In the late 1970s and early 80s, there
was a fear that gripped New York City. After 1977, the year of the Son of Sam
murders, the disastrous blackout, and the Bronx literally in flames later, the
cityscape and New York aura had drastically changed. The movie Death
Wish(1974) directed by Michael
Winner,made earlier, had caused quite a
stir reflecting the bleak and often paranoid reactions of citizens, and it
spawned several other films. Vigilante, produced and directed by
exploitation genre virtuoso, William Lustig, and written by Richard Vetere, was
perhaps arguably one of the leanest and no-holds-barred of this type of film.
Lustig and actor Joe Spinell had teamed up to make the lucrative but extremely
graphic and controversial horror/ serial killer film Maniac (1980). Vigilante
was Lustig’s follow up. Yet, Vigilante remains to be more aestheticized
with a raw prose of the street thanks to Vetere's work, and the grim urban
settings serving as a stark landscape, rather than relying on the raw
gratuitous gore of Lustig’s prior film.
I
caught up with Richard Vetere in July 2018, who was a former professor of screenwriting of
mine at Queens College in the late 1990s. I had seen the film on Netflix
recently and thought how underrated it was, and I wanted to contact Vetere to
find out his insight into writing such a gritty, visceral, and memorable film.
Vetere explains that Lustig approached him to write a “Blue Collar Death Wishâ€. One of the points Vetere
makes was how unapologetically politically incorrect the film is. It was on the top 20 highest grossing films of
1983, and it was an example of an innovative indie film, before indie
groundbreakers, Miramax, the Shooting Gallery and Tarantino were making waves
in the 1990s.
Vigilante
can easily be overlooked as an exploitation genre film, but offers the viewer
something more unique with the gritty performances especially by Forster,
dialogue thanks to Vetere, and cinematography that make it a stand out. I saw
the film when I was young and it made an impression. The political view is
obviously in --your -face about policing tactics and politicians not doing
enough for the public. We see this frustrated view in many of the films of the
era. Pre-Giuliani, pre-Disneyfication of New York was grim, but it had almost a
distinct street grit-aesthetic for filmmaking, such as in earlier films like The
French Connection (William Friedkin, 1971).
Vetere says what makes his film stand
out is that it is unapologetic for the action of the heroes in the movie. The
ending in which a judge is blown to bits was very controversial. He emphasizes
his own frustration at the growing apathy in the city by police and the public
alike. He also feels his film is one of the most realistic of the genre in
comparison to other films like Death Wish and Fighting Back. He
felt DeathWish had an ill-fitting sense of humor and the villains
were so over the top that they were not realistic. Vetere maintains that he was
going for “reality†untrammeled by Hollywood restriction or by a need for
self-justification as he felt Fighting Back had.
Richard Vetere's films that he wrote or
co-wrote include The Third Miracle
starring Ed Harris and produced by Francis Ford Coppola and directed by
Agnieszka Holland released by Sony Picture Classics, The Marriage Fool for CBS TV films starring Walter Matthau and
Carol Burnett, How to Go Out on a Date in
Queens starring Jason Alexander and the teleplay Hale the Hero! starring Elisabeth Shue for A&E.
1.
What was happening politically at the time this film was made in the
early 1980s New York?
In
the late 1970s and early ‘80s New York City was a city on a major decline.There was no political will and no ability to
get anything done.Unlike today there wasn’t a single
neighborhood untouched by graffiti, street crime, vandalism and muggings.Prostitutes walked the streets, cars being
broken into -- all met with indifference by a somewhat over-taxed, somewhat
corrupt, somewhat bewildered police force.When you got on a subway you were basically taking your life into your
own hands since gangs roamed the subway with impunity.Just
stepping out of your house could be intimidating to the common citizen.You have to remember back then the police
only responded to a crime the concept
of attacking crime and preventing it was not put into effect. Also
the subway police and the street police were two different departments so if
someone committed a crime, they took refuge underground.So I would like to answer your question this
way – the average citizen was afraid and felt helpless.This made them apathetic to their own plight.As a young man this outraged me to such a
point that I wanted to take action.I
was angry at the indifference of the populace and of the authorities.From this anger and frustration came Vigilante.
