I haven't had the best luck with James Gray, who has always made very personal, specifically situated dramas. However, "Armageddon Time" has been one that I've found hard to stop thinking about. Taking place in the early 1980s, we follow Paul Graff (Banks Repeta), a Jewish sixth grader who lives in Queens with his tight-knit family and attends public school. Paul acts out in class, and quickly becomes friends with a fellow troublemaker, Johnny (Jaylin Webb), who is African-American. Almost from the start, Paul notices how the world treats the two of them differently.
There's such a heartbreaking simplicity to the film, charting Paul's loss of innocence and gradual disillusionment. The film is set during the first election of Ronald Reagan and America's turn toward conservatism in the '80s. Paul's parents (Anne Hathaway and Jeremy Strong), are financially comfortable, but constantly worried and hyper-aware that their situation could change. Paul believes they're rich, until he leaves public school and is sent to private school, a far more privileged and homogenous environment. Paul's loving grandfather (Anthony Hopkins) represents the immigrant generation that fled antisemitism in Europe. He encourages Paul's artistic ambitions and counsels him to stand up against bigotry. Paul, however, pretends he doesn't know Johnny when he shows up at Paul's new school, and when his parents notice Johnny hanging around the neighborhood.
I enjoyed the performances here, with everyone getting to play complex characters, each with their own troubles. Banks Repeta in particular does very well with Paul's evolution from an insufferable brat into someone more sympathetic, as Paul becomes more self-aware and grapples with the guilt of his own complicity in the social order. Gray treats him as thoroughly ordinary, despite Paul constantly being told that he has great promise and potential. Part of the story's power is forcing the audience to acknowledge the vast gulf between what the adults say to Paul, and what their actual expectations of him are, mirroring their underlying values. The filmmaking is spare, but indelible, with cinematography by Darius Khondji keeping the gloomy winter scenes picturesque. There's nostalgia for the era apparent in some frames, but little sentiment.
A more crowd pleasing film comes from Argentina and director Santiago Mitre. "Argentina, 1985" is a courtroom drama covering the Trial of Juntas, which sought to prosecute the military leaders of the dictatorship that controlled the country during the Pinochet era. Our heroes are the prosecuting team of Julio César Strassera (Ricardo Darin), a seasoned attorney, and younger upstart, Luis Moreno Ocampo (Peter Lanzani). Unlike a lot of recent courtroom dramas, the focus of "Argentina, 1985" is the actual case and legal strategy. Of course there are the usual fictions employed to drum up excitement and to make our protagonists more sympathetic, such as a few fictional family members for Strassera, but at no point do these dramatic devices ever distract from the larger story.
It's impressive how such a rousing film can be born of such sobering subject matter. The film eases us into the most intense and dramatic accounts of the juntas' crimes against humanity slowly. The circumstances of the trial, and the struggles to put together a case take up most of the running time. As a procedural, it's note perfect, with clearly defined objectives, an appealing gang of underdogs to root for, and emotionally charged material. As a dramatization of a historical event, it's properly weighty and informative. Not knowing much Argentine history didn't trip me up much at all, and I suspect the film might play better the less you know about the actual events. Hearing the testimonies of the victims and survivors is incredibly moving, and the trial framework helps to add context and stakes.
"Argentina, 1985" plays out very much like a Hollywood courtroom drama, from back in the day when Hollywood still made courtroom dramas. However, it grapples with so much Argentinian history and seeks to exorcize so many of the country's ghosts that I can't imagine that it could have been made by anyone but Argentinian filmmakers. The performances and editing stand out, especially in the trial scenes where the lines are occasionally blurred between reality and fiction, recreating some of the footage that was broadcast on television. And I appreciate the ending, which is not the fairytale ending where justice is done, but does allow a significant moral victory for the heroes, and a path forward for the country's psychic wounds to begin healing.
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