“Armageddon Time”, a lost childhood

James Gray relives his childhood in 80’s New York in this nostalgic family chronicle.

After exploring the jungle (“The Lost City of Z”) and space (“Ad Astra”), James Gray explores his favorite theme, family, in “Armageddon Time” (coming November 9). I am going back to New York. ), a film that was selected in competition at the Cannes Film Festival and screened at the Deauville American Film Festival. The filmmakers (“Little Odessa”, “Night of the Night”, “Two Lovers”, “The Yard”, “Immigrants”) wanted to create a “very personal” story, that is, a still very young male coming of age. It claims to be the story of the transition to the period. , Paul (played by Banks Leperta).

A dreamy college student, talented painter and successful artist, Paul has a wise older brother, an absolutely protective mother (Anne Hathaway) and a punch-throwing father (Jeremy Hathaway). Strong) live in Queens and are of Jewish immigrant descent. America was clearly a “dreamland” for some of the Ukrainian families. And then there’s his beloved grandfather, played by the inspiring Anthony Hopkins. He is a wise and warm patriarch, providing complicity, support and unconditional love to his grandchildren.

James Gray revisits his childhood, returning to his past, his memories, “impressions of lost time”, nostalgia for the past, and the years 1980 to reconstruct a large family meal. Even if a future president brandishes the threat of nuclear apocalypse and promises a future Armageddon. It’s also the end of the childhood for Paul and his friend Johnny (Jaylyn Webb), a black kid who shares a passion for space, models and Apollo vignettes, just beginning their 400 coup. is.

The illusion of a classless society

A forbidden cigarette smoked in a college restroom provokes family wrath. Paul’s parents decided to drop him from public college and enroll him in a private school with uniforms and a briefcase, funded by the Trump family. It was the end of the world for a young boy who was separated from his homeless friend Johnny, who lived with his grandmother. A little white boy who discovers racism and the difficulty of speaking out against it has a second chance his friends aren’t given. We want a better life. Living in the fantasy of a classless society without race or inequality, they visit beautiful neighborhoods, dreaming of living with their families in one of the beautiful homes.

Shattering the Impossible American Dream, James Gray considers this family chronicle his “clearest film” and filmed it with these four words taped to the camera: warmth. humor. loss”.

Patrick Tardit

Anthony Hopkins, Anne Hathaway, Banks Leperta, Jaelyn Webb starring James Gray’s film “Armageddon Time” (released November 9).