Shades of Gray: On James Gray's Early Work

There should be no irony; you are invited by the movie to be totally empathetic with the people in it. We would never talk down to or be condescending to them.--James Gray on Two Lovers 

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My introduction to filmmaker James Gray came about through his second feature, The Yards, which screened at the 2000 Toronto International Film Festival with Gray and actors Mark Wahlberg and Joaquin Phoenix in attendance (the film also stars James Caan, Faye Dunaway, and an unrecognizably brunette, Joan Jett-icized Charlize Theron).

Gray was nervous about presenting such a personal film--the title refers to the Queens rail yards, where his father toiled--in front of such a large audience, but he provided an eloquent introduction, citing Rocco and His Brothers as an influence.  Phoenix, who is quite good in the movie, looked ill at ease and said he was uncomfortable speaking in public. Wahlberg tried to get him to say more, but to no avail. After the film concluded, Wahlberg, who couldn't have been more at ease, threatened to launch into one of his Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch raps if the audience didn't ask any questions. That got a big laugh, and people started to pipe up. 

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The only thing that you can do is try to make sure the film looks beautiful, better than you had imagined, as it slips away from you... If you hire the right people, they can give you something better and more beautiful than you’d ever imagined.--James Gray on all of his films  

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Despite the favorable festival response, The Yards was a non-starter at the box office. It must not have been a priority for Miramax, as I don't recall much of a promotional push. If more people had known about it, I'm certain it would've done better. Gray followed up with another crime film, 2007's We Own the Night, which felt rote and lackluster in comparison, despite solid, but not spectacular work from Wahlberg and Phoenix. (And I don't want to lay too much blame at Eva Mendes' feet, but she's no match for the other actresses who've populated Gray's pictures, notably Oscar winners Theron and Gwyneth Paltrow.) 

As with Luchino Visconti's B&W film,The Yards may be melodramatic, but Gray is looking specifically to the classic European and American melodramas of the 1960s and '70s, and not just amping everything up for the hell of it. The pace is stately but not lugubrious--cinematographer Harris Savides' use of ochre and siena hues recalls the work of Gordon Willis in The Godfather--and the actors make the Old Testament- style dialogue sound surprisingly realistic. Every decision can mean life or death for these characters, and they usually make the wrong ones. 

With 2008's Two Lovers, now available on DVD, Gray returns to the Russian-American milieu of Little Odessa, which I caught just after The Yards. Since his second feature was still percolating in my mind, I wrote the following review. For anyone new to his work, I recommend starting here before moving on to The Yards or Two Lovers. The latter operates almost as a twin, and reunites the director with Phoenix, who imbues Lovers with one of his strangest, most effective performances to date. 

LITTLE ODESSA ***
(James Gray, USA, 1994, 98 mins) 

Only 25 at the time, James Gray wrote and directed this downbeat, but remarkably well executed debut. The soundtrack that accompanies the small-scale drama proves particularly unusual in that it consists primarily of hushed choral arrangements of pieces by Rachmaninoff, Tchaikovsky, and Mussogorsky. 

It's not what you would expect from a post-Tarantino film about a hit man, Joshua Shapira (Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction veteran Tim Roth), and the havoc his career wreaks on his Brighton Beach-based Russian immigrant parents (Maximilian Schell and Vanessa Redgrave) and his younger brother (Edward Furlong).  

Like Elijah Wood, Furlong--at the time--looked as if he was here to stay. So many child stars fade from view once they hit adolescence or make the awkward transition into adulthood with the hyper-critical eyes of the world upon them, like Macaulay Culkin, a virtual has-been at the age of 14. But Furlong persevered, for awhile, after shooting to fame in 1991's Terminator 2: Judgment Day, by taking on more interesting and less commercial roles in films like American History X and Pecker. He looked to have a good, long career ahead of him. Well into his teens by 1994, he plays a kid here, but this is definitely a film geared towards adults.

In Little Odessa, Furlong takes the lead over the better known, more experienced actors who surround him, easily stealing the film right out from under Roth--who isn't bad, but this isn't one of his standout roles--and that makes the shocker of an ending all the more tragic. 

Gray's first effort hews to the gloomy side, but it's hard not to admire the skill that went into its making, from the mournful soundtrack to the moody camera work, focusing on the snow-covered Russian section of Brooklyn--the Little Odessa of the title--to the economical script and, finally, to the naturalistic acting of the entire cast. Little Odessa won the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival, and marks James Gray as a director to watch.

Endnote: Except for Little Odessa, Joaquin Phoenix has appeared in all of Gray's movies, making him the Pacino to his Lumet or the De Niro to his Scorsese, comparisons a classicist like Gray would probably appreciate. Images and quotes from ICG Magazine (picture by Anne Joyce, words by David Heuring), Big Pond, and Moviemaker. Cross-posted here.