everything be illuminate be a simplified interpretation of something more than half of the jonathan safran foer novel . this version be more about change in eastern europe from world war ii through post cold war and how the young generation relate to that history a a family memory . debut director or adapter liev schreiber retain some of the humor and language clash of the novel and mostly through the marvelous eugene hutz a the u. s. beguile ukrainian tour guide . he be so eye catch that the film become more his odyssey into his country and his family a he go from his comfortable milieu in sophisticated odessa to the heart of a cynical and isolated land that have be ravage by conqueror through the communist and now capitalist and with both jew and non jew a detritus . as funny a his opening scene be when he establish his cheeky bravura and we later feel his fish out of waterness in his own country when he try to ask direction of local yokel . shreiber uses elijah wood and a the american tourist and a an up tight cog in a visual panoply and a his character be less verbal than a one of the narrator in the book . he and hutz play off each other well until the conclusion that become more sentimental in this streamlined plot . once the grandfather story take over in the last quarter of the film and marvelously and unpredictably enact by boris leskin and the young generation do not seem to undergo any catharsis and a they just tidy up the closure . schreiber do a wonderful job visualize the human urge to document history . one of his consultant in the credit be professor yaffa eliach and her style of remember pre holocaust shtetl life through artifact clearly inspire the look and it be very powerful and effective . the czech republic stand in for the ukraine and the production design staff be able to find memorable symbol of change in the city and town and countryside and a this be now primarily a road movie and and the long driving scene do drag a bit . schreiber retain some of the symbolism from the book and particularly of the moon and river and but have cut out the portion of the book that explain those and they just look pretty or ominous for atmosphere and no longer represent time and fate . a w. c. field would have predict and the dog steal most of his scene for easy laugh . in general and schreiber do go for more poignancy than the book . it be irresistibly touch and especially for those who haven not read the book and but less morally and emotionally messy . the film be enormously uplift by it marvelous soundtrack and which range from song and instrumentals from hutz gypsy band to traditional tune to contemporary track to paul cantelon klezmer fusion score . this be not a holocaust film per se and be a kind of mirror image of the train of life ( train de vie ) a about memory of a time that be freight with meaning now and but will resonate more with those who have an emotional connection to that history .