NYC Screens: "Vengeance is Mine"

I’ve been working in film exhibition since 2000. I’ve slung popcorn, torn tickets, run projectors, booked screens, and curated countless film programs. So while I like writing about movies, I also like writing about the places I visit to see those movies. This is NYC Screens.

Last Friday, I took my first trip to an independent cinema since resigning in protest from the Burns. I was pretty nervous because I wasn’t sure how my mind or heart were going to take the trip. Not that I exclusively stayed away from any and all indie theaters while working at the Burns or anything, but more that I’ve been to a couple multiplexes since resigning and that still felt exactly the same. I worried that being at Film Forum, an institution I’ve worked alongside and respected for 15+ years in the same field, I’d feel like an outsider to the part of the business I’m more closely aligned with: the art market and indie world. Thankfully, that was not the case.

I strolled into the Film Forum lobby and 1) didn’t burst into flames or 2) have some sort of break down. Instead, it was just like it’s been 100 times before. It was a Friday afternoon so the lobby wasn’t packed. I was instantly reminded of what a fantastic institution it is—all of the upcoming programs listed, posters hung, literature out for all to see—FF does such an incredible job both with first run art titles and repertory programs and nothing reminds you of that better than standing in the middle of the lobby where it all happens.

A quick Diet Coke purchase and one checked-out usher’s monotone auditorium direction later, I was seated for the film. I wasn’t stoned, so there was no need for snacks. And boy, am I glad I wasn’t snacking during this one.

Michael Roemer’s Vengeance is Mine (1984), is a totally under-seen masterwork from the Nothing But a Man director starring Brooke Adams (Days of Heaven, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Dead Zone) as Jo, a woman freshly fleeing a toxic, abusive relationship by traveling to Massachusetts to see her family, including the woman who adopted her, whom it pains Jo to call “mom.” Indeed, leaving one toxic relationship to travel back and revisit some old ones.

Once there, she befriends pre-teen Jackie (played without an ounce of obnoxious precociousness by Ari Meyers, best known for playing Emma on the 80s sitcom Katie & Allie), a neighbor who lives next-door to Jo’s sister. Jackie is the daughter of Donna, fearlessly played by Trish Van Devere (The Changeling, Messenger of Death). The trio hit it off right away, even as Donna quickly shows signs of being pretty out there and in need of professional help.

The film goes on to follow Jo as she grows closer to the family, specifically with Jackie. Donna’s soon-to-be-ex-husband Tom (Jon DeVries) eventually shows up as well, ready to take Jackie away to live with him. It’s the kind of movie where each time you say to yourself, “Oh, okay, this is what the film is about,” it goes ahead and subverts that assumption. Is Vengeance is Mine about Jo dealing with her adopted mother’s pending surgery? Nope. Is it about Jo and that guy she runs into at the diner who Jo tells her sister was the guy she, “got to get [her] pregnant”? Nope. What about Jo tracking down her biological mother who lives a short distance away? Nope. Jo’s abusive ex-partner following her to New England to get her back? Nope again!

What transpires is nothing short of a perfectly-directed set of performances wrapped inside a gripping and sometimes terrifying psychological drama. I’ll say no more about it because I truly hope more folks get a chance to see it.

The film never officially saw a theatrical release back in the 80s and was instead relegated to screening on PBS’s American Playhouse where it was originally titled, Haunted. It’s been running for weeks at Film Forum on a new 35mm print struck by the film’s new distributor, The Film Desk. I sincerely hope they are able to book the print in other indie theaters across the country. Ask your local indie theater to reach out to them and see about booking it for a night! #NotAnAd

Okay, so since this column is supposed to be about the experience overall and not just the film, maybe I’ll break it down like this at the end:

Venue: Film Forum
Format: 35mm
Film Presentation: A
Film: A
Audience: B- (had some insufferable nerds a couple rows up that were slightly chatty)