Like the late Portuguese filmmaker Manoel de Oliveira, James Gray makes movies that suggest the work of a late 19th- or early 20th-century artist transported to the present. This may be somewhat intentional on Gray’s part, as the New York-based writer-director has frequently cited artists from these periods as influences. He based the look of The Yards (2000) on the work of French realist painters, drew on the narrative structure of Dostoevsky’s White Nights for Two Lovers (2009), and took inspiration from Puccini’s operas for The Immigrant (2013). Yet one doesn’t need to know these references to feel that Gray’s movies are distinctly out of step with most contemporary American cinema. His directorial style communicates a certain stateliness and formality reminiscent of silent movies; his characterizations tend to be relatively clear-cut, with most of his subjects’ behavior stemming from a combination of societal forces and parental influence; and his emotional content is generally direct.
Ad Astra charts Roy’s journey, which is marked by a progressive loss of control: with each leg of the trip—first to the moon (which Gray depicts as a corporatized tourist trap reminiscent of the red planet of Paul Verhoeven’s Total Recall), then to Mars, and finally to Neptune—Roy encounters new dangers and receives less support from other people. By the time he reaches his father, he is alone and emotionally shattered by his voyage.
Directed by James Gray. PG-13, 122 min. Now playing in wide release.
