This movie is about
three people on a search. Jonathan is a young American who makes a pilgrimage to
the Ukraine to find the
woman, Augustine, who helped his grandfather come to the United States
and thus saved him from the Nazis. Jonathan is also an obsessive 'collector' who
puts into little plastic bags items as varied as a piece of boiled potato and a
container of shampoo snitched from the restroom of a train. Alex, his Ukrainian
translator, doesn't quite understand idiomatic English and, for example, speaks
of how women want to 'be carnal' with him because of his 'premium penis.'
Alex's grandfather is their driver and insists on taking Sammy Davis Jr. Jr.,
his 'seeing eye bitch' because, insists the grandfather, he is blind (!)
The three drive
through the Ukrainian countryside looking for the town where Augustine lived.
Between Alex's malapropisms, Jonathan's obsessions, and the misunderstanding
each has of the other's culture, I laughed out loud throughout the first half
of the movie.
But the shadow of
the Holocaust permeates the tale, and the grandfather's casual but repeated
anti-Semitic comments accentuate the history behind the movie. Was this
ridiculous old man a Nazi murderer? When they find Augustine's town, the film
becomes serious, and memories of the Holocaust assume center stage.
Though I generally
avoid Holocaust themed movies, this one was gripping. Non-Jews might not be as
enthralled. The movie has a fair amount of symbolism and raises several unanswered
questions, but instead of feeling frustrated, I went to the web to see how
other people understood the ambivalences.
The music was lively
and enjoyable, and the characters, in spite of their idiosyncrasies, are
realistic and interesting.
This is a well
crafted film which I recommend on its cinematic merits. However, it didn't do that much for my pulse,
so I rate it only at +++ - it will get your pulse up to a jog.
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