Little Odessa (1994)
The feature film debut of 25-year-old James Gray, Little Odessa is a modern American drama, an uncompromising tale of family, love, betrayal and loss. Set in the mysterious, closely-knit Russian Jewish emigre community of Brighton Beach, Brooklyn during one bleak winter, "Little Odessa" is a richly atmospheric study of the last days of a proud but tormented family. Little Odessa stars Tim Roth, Edward Furlong, Moira Kelly, Vanessa Redgrave, and Maximilian Schell.
For Edward Furlong, the part of Joshua's younger brother Reuben was a further opportunity to extend himself as an actor.
"I liked this part because of the transition that Reuben goes through in the movie," he says.
"By the end of the film he's had to grow up fast.
He has to go from being a boy to understanding what it is to be a man."
The feature film debut of 25-year-old James Gray, Little Odessa is a modern American drama, an uncompromising tale of family, love, betrayal and loss. Set in the mysterious, closely-knit Russian Jewish emigre community of Brighton Beach, Brooklyn during one bleak winter, Little Odessa is a richly atmospheric study of the last days of a proud but tormented family.
Little Odessa stars Tim Roth as Joshua Shapira, a hit man for the organizatsya, the Russian mafia. Although still in his twenties, Joshua is a hardened criminal who is estranged from his family and banished from the streets of Little Odessa. Forced to go back to Brighton Beach for a hit, he is inexorably drawn back into his old world.
Edward Furlong plays Joshua's little brother, a kid who is con-man enough to skip school for weeks without his parents finding out and who obviously loves -- even worships -- his enigmatic older brother.
Moira Kelly stars as the young woman in the neighborhood who is drawn to Joshua, even though she knows how he makes his living.
Maximilian Schell and Vanessa Redgrave are Joshua's aging parents, whose grip on the past will keep them from understanding the loyalty and violence that permeates their children's lives. Natasha Andreichenko, Russia's leading film actress, plays Schell's mistress, Natasha.