little odessa
If you stick to the sea front, there is no real difference with the surrounding neighbourhoods. In this neck of the woods, you just might see a few more people playing chess. If you wander away from the beach, just walk a block inland, what you see changes completely. And we’re not talking about the urban landscape here. Here you also find that special distinctive metal structure that lifts the metro five metres above the ground and also covers Main Street. The houses are brownstones and beehive like buildings not tall enough to be considered skyscrapers are everywhere to be seen. There are water hydrants dotted around street corners here and there. No, we are talking about a different type of landscape. We’re talking about the landscape that we see in written in the words on the posters in shop windows, the language seeping into our ears, the taste and smell that caress our mouths and noses… all of a sudden it’s Russia. We can safely say that the very Anglo-sounding Brighton Beach borough is Russian territory in New York. The local residents are in no way comparable to Italian Americans or Puerto Ricans. There are no Russian Americans here, only Russians that live in America. There’s a big difference. Brighton Beach is home and office for the East Coast Russian mafia and is more widely known by its nickname: Little Odessa.
In 1994, James Gray directed Tim Roth, Edward Furlong, Moira Kelly, Vanessa Redgrave and Maximilian Schell in the film Little Odessa. The film is a dark tale based on the Russian mafia in Little Odessa, precisely the very reality you won’t see taking a walk round the area. You won’t see it, but you will feel it. It won a Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival. Six years later, set in the same area but focusing on a different reality, Darren Aronofsky filmed the incredible Requiem for a Dream.
In 1994, James Gray directed Tim Roth, Edward Furlong, Moira Kelly, Vanessa Redgrave and Maximilian Schell in the film Little Odessa. The film is a dark tale based on the Russian mafia in Little Odessa, precisely the very reality you won’t see taking a walk round the area. You won’t see it, but you will feel it. It won a Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival. Six years later, set in the same area but focusing on a different reality, Darren Aronofsky filmed the incredible Requiem for a Dream.
