"Armageddon Time", the time of James Gray's false innocence

• James Gray recalls his childhood in 1980s New York.

• In "Armageddon Time", the director gives beautiful roles to Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Anthony Hopkins and Jeremy Strong, not to mention Banks Repeta who embodies his alter ego.

• It is difficult to understand why this very beautiful film was ignored by the Cannes jury.

But what did Vincent Lindon and his jury have in mind and in their eyes to leave

by James Gray empty-handed?

The director of

leans with a rare sensitivity on his own childhood and "the age when children lose their innocence and find themselves confronted with their first responsibilities" as he explained to

after the passage of the film at Cannes.

"I talk about my family, he says, and my life in New York in the 1980s, but I think what I'm saying goes far beyond my own experience.

It's easy to feel close to this toddler (excellent Banks Repeta seen in

) who grows up in a loving family made up of parents played by Jeremy Strong and Anne Hathaway and a grandfather played by Anthony Hopkins.

A story of learning

"I disagree with the idea that children are creatures born perfect," laughs James Gray.

They learn - or not - the sense of justice and goodness through their own experience.

“His alter ego how by behaving in an inglorious way, in particular in the face of the racism of which a black comrade is the victim, before acquiring more generous values.

"The innocence of children seems to me a bourgeois notion," insists James Gray.

Toddlers only develop positively if they receive a solid education from those around them.

I owe a lot to my family.

The child learns the reality of life hard, especially in the face of a sometimes violent father because he does not know how to take this brilliant but rebellious kid who opposes all authority.

"It's the first time that I've spoken openly about myself, without hiding, to show what my life was like at the time, hoping that the public will find their way around," admits James Gray.

Jessica Chastain in a surprising role and a suspenseful burglary sequence prove that the filmmaker has kept all his talent to surprise and charm.

"My characters are people who do what they can," he says.

Sometimes their efforts pay off and sometimes they don't, but there is something sublime about this quest.

»

We can only regret that the powerful love that emanates from

did not touch the Cannes jury.

It remains to be hoped that a massive success of this beautiful film in theaters will somewhat repair this cruel injustice.

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