Making “Armageddon Time” proved both gifting and oddly traumatic for director James Gray, who revisited his old New York stomping ground for the Focus Features release that hits theaters next month.
One of Gray’s most personal films to date, it loosely follows his experiences as a student at Kew-Forest Private School in Queens in the 1980s. of his childhood – the current owners have not granted permission to film – this did not prevent friends from the neighborhood from coming to see him when he visited the area. “It was like a gift,” Gray says of those interactions.
But her warm feelings faded in the editing bay. “When I saw the footage, it was weirdly disturbing and weirdly traumatic,” he says. “I don’t know why I had a different reaction.”
The filmmaker was surprised by the little things that had changed – like the light fixtures in the Guggenheim Museum – and worked closely with production designer Happy Massee on recreating his family home for the film. “Armageddon Time” centers on 11-year-old Paul (Banks Repeta), whose British-Jewish grandfather, played by Anthony Hopkins, had moved into the house after World War II.
Distressed wallpapers, photographs, wood paneling, and classic furniture hinted at the past, while a Tiffany-style chandelier brought a 70s twist to earlier eras.
“James’ family and many people in this community have had homes that have lasted 20 to 30 years without any changes,” Massee says.
To give the living room walls the right flavor, he steamed them. “I didn’t want it to just feel musty, but small and tight,” Massee says.
He also wanted to show how Paul, his parents, Esther (Anne Hathaway) and Irving (Jeremy Strong), and his immigrant grandfather crowded people into their homes for family gatherings and dinner parties.
Working closely with Gray, Massée decorated Paul’s bedroom with photos of key historical figures of the time. Muhammad Ali was a Gray’s hero, and in 1980 he lost a big fight with Larry Holmes. Two months later, John Lennon was shot.
“You get the feeling that the ’70s was a hangover of the ’60s,” Gray says. “The death of Lennon and the loss of Ali felt like the late 60s for good, and the door had been slammed. They were iconic figures of a period that was coming to an end very quickly.
The recreated house featured a television with a thick tube as opposed to the modern flat screen, and light switches that flipped up and down. “It gives you a window into a transition in history from the post-war period to this hypercapitalist transition before the explosion of the internet,” says Gray.