New film with Ukrainian theme set to open

By Aussiegirl

Looks like an interesting film to keep a look out for. Check your local listings.

Bloomberg.com: News & Commentary

When Tony-winning actor Liev Schreiber read ``Everything Is Illuminated'' in 2002, he suddenly had a vision of himself as movie director.

In the novel by Jonathan Safran Foer, who has just published ``Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close,'' a young man searches for the Ukrainian woman who saved his grandfather from the Nazis.

Schreiber is of Ukrainian descent. His film, which opens this Friday, mixes comic relief with the grim reality of a decimated community.

The protagonist is a goofy Ukrainian tour guide, Alex, played by newcomer Eugene Hutz. He's a break-dancing, self-styled ladies' man whose command of English is comically less than perfect. Former hobbit Elijah Wood plays the American searcher.

Schreiber, 37, talked about the film with Robert Hilferty over lox and shrimp at Ulrika's on Manhattan's Upper East Side.

Hilferty: What grabbed you about Foer's writing?

Schreiber: After various successes as an actor, I was offered some directing gigs. But the scripts never really fit what I was hoping to do.

Then came Jonathan's book. I loved the humor. Also, my grandfather was a Ukrainian-Jewish immigrant like Jonathan's. After he died, I wrote a semi-biographical screenplay about a guy who goes to the Ukraine to investigate his heritage even before I read Jonathan's material.

Surprise Ending

Hilferty: You made some changes to the book, like dropping the zany history of the Jewish village. You also made a surprise change in the ending, which I won't give away here. How did Foer respond?

Schreiber: I asked him if he wanted to write the script. But he was interested in seeing how his book would be reincarnated if he stayed out of the process. So I distilled the narrative into a road movie, a journey. And in terms of the ``surprise'' ending, I wanted to create a story where one character brings another character to a point of illumination, thereby creating a cathartic process.

Hilferty: Your experience in acting must have come in handy when directing for the first time.

Schreiber: Initially, given my inexperience, I thought I could at least ``act'' like a director. I would practice saying ridiculous things like ``action.'' But ultimately I realized that what a good director does is locate and illuminate the talent of the people he's working with.

Gypsy Punk

Hilferty: Eugene Hutz as Alex is a revelation. Where did you find this guy?

Schreiber: Eugene is Ukrainian and the front man of a gypsy punk band called Gogol Bordello. I love their music and wanted to include it in the movie. But after talking to Eugene for 10 minutes, I realized that he was Alex, regardless of whether or not he had acted a day in his life.

Hilferty: A star is born. Elijah Wood is already one, known mostly as the hobbit Frodo Baggins in ``Lord of the Rings.'' Why did you choose him?

Schreiber: Because there's a tremendous sweetness and goodness in him. And since he's primarily an observer in the film, his eyes have to do something special. And I just don't think there are better eyes in the business than Elijah Wood's.

Actor-Directors

Hilferty: Many accomplished actors are getting behind the camera these days, like George Clooney and John Turturro, who have major releases this season. Is this a trend?

Schreiber: I think it's a natural extension of an actor's talent and ability. Actors are primarily storytellers. They interpret scripts and play characters. So it stands to reason that they can interpret scripts into films, with varying results.

Hilferty: What would you like people to come away from after seeing ``Everything Is Illuminated''?

Schreiber: For me, it was the comfort of knowing that I am connected. If you look back far enough, and sometimes it's not so far, you realize we are all related in a much more intimate way than perhaps we acknowledge in our day-to-day life, particularly here in America where we so often feel our histories are insignificant and our individual efforts are all that matter.

Hilferty: Will you direct more movies?

Schreiber: That's like asking a woman in the midst of a caesarean if she wants to have another child. Now is time take stock, evaluate what had merit and what didn't and if I want to continue. In the meantime, I'm traveling to China to act in a film based on Somerset Maugham's ``The Painted Veil.''