(Above: Screenwriter Richard Vetere)
2. Do you think there was a particular
political slant or message to your screenplay?
Yes,
there was a political slant to my screenplay.If the courts and the authorities would not help the innocent citizens
then with corrupt police, liberal judges and ineffectual politicians then the
people should take control of their own neighborhoods.The film was a major success.I heard it doubled its budget its opening
weekend with openings in New York City, Chicago and Detroit alone.Its success here in the States got me work in
Europe.Producers wanted to hire me and
flew me to Europe several times putting me up in Rome and Paris and Saint
Tropez.There is no way Vigilante would be made today as it was
then.First, it was filmed on 35mm.When we had recent screenings at BAM
(Brooklyn Academy of Music), who called it “one of the best indies of the
1980’sâ€, and screenings at the Nighthawk Theater. young filmmakers came up to
me telling me how beautiful the film looked.I knew they meant that the 35mm print Bill Lustig screened with its
vibrant colors overwhelmed them.Despite
the graffiti, the vandalism and the garbage strewn streets the movie reeks of
reality since we shot in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx.The film was so visceral and politically not
correct there is no way it could be done today.But it is authentic and honest to the time it was made in.Also, the true indie spirit of the film -meaning
the cast, the real locations and the honest ugliness of the world it was filmed
in – would upset people because it is so real and honest.No one
expects or even wants that from movies today.They want fantasy or some easily accepted pretended truth.Gangs did rule the streets, people were
accosted all the time and nothing was done about it.There were no surveillance cameras, no hand-held
telephones to call for help.It was you
or them but most people just hid…or armed themselves.Right after the movie came out I took a date
to see it in Ozone Park, finding a Latino Street gang had taken over the
theater.I told the manager I had
written the film and bravely sat down with my date to watch it.I was amazed to hear that the gang had
memorized the lines and was told by the manager they had seen the movie several
times.When I was introduced as the
writer I actually got cheers.I was
thrilled to escape the theater with a wonderful new perspective on the film.PS: They cheered when the judge was blown
up.
3. Do
you think the film would have been received differently now if it were released
then it was then? Describe the film’s reception. Did it make money?
Bill
Lustig saw my stage play Rockaway
Boulevard performed at the Actors Studio in 1979 and told me that he wanted
to make a “blue collar Death Wishâ€
and he thought I was the ideal writer for it.I liked Death Wish but I felt
it was more comedic than honest.I also
didn’t like having a cop pursue him.It
was very mainstream traditional story telling.I like Bronson but that was really it.Fighting Back wasn’t a bad
film but it also tried to explain and in a way defend itself.I didn’t like the press getting
involved.It sugar-coated reality.It had a good premise but in the end it
lacks Vigilante’s authenticity and primordial
reaction to the oppression from crime that ordinary people feel.
4, Where do you place your films with others of the
period? How is it similar or different from other films like Death Wish or
Fighting Back?
Like
Tarantino, Bill Lustig is a real aficionado of exploitation films of that
time.I wasn’t as much.Since I can’t speak for him as a director and
producer I can say this, he hired me because I wanted to write something real.I wanted to write a hardcore street crime film.Bill knew that and went with it.No apologies necessary and I believe other
writers that he spoke to wanted to make apologies for what Robert Forster and
Fred Williamson do in the movie.I
didn’t and neither did Bill.One of the
first actors approached to play Nick was Tony Musante but Tony thought the
ending as immoral when Nick blows up the judge and Bill refused to change the
script so we moved on to another actor – Bob.I am sometimes taken aback by
reviews that state the film is nihilistic.It probably is and it probably was my feeling then about the state of
life in New York City.My early stage
plays produced in NYC in the 1970s - a trilogy with plays titled Nero, Hadrian’sHill and Night Over the Tiber- compared the fall
of the Roman Empire to the fall of NYC.Looking back, yes, I was a bit nihilistic as a young poet.
