‘Armageddon Time’, ‘The Inspection’ And ‘The Fabelmans’ Cinematographers On Bringing Directors’ Personal Stories To The Screen
deadline.comEvery director brings a piece of themselves to their work, but this Oscar season has seen films becoming ever more personal.
And it’s up to the cinematographer to work with their director to bring those stories to life. James Gray explores his relationship with his grandfather and a pivotal childhood friendship in Armageddon Time; a young, gay Black man looks for his mother’s approval by joining the Marines in The Inspection, using actual quotes from Elegance Bratton’s mother; and Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans shows the early life of a young filmmaker and his family’s influence on his art. Armageddon Time Armageddon Time brings the viewer into 1980s Queens to follow Paul Graff (Banks Repeta), a Jewish-American boy on the cusp of adolescence.
Paul is a stand-in for James Gray, who wrote and directed this, his own coming-of-age story. Cinematographer Darius Khondji, who had just wrapped up Alejandro G.
Iñárritu’s surreal exploration of trauma with Bardo, worked closely with Gray to highlight Paul’s emotional journey. “I love having the director himself telling me, in his own words, what he was really feeling,” says Khondji.
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