So, the movie's been out for a while now.
Who's seen it yet? Any thoughts?
I went down to New York to see it shortly after the premiere, and I have to say that I was a little bit apprehensive about the supposedly huge plot changes they'd made concerning the ending. I trusted Liev, though, and I think I was right to do so. I think that while Grandfather's epiphany wasn't quite as strong as it was in the book, it was still a powerful ending. I like that Alex grew up in a different way in the movie, with his growth centered more around Grandfather than Father. I didn't mind that they made Grandfather Jewish, and I thought it added an interesting dimension to Alex's character, to have to deal with this. Even though Alex didn't reveal truths about himself the way he did in the book ("I have never been carnal with a girl"), I found Eugene's performance to give the character a great sense of depth nonetheless. His interpretation of the character obviously has a great deal of truth, because he knows what it's like. There was a fantastic interview with Eugene in which he shed a lot of light on his performance...I'll try to find the link to it if I can. The fact that Grandfather killed himself ON their journey was a shock to me, and my heart broke when Alex discovered him. I think it worked, especially when we see Jonathan and Alex driving - alone - back to the train station in silence. I was happy that Jonathan and SDJJ were reconciled at the end, too. I also rather liked the portrayal of Jonathan as a collector rather than a writer. I thought that since they cut out all of the Trachimbrod backstory, it was a good way to represent that long, rich history - through his collection of objects representative of memories.
My favorite addition, however, is definitely the "inside-out" lines. It sounds like such a JSF-ism that I wonder if he wrote it. The image of Jonathan alone on the airplane with the empty seat next to him while Alex talks about them always being next to each others' lives just KILLED me, in the same way practically every page of the book killed me. Beautiful.
The only thing I was really confused about was Grandfather - the girl who watched the massacre and his awakening - was that Lista? It seemed to be so bizarre that she would just stand there smiling while they were shot, and then wander around the pile of bodies and NOT freak out when one of them jumped up. But then, I guess they always thought she was a little insane.
For those who haven't seen the movie (and those who will see it again) - watch for the guy blowing leaves in the cemetery at the beginning: it's Jonathan Safran Foer himself! I got a big kick out of that; I think it's great when authors make cameos in the movie adaptation of their books.
I went down to New York to see it shortly after the premiere, and I have to say that I was a little bit apprehensive about the supposedly huge plot changes they'd made concerning the ending. I trusted Liev, though, and I think I was right to do so. I think that while Grandfather's epiphany wasn't quite as strong as it was in the book, it was still a powerful ending. I like that Alex grew up in a different way in the movie, with his growth centered more around Grandfather than Father. I didn't mind that they made Grandfather Jewish, and I thought it added an interesting dimension to Alex's character, to have to deal with this. Even though Alex didn't reveal truths about himself the way he did in the book ("I have never been carnal with a girl"), I found Eugene's performance to give the character a great sense of depth nonetheless. His interpretation of the character obviously has a great deal of truth, because he knows what it's like. There was a fantastic interview with Eugene in which he shed a lot of light on his performance...I'll try to find the link to it if I can. The fact that Grandfather killed himself ON their journey was a shock to me, and my heart broke when Alex discovered him. I think it worked, especially when we see Jonathan and Alex driving - alone - back to the train station in silence. I was happy that Jonathan and SDJJ were reconciled at the end, too. I also rather liked the portrayal of Jonathan as a collector rather than a writer. I thought that since they cut out all of the Trachimbrod backstory, it was a good way to represent that long, rich history - through his collection of objects representative of memories.
My favorite addition, however, is definitely the "inside-out" lines. It sounds like such a JSF-ism that I wonder if he wrote it. The image of Jonathan alone on the airplane with the empty seat next to him while Alex talks about them always being next to each others' lives just KILLED me, in the same way practically every page of the book killed me. Beautiful.
The only thing I was really confused about was Grandfather - the girl who watched the massacre and his awakening - was that Lista? It seemed to be so bizarre that she would just stand there smiling while they were shot, and then wander around the pile of bodies and NOT freak out when one of them jumped up. But then, I guess they always thought she was a little insane.
For those who haven't seen the movie (and those who will see it again) - watch for the guy blowing leaves in the cemetery at the beginning: it's Jonathan Safran Foer himself! I got a big kick out of that; I think it's great when authors make cameos in the movie adaptation of their books.