it. Jonathan returns home to America after saying farewell to Alex, to whom he has grown close. They strike up a correspondence. Both Jonathan and Alex sprinkle soil gathered from the site of the massacre on their respective grandfathers' graves. Alex's grandfather is given a Jewish tombstone. Cast Elijah Wood as Jonathan Safran Foer Boris Leskin as Grandfather Eugene Hütz as Alex Laryssa Lauret as Lista Jonathan Safran Foer as Leaf Blower Music The score for Everything Is Illuminated features eight original tracks composed by Paul Cantelon, along with songs by Russian ska punk band Leningrad, Arkady Severny, Csókolom, Tin Hat Trio, and Gogol Bordello, whose lead singer Eugene Hütz plays Alex. The band members of Gogol Bordello play the band in the train station where the character Alex has come to meet his US client, Jonathan Foer. DeVotchKa's single "How It Ends" is featured in the trailer, but not in the official soundtrack. Critical response American Chronicle counted the film among the "rare films that encapsulate the emotion of discovery and drama with humor", while Time Out New York called it Liev Schreiber's "unbelievably assured debut as a director". Roger Ebert praised the film, assigning it 3 and a half stars out of 4, and suggested that one might well see it a second time, as he did, "to understand the journey it takes". Awards 2005: Lanterna Magica Prize and Biografilm Award: Venice Film Festival: Liev Schreiber 2005: Best Screenplay: São Paulo International Film Festival: Liev Schreiber 2006: Best Actor: Pacific Meridian: Boris Leskin References External links 2005 films 2005 independent films 2000s road comedy-drama films American road comedy-drama films 2005 black comedy films 2000s biographical films American black comedy films American biographical films Films based on American novels 2000s Russian-language films Ukrainian-language films Big Beach (company) films Warner Independent Pictures films Films scored by Mark Orton Films shot in the Czech Republic Films about the aftermath of the Holocaust Magic realism films Films set in Ukraine Ukraine in fiction Films scored by Paul Cantelon Jonathan Safran Foer 2005 directorial debut films 2005 comedy films 2000s English-language films 2005 multilingual films American multilingual films 2000s American films