Once more in this field of current films we have a memoirist work and although each of these films that I have liked have been tender, thoughtful and often very touching, perhaps none were as honest and bold thematically as Armageddon time, the new film written and directed by James Gray following his life as a young Jewish boy as his friendship with a black child in his class and a family tragedy mark the two pivotal events to form his life and conceptualise from an early age his privilege in this world.
*Clears throat…
Now this is a film all about privilege, that’s not all it’s about it,
but it is a fundamental thing that informs and drives the film and the story
its telling and the character’s its presenting. Now of course the crux of this
beautiful film is the lack of binaries, can the oppressors be oppressed? Can
the oppressed be oppressors? Can those so desperately without privilege and
scorned by racism, also have racism in them and their own privileges. Now of
course there may be those who contend with this film and just say “yes, of
course these grey areas occur”, however Gray’s beautiful dramatizing and
presenting of his own life in this film centres and gives a viewer a wonderful
film to reckon with these ideas, aswell as a tender and harsh family portrait
kitchen sink drama. The film flirts early on with The Fabelmans route of
things and having this story be the ultimate informing of the Gray stand-ins
entry into the world of art, however at a similarly early stage, Gray rejects
that and heads about instead a story of his family and a story of how his
family life and his own privilege devastated his relationship with his new
black friend. The whole film in Grays’ hands is a wonder. His screenplay and
direction are both as tight and paced as they are affecting and powerful. Gray
has made a film that is honest and truthful and deeply impactful. It’s a
touching tale as much as it is a thoughtful one and discussions and thoughts I
have of the film keep returning me to Gray’s efficiency and deliberateness in
telling this story, the uncomplicated matter of factness and lack of punch
pulling or glamorising. Gray has made - working with the beautifully hazy
cinematography of Darius Khondji and the great editing work of Scott Morris – a
film of both great delicateness and great brutality, and always above all else
great truth and wisdom.
 |
| Credit |
The film is as
successful as it is I find largely down to the cast of the film whom quite
frankly vary in their performances from the great to the truly excellent. The
film is bolstered of course by two lead child performances by Banks Repeta as
Paul Graff and Jaylin Webb as his friend Johnny Davis. Both Repeta and Webb
working with Gray’s great screenplay give a childlike innocence to two children
whom have seen an awful lot by the end of the film and in Davis’ case much
prior to the film even starting. As Webb’s character is intentionally and again
thoughtfully side-lined throughout the film, one focusses more on Repeta’s lead
character of Paul and finds a dynamic pain about him that is as much upsetting
and truthful as it is blissfully childish and at times even immoral. The heart
of the film lies in a child’s knowingness of what they do and do not do and in
that Gray really does offer us a complex beast to tackle. For two chief scenes
John Diehl and Jessica Chastain portray two real life figures, both with a
horrifying power to them that drives home the films core even further. However
the films trio of supporting adult performances at the forefront of the film
are what makes the film as impacting a piece it is. Anne Hathaway is tender,
quiet and pained as Paul’s mother and her work is beautiful and soft, Jeremy
Strong as Paul’s father is similarly subtle and brilliant as much as he is
filled with intense rage and thwarted by pained anger, but the films guiding
light and masterful centre is Anthony Hopkins who once again at this stage of
his career has given us a performance of power, intelligence, truth, pain and
wisdom that ranks for me even with his short amount of time on screen amongst
his very best. Gray really has directed a sterling ensemble to make his film
the success it is.
A tender and rich 9/10 whose stellar screenplay and impeccable performances lead it to be one of the more thoughtful and complex films of the year – if one reckons with the truth and honesty of what is being presented here and does not make this film something it is not, then one will find an excellent work that touches one emotionally as much as it does mentally. Gray has crafted a sincere and rich tale that goes beyond simple memoir and in many ways big and small, macro and micro, talks on certain subjects better than I have seen on screen prior.
SLIGHT SPOLIER P.S. Not unlike Tar and its mention of Cavanagh, I don’t think I have seen a film in recent memory that has brought Trump into things with power and intelligence and chiefly without making me cringe like this one did. This film quite literally has two Trumps in it and had the line “there’s an election coming up” directly after one of them addresses a crowd and I didn’t cringe once. Gray and Field are of course incredibly deft film-makers, however I am finally receiving a little depth and skill I find when it comes to addressing that political football that still and will always pack a punch when touched upon.
- - Thomas Carruthers
 – Review){kind=link}
0 Comments