LITTLE ODESSA
US, 1994, 98 minutes, Colour.
Tim Roth, Edward Furlong, Vanessa Redgrave, Maximilian Schell, Moira Kelly.
Directed by James Gray.
Little Odessa was the first film by writer-director, James Gray. He has made comparatively few features over the decades but most of them are quite striking, including We are the Night, Two Lovers, The Immigrant.
This is a dark film, set in winter, in Brooklyn, Brighton Beach and Coney Island, the area called little Odessa where Russian migrants lived, Russian- Jewish migrants.
It is also a film about gangsters and the Mafia, the ruthlessness of killers, inherent dangers and accidental killings as well as murders and executions.
The film focuses on two brothers, the older played by Tim Roth, powerfully ruthless, alienated from his father who was cruel towards him, a professional killer. Edward Furlong is the more introverted younger brother who has his older brother on a pedestal. The parents are played by Maximilian Schell, autocratic and cruel, while Vanessa Redgrave with a terminal illness. Moira Kelly plays the older brother’s girlfriend.
While there is action, this is also a film of reflection on the meaning of the American dream and how it can go wrong.
1. The title, the focus, Brooklyn, Brighton Beach, Coney Island? The section of Little Odessa? In the winter? Light and dark? The suburb scapes, the interiors? The musical score, the Russian songs?
2. The Russians in America, the Jews, living in exile, the American dream? Russian customs, language? The poverty? The presence of the Mafia? Gangs and violence?
3. A film of unhappiness, of exile in the United States, of criminal violence, of dysfunctional families, a clash between father and sons?
4. The music, Joshua’s eyes – and at the end? Assassinations, the gangsters, hard attitude toward violence?
5. The portrait of Joshua, the background of his family, alienated? The oppression by his father, his decision to leave, find opportunity? The jobs, watching the family, being seen, the hotel, Reuben devoted to him, the bonds between them, the meeting? The show, discussions, getting information about his mother, his father? His relationship with Alla? The gangs, his jobs, his being stalked? With his mother, his father? But not killing his father? His personal ruthlessness, his ability to kill, Alla’s death? On the boardwalk, his associates, the Mafia gangs, the shootings? Reuben’s death, taking him to the incinerator, alone with his memories?
6. Reuben, his age, the bike, the newsstand? An introverted young man, not wanting to go to school, sharing his mother’s pain, his being beaten by his father? The secret of the gun? His admiration for Joshua? The discussions, the outings? His seeing the killings? Taking the gun, the pursuit, finding Alla dead? His being behind the sheet? His being shot?
7. The portrait of the parents, the Russian background, the austere and strict father, beating his sons, their alienation, Joshua leaving, later accosting his father? His wife, a terminal illness?
8. Alla, local, love for Joshua, with him, going out to the cinema with Joshua and Reuben? Reuben staying at her house? The dangers? At home, the washing, her being shot?
9. Mafia codes, the dead, revenge? Joshua and his associates, the final shooting and Joshua’s grief?
