James Gray evokes the New York of his childhood in Cannes with “Armageddon Day”

American filmmaker James Gray presented this Thursday in competition at Cannes “Armageddon Time”, a film set in New York in the 1980s and the difficult race relations in the city.

The film stars Anne Hathaway, Jeremy Strong (“Succession”) and, above all, multi-Oscar winner Anthony Hopkins.

The film follows the relationship of a boy, Paul (Repeta Banks), with his grandfather and a black friend, who has one foot out of school because of his turbulent behavior.

Gray won acclaim and did well at the box office three years ago with a space odyssey, “Ad Astra,” with Brad Pitt. His first film, “Little Odessa,” was also set in his native New York.

“Armageddon Day” does not, however, have the same ambition as “Little Odessa” nor the drama of “Ellis’s Dream” (2013), with Marion Cotillard.

Gray delivers his most autobiographical film at the age of 53, in a Jewish family in which the memory of Nazi persecution is still present through his grandfather, but at the same time the fear of relating to people of other races.

Safety on the streets of New York deteriorates under Democratic rule, while a powerful and well-known family, the Trumps, make themselves known at Paul’s school.

The rise in crime in New York, as well as the ghost of former President Donald Trump, who continues to haunt American politics, gives “Armaggedon Day” a topical patina. But with period music (The Clash, Sugarhill Gang).

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