Little Odessa. 1994. USA. Directed by James Gray. With Tim Roth, Edward Furlong, Vanessa Redgrave, Maximilian Schell, Moira Kelly. DCP. 98 min.
James Gray was only 25 years old when he received a Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival for this powerful directorial debut, a darkly compelling portrait of an American Russian-Jewish family dealing with death and tragedy as an estranged son returns to Brooklyn’s Brighton Beach for one last job in its merciless underworld. And yet, despite its bleakness, Little Odessa shows Gray’s remarkable attention to visual composition, historical detail, and the weight of identity and tradition in streets and homes stung by emotional and criminal violence.