The scenery is beautiful, the music is fabulous and the acting is excellent. Everything is Illuminated is definitely a movie worth seeing BUT...
There is a major change from the plot of the book. I saw the movie with people from my book group, and we had all read the book previously and, while liking much of the movie, were disappointed and somewhat baffled by the change that Schreiber made.
IF YOU DON'T WANT SPOILERS, YOU SHOULD STOP HERE!!!!
The grandfather is depicted very differently at the end-- in a way that allows for a feel good ending that is neither true to the text nor the material it is covering. There were things that I thought were better about the movie: Alex's narrative voice in the book I thought was distracting (while he was completely wonderful in the movie) and the history of the village and other background was lumbering in the book and wisely omitted in the movie (I believe that Schreiber had read the Very Rigid Search in a New Yorker article and optioned it for a movie before the complete book was published). But, to me the plot lost something when the grandfather was changed to be someone more sympathetic in the past. His actions make a little less sense in that context and his family's response to the discovery (complete with religious accessories) at the very end is too quick to be possible.
I wouldn't say not to see the movie because of this change. But I'd be interested to hear if anyone who had read the book preferred the movie's changes.
There is a major change from the plot of the book. I saw the movie with people from my book group, and we had all read the book previously and, while liking much of the movie, were disappointed and somewhat baffled by the change that Schreiber made.
IF YOU DON'T WANT SPOILERS, YOU SHOULD STOP HERE!!!!
The grandfather is depicted very differently at the end-- in a way that allows for a feel good ending that is neither true to the text nor the material it is covering. There were things that I thought were better about the movie: Alex's narrative voice in the book I thought was distracting (while he was completely wonderful in the movie) and the history of the village and other background was lumbering in the book and wisely omitted in the movie (I believe that Schreiber had read the Very Rigid Search in a New Yorker article and optioned it for a movie before the complete book was published). But, to me the plot lost something when the grandfather was changed to be someone more sympathetic in the past. His actions make a little less sense in that context and his family's response to the discovery (complete with religious accessories) at the very end is too quick to be possible.
I wouldn't say not to see the movie because of this change. But I'd be interested to hear if anyone who had read the book preferred the movie's changes.
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