James Gray Calls Cinema 'Closest To A Dream' At Locarno
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- James Gray received an honorary award at the Locarno Film Festival ahead of the Swiss premiere of Paper Tiger on the landmark Piazza Grande on Sunday evening.
- Gray described cinema as "the most beautiful art form because it's the closest thing we have to a dream," noting that REM sleep runs only "one and a half to two hours per night."
- Gray argued cinema matured faster than any other art form, citing Fritz Lang's M as arriving just "a year and a half after the first full length sound film" (1928).
- Paper Tiger stars Adam Driver and Miles Teller with Scarlett Johansson in support as two brothers whose pursuit of the American Dream puts them on the wrong side of the Russian mafia.
- Gray told the press "I'm not a good director of actors," saying he lets cast members dictate what they want to do, always shoots rehearsals because "messiness is always interesting," and often uses either take one or take 25.
- Gray contrasted his hands-off method with the "old school representational acting" of directors like Alfred Hitchcock.
- Paper Tiger screened to an 8,000-capacity crowd on the Piazza Grande; Gray will give a masterclass Monday, with Locarno also programming his We Own the Night (2007) and Two Lovers (2008).
Why it matters: Gray's Locarno honor arrives during his festival tour behind Paper Tiger, his first feature since Armageddon Time (2022), positioning a director who has long operated outside the indie-Awards spotlight back in the conversation with a star-driven New York crime drama. His candid "not a good director of actors" admission reframes his auteur reputation: he credits cast freedom — not technique — for performance quality.
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