Expected for next November 9, Armageddon Time, directed by James Gray, reveals its moving first images.
After Ad Astra, his SF film with Brad Pitt released in 2019, James Gray is back behind the camera with Armageddon Time! This time, the director revealed by The Yards operates a 180 degree turn, from science fiction to drama rooted in reality. And no, despite the title, it’s not a disaster movie.
The story transports us to the mid-1980s, in the Queens district of New York. The latter is under the hegemony of real estate developer Fred Trump, father of Donald Trump, future President of the United States.
A teenager, Paul Graff, studies at the high school of Kew-Forest School whose father Trump sits on the board of directors of the school and of which Donald Trump is an alumnus.
After The Lost City of Z and Ad Astra, James Gray returns with a feature film that promises to be as powerful as his first works, Little Odessa, The Yards or The Night belongs to us.
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHIC FILM?
This story seems very personal for the director, who himself grew up in the 80s in Queens, under the era of President Ronald Reagan.
“It’s our job to put a part of ourselves in our work. It’s the best way to get into someone else’s head. I have to be as intimate, direct and honest with you as possible”confided James Gray last May at the microphone of Raw.
Like Paul Thomas Anderson with Licorice Pizza, Alfonso Cuarón with Roma or Kenneth Branagh with Belfast, James Gray draws inspiration from his youth to tell us part of his country’s history.
The 53-year-old director came to Cannes to present Armageddon Time in Competition. The film was very well received by the press and the public of the Festival, although it left without reward.
The feature film is worn by the young Michael Banks Repeta, who plays Paul Graff. We have already had a glimpse of his talent in the recent Black Phone. The actor here gives the answer to a 5-star cast brought together by James Gray: Anthony Hopkins, Anne Hathaway, Jeremy Strong and Jessica Chastain.
Armageddon Time hits theaters on November 9, 2022.