Movies that take place (or where filmed) in South Brooklyn

South Brooklyn has a reputation among people as the home of the Russian mafia. Many movies and TV shows have been filmed in the South Brooklyn area (Sheepshead Bay, Coney Island, and Brighton Beach). I'm going to take a look at a few of the more famous ones.

Little Odessa (1994)

Starring: Tim Roth and Edward Furlong
Director: James Gray
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110365/

In this bleak crime thriller, Joshua (Tim Roth) is a ruthless Russian hitman who returns to his old neighborhood of Brighton Beach. His return sets in motion a depressing tale of family and honor. Terminator 2's Edward Furlong plays his younger brother, Reuben, who looks up to Joshua.

James Gray,a New York native, has filmed many of his movies in the South Brooklyn area. Little Odessa was his first movie. It was filmed mainly in Brighton Beach and there are many scenes where you can see familiar sights of Brighton Beach avenue and the side streets, as well as the boardwalk near Nathan's in Coney Island.

Little Odessa is a great film, but it is depressing. I highly recommend picking it up.

Requiem for a Dream (2000)

Starring: Ellen Burstyn, Jared Leto, and Jennifer Connelly.
Director: Darren Aronofsky
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0180093/

This is the movie they should show in health class in high schools to scare kids out of doing drugs. It shows the dark side of drug abuse and how it affects four people. As the movie progresses, things get darker and darker for the characters. What is it about the South Brooklyn environment and these bleak movies?

There were many familiar places in the movie. The boardwalk pier was used for one of the more beautiful and famous shots of the film. The apartment building that Sara Goldfarb lives in is located on Brighton 4th Avenue. The scene in the beginning of the film where Harry and Marion break into the roof of the apartment building takes place in the Luna Park buildings between West 8th and West 12th street.

Requiem for a Dream is one of those movies that, while great, one time is enough to watch it. It's chilling and the images stay with you.

Lord of War (2005)

Starring: Nicolas Cage and Jared Leto
Director: Andrew Niccol
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0399295/

Jared Leto in another movie that takes place in Brighton Beach? He must like the place. Lord of War is the story of Yuri Orlov (Nicolas Cage), a young Russian living in Brighton Beach in the eighties who wants the good life. So he gets into gun running. He becomes very rich, but at a heavy price.

There were scenes filmed all over Brighton for this movie. Brighton Beach avenue was prominent and Oceanview cafe was used as the sight of the fictional restaurant where Yuri and his family worked. There were also some scenes on the boardwalk as well as in front of the Jewish Center of Brighton beach, located on Neptune and Ocean Parkway.

Lord of War was a fun and clever movie about the rise and fall (?) of a morally ambiguous protagonist. The credit sequence following the life of a bullet is one of the most powerful things you will ever see.

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There are certainly many more movies that have taken place or where filmed in the South Brooklyn area and I will write about more of them later. Stay tuned for part 2!