James Gray is an interesting director with a range that is wider than the Amazon River but a consistent aesthetic which makes each of his films feel truly his own. Regardless of whether it is historical adventure epics (such as The Lost City of Z) or introspective sci-fi quests (like Ad Astra), tense crime dramas like We Own the Night and The Yards, or quiet character studies such as The Immigrant, Gray usually finds a way to include his personal themes about family, ancestry, politics and morality in his films.
His latest film is Armageddon Time, which may be considered as his most personal one yet because it is semi-autobiographical in nature, loosely based on his own childhood growing up in New York as a child of Ukrainian-Jewish descent. As always, Gray uses subtlety when dealing with complex moral and political issues without preaching or telling overtly by using Reagan’s election and Trump sponsored private school as a background for this silent character analysis. With an electric cast, superb direction and a perfect ending Armageddon Time captures much more than boyhood; it captures America at a very particular moment in history. It’s one of the best movies of the year.
Armageddon Time follows Paul Graff (played by Banks Repeta) through one pivotal change in life and mind: he is not just Gray’s quasi-avatar but also stands for countless other younglings ignorant to their privileges. Paul can sometimes act like a brat; whenever he does not enjoy what her mother has cooked him he goes out to order Chinese food instead. He can be naughty at times and irritating but there isn’t any wickedness about him; he’s only enjoying being a kid who was made to suffer by his ancestors so that they could enjoy better lifestyles (played by some really talented actors).
Anne Hathaway plays Esther, Paul’s long-suffering mother with gracefulness combining irritation with exhaustion aged deep into her face. Jeremy Strong’s performance as Paul’s father, Irving, is an impressive one considering that he has a stern sense of humor and an abundance of love yet doesn’t allow himself to be trampled on like Esther.
The only person who Paul can really listen to and who has the ability to change his mind is his grandfather, Aaron Rabinowitz (played by Anthony Hopkins in one of his great late performances), Esther’s father. With a tragicomic disposition, magisterial persona and silent suffering for decades without any rancor if it brought joy to those he loved most; this kind of man is Aaron.
This sort of suffering runs deep in Paul’s family – these are folks who have suffered through pogroms and World War II, racism and intolerance, poverty and ostracism so that their descendants may lead better lives. Like many people, Paul knows little about all this yet he carries on with his life as though things were simply meant to be instead of being the hard-won result of what his forefathers passed through for countless years. However, when Paul develops a friendship with a black boy at school he gradually begins to realize how things are different throughout the world or how people treat each other differently or how fortunate he is even though nothing makes sense any longer because everything becomes strangely sad.
Armageddon Time is curious for at no time does it seem as though nothing much is happening and yet sentiments of love, and hatred are being sewn without being aware of. Paul’s friendship with Johnny (played by Jaylin Webb) is threatened when they play around a lot and skip school, causing his parents to be very angry with him. They therefore get Paul’s grandfather to talk him into going to the same private preparatory school that his brother attends. There he sees real privilege where children chant Reagan’s name and have speeches from Fred and Maryanne Trump (yes, those Trumps; Fred served on the board of directors for the Kew-Forest School). It seems these kids will never grow up.
Paul isn’t doomed to this fate however – because real coming-of-age involves some sort of sad mixture of tragedy, suffering and regret which are generally hidden away from rich kids and the world’s elite. Armageddon Time has much more to do with becoming known about pain, inequality, power structures, true tragedy, rather than putting on airs like you’re miserable even when you’re not or keeping that feeling of joy in your heart while going through everything. The author emphasizes on Gray’s portrayal of what America had become through focusing on how Paul transitioned into adulthood.
Even though its set four decades ago, Armageddon Time is strangely current; this is not just due to inclusion of Trumps but because it chronicles how we ended up here. In a roundabout way, the story uses Reaganism, law enforcement agency racism based income disparities immigration rates as well as xenophobia to demonstrate how America went through her own version adolescent growth compared to what happened in Paul’s life
In Armageddon Time cinematographer Darius Khondji paints an entire world whether shooting claustrophobic house scenes or exterior montages that sprawl out all over the screen; there seems no reason why he should have done otherwise. It all fits together though, because Khondi manages to create very distinct palettes for numerous films such as Woody Allen and Jean-Pierre Jeunet movies (Se7en, The Ninth Gate, Panic Room, Funny Games, Uncut Gems) etc. But it’s not a show-off here as he applies his genius in putting the warmth of Paul’s home into contact with the coldness of the universe.
The film uses music well especially this great needle drop and Christopher Spelman’s score is delicate working well with dub style reggae and rock. As he observes how his friend who is black is treated different by everyone including (teachers, police being rich), despite acting like him, Paul experiences empathy which prompts him to open up his eyes to see what goes on in the real world around him thereby becoming a better person.
Armageddon Time effectively demonstrates just how tenuous these growths are, these human qualities that we hold dear; this only happens because Johnny cares about him so much that his own family does too while it is mainly through grandfather’s kind but firmful personality that he escapes narcissism and amorality attendant upon privilege. Many other kids in Paul’s position did not or will die without getting an opportunity like that because they were surrounded by an elitist racist unfeeling selfish family and friends do not genuinely care about them; these are the ones who end up ruling over most of us.
Gray’s film is a picture of Paul’s flight from that world, and an invitation to flee as well from the wicked, hateful, acquisitive sections of a society that puts economic and social positions ahead of humanity. What a beautiful expression Armageddon Time makes about personal and political power in walking away from institutions that favor some while throwing out others; choosing family and actual human contact over success, proper behavior and obedience. Opt-out thus carries one of the strongest political messages in existence.
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