Recently, I watched a fantastic movie. I know what you’re thinking: “Mark always watches fantastic movies.” True. But Everything is Illuminated, based on the book of the same name by Jonathan Safran Foer, and starring Elijah Wood, Boris Leskin, and Eugene Hutz (yes, the front man for great gypsy-funk band Gogol Bordello) was particularly captivating. But what makes this film stand out?
Why, the main theme, of course. Not that the technical aspects of the film aren’t wonderful. Film lovers will appreciate the subtle yet powerful use of color, the score, excellent cinematography, and more. But it’s the mission of Jonathan Safran Foer (played by Wood) that gives the film power. Granted, it’s the primary plot device, but what I mean to say is that his quest is something to which all viewers can relate. While trying not to ruin the film for those who haven’t seen it yet, I’ll give you a brief rundown of Foer’s journey.
Foer is an avid collector of memories. Anything, from jewelry to dental retainers to dirt, that reminds him of a place, a person, or any specific moment in time, is carefully bagged and cataloged. It is this desire to remember and to know that leads Foer to meet with a Ukrainian grandfather and grandson in an effort to learn more of how his own grandfather, with the help of a unknown girl, escaped Nazi persecution many years before.
Without spoiling such a solid flick, I’ll tell you that one outcome of the journey is an appreciation for grasping religious identity – not necessarily one’s personal beliefs, but the discovery of a faith set in a framework of history and tradition. There is no awe-inspiring, explicitly religious experience in this movie; no “come to Jesus” moment, as we Southerners are used to hearing (especially because there are no Christian characters). Instead, what flourishes is the realization that valuing the whole of one’s identity, including religious heritage, is of the utmost importance.
However, the message of the film is clear that individual identity and religious experience holds no special place over and above the historical religious tradition held by the community. In fact, the notion of shared belief is what seems to make it tangible – it’s not just my experience or your history. It’s our tradition. We come from this, and are in many ways named by this. This power of the past to inform the present is what viewers can recognize in Illuminated. Everyone has a story; everyone comes from somewhere. What this film teaches us is that learning about the beliefs of your ancestors is necessary to understanding how each person arises from, is formed by, and can change the faith passed to them by their families.
This film speaks volumes towards the importance of acknowledging religious identity and the history of one’s faith. And while it’s not trying to speak for the importance of specific beliefs or dogmatics, it is conveying how the self can be irreparably affected when we ignore the importance and influence of the communal belief structure in which we were raised. This is not to say that persons should not negate harmful and damaging lessons they might have been taught in childhood – it is more to say that we must take care to never forget the power of beliefs and faiths to perpetually shape who we are, for better or worse. Rejecting the religious beliefs of one’s past might be necessary for many reasons, but it doesn’t mean that those parts of one’s past didn’t exist. It seems that potent memory is essential to religious identity, and the film is decidedly in agreement. Jonathan has to find the truth of the past to make sense of who he is in the present.
Simply put, everything is illuminated when we take the time to discover and appreciate the dimmer parts of our own history, which includes the lives of loved ones who have gone. The film implores us to remember that what was illuminating for those who passed down valuable religious traditions is critical to explaining the faith identities we affirm.
For more information on “Everything is Illuminated,” visit the IMDB.com page.
