James Gray’s “Paper Tiger” opened the 64th New York Film Festival on Sept. 25, giving the New York filmmaker the event’s marquee slot for the first time. The premiere, presented as opening night, drew the film’s leads and their director to Lincoln Center to launch a festival that runs through Oct. 12. Rolex presented the opening-night program.
The crime drama stars Adam Driver, Scarlett Johansson and Miles Teller in a story about an American family drawn into the orbit of the Russian mob, with tragic results after one brother, a former police officer, pulls the others into a scheme. Gray wrote and directed the picture, which is set in New York, the backdrop for much of his work. The film reunites him with a cast of established stars for a New York story in a register familiar from his past features.
Speaking at the festival’s press conference, Gray addressed his approach to storytelling. “I like a classical narrative structure,” he said. “I feel that it affords you tremendous latitude with subtext, which I think is a little bit of a lost art, to be honest.” The film continues his long association with the festival, which has screened several of his earlier movies.
“Paper Tiger” arrives as an awards-season title, with a theatrical release set for November. The opening-night booking positions it early in a fall calendar full of contenders, and the reception at Lincoln Center offered a first read on how the film might play with critics and audiences ahead of its commercial run. Gray has premiered work at the festival before, and organizers framed the selection as fitting for a director so associated with the city. The distributor has slotted the film for a fall push, a common launch pad for pictures aiming at year-end awards.
The festival lineup includes Tony Gilroy’s “Behemoth!” as its centerpiece and Ava DuVernay’s documentary “14th” as the closing-night selection. Programmers built the slate around a mix of premieres and established filmmakers, with Gray’s picture setting the tone. The event continues at venues across the city through the middle of October, with public and press screenings scheduled throughout the run.
