James Gray is a director whose affinity for 70s New Hollywood films has always been obvious. The Godfather films are his most pronounced influence, and one could do far worse than to have those two movies guiding one's hand when directing. On its face, The Immigrant appears to be Gray's most blatant quote of The Godfather (Part II, specifically) yet. But it's how Gray subverts our expectations connected to that film that ultimately marks The Immigrant as his strongest film yet.
