it is almost like I am addicted to it. Or it’s like how a friend used to tell me that men need to jerk off every once in awhile or they’ll feel physically uncomfortable. (Is that true, really? Certainly it does not appear to happen to women.) However, watching films is not technically a productive thing and I have been desiring to be more productive these days. As a result, I made lots of food recently – even more due to Thanksgiving – and I begun studying Japanese intensively. In fact, I spent the majority of this morning reflecting upon it and researching what I shall employ next. (Perhaps there will be another posting about this. We will see.)
I am not digressing. The key word of the last sentence over there is “reflecting”, and that is exactly what I have been looking for. I wanted to see one of those self-indulgent films which reflects upon itself, but for a change I do not mean the philosophical Rohmer-like Nouvelle Vague kind of way. Perhaps “The Darjeeling Limited” is the kind of film I was thinking about, a journey to oneself. “Everything is illuminated” is pretty much just that, except with a little bit more pathos. Unlike “The Darjeeling Limited” they are not really looking for a new self but rather for their own past, and human connections stemming from that past. What connects Alex and Jonathan is now not only their grandfathers’ past but also the experience they shared by trying to find it. As a result, most of the second part of the film just feels so damn solemn, and honestly it kind of destroyed the subtlety of the first part a little bit. Whereas the characters showed great chemistry in the beginning, suddenly all that cute awkwardness between them turned into silent, meaningful motions. Uh oh. Taking that weakness aside, however, the film was quite perfect. It had all the right humor, absolutely lovable characters (Sammy Davis Jr. Jr!) and a great overall story. The execution might have been a little bit too kitsch, but there is something beautiful and meaningful in the message the story transported. I also liked how all the characters evolved, for instance we see how Jonathan came to love Sammy and got over his fear of dogs.
I know that I am a sucker for road trip movies and perhaps my view on this film is romanticized because I find all road adventures more meaningful than they might really be (after all, it seems that Shii was disappointed by the movie). Nevertheless, I think it is a beautifully made nice film which appears to be totally underrated.