5. Can you talk about the beginning scene
when Fred Williamson lists the crime stats? This is one the most riveting
scenes in the film in my opinion.
Bill shot my script very much as it was
written and I worked hard on Fred’s opening speech.I am actually in the scene twice and I
recommended the location.It was a gun
club on the West Side downtown.I am one
of the members.I am in the black
T-shirt aiming a German Luger in the gun stall and I am to Fred’s left in the
front row in a beige bush jacket with long hair a cherub face right out of a
Caravaggio painting.Fred did a great job with my monologue.
6.
What was the screenwriting process
like? How did you come up with the idea?
Bill
wanted a blue collar Death Wish and I
came up with the characters.I took the
entire structure from the Good, the Bad
and the Ugly (Sergio Leone) meaning I took my structure from Lord of the Flies.Nick is the Good or Ralph, Willie Colon is
the Bad or Jack and the wonderful actor Don Blakely is Prago or Roger.I knew a Prago in my neighborhood growing up
and he was a real tough guy but small and quiet.Bill and I would sit in his office near
Columbus Circle and sketch out the movie scene by scene and when we had enough
I would go home and write it.He also
gave me the freedom to write whatever other scenes I came up and I did and I
remember how much he loved the scene in the backyard where Rutanya is knifed by
Willie Colon.He wondered where I came
up with the clothes lines.I had them in
my backyard when I was growing up in Queens.
7. What was Bill Lustig like as a director?
Bill
had a strong visual concept for the film.He wanted to shoot New York City visually as it was gritty and dark and
he had an extensive knowledge of exploitation films and knew what that audience
wanted.Hiring me to write the script I
believe it worked out well since Vigilante
was an honest and brutal assessment of real street crime in NYC.To me it wasn’t exploitation it was reality.And Bill used those real feelings of hopelessness against the backdrop
of decay and together we chiseled the main characters played by Robert and
Fred.Robert being the Everyman wanting
to do the right thing and Fred the man who sees the moment of their ‘Waterloo’
and takes action.Also, Bill casts
wonderful New York City actors who pulled no punches and made it so authentic it’s
riveting.
8.
Other icons of this era were Robert Forster, Fred Williamson, and
Joe Spinell. What was they like to work with them? Lustig along with Spinell-
came out with the controversial horror film Maniac, another film that
utilizes New York urban settings to create a sense of menace. Can you describe
the attitudes towards New York city at the time?
Bill
hired me to write the novelization of Maniac.Ha.I
don’t think it was ever published.I had
to watch the movie several times and found it gross.It was not my kind of movie.However, it made me do research on serial
killers and the most written about that time was on Richard Speck and I learned
a lot about this growing phenomena which became an obsession of some film
makers.Joe Spinell was a really good
guy.Easy going and a serious actor who
enjoyed his craft despite how his screen persona comes off nonchalant.Robert was terrific and so easy going.He has a total lack of pretension and was
perfectly cast.Though handsome he
slips easily into being an Everyman.He
was conscientious about his work and asked me a few questions about the
character of Nick.Years later I used to
hang out with him at his house in LA for pasta on Sundays and hung out with one
of his daughters.I was so glad Tarantino
reinvented him with his film.Fred was
fun for me to meet on set since I talked to him about the Super Bowl where
Green Bay killed Kansas City!He loved
playing his character.Bill came from
the suburbs of New Jersey so he had this objective view of NYC.It was a blight on the other side of the
river and for him a great inspiration for documenting the fall of the Roman
Empire.I, on the other hand, was living
in it and I was so much more subjective.Writing Vigilante was a
catharsis for me.Once I got the screenplay out of my system I
was relieved.I felt a burden lifted
from me.I dealt with the painful demise
of my city through my writing.Then the
city recovered and flourished.By the
way Vigilante was the 20th
grossing picture of 1983.
9.
Did Lustig stay true to your
vision? Did he add his own slant? How closely did he follow your script?
Bill had his own vision and he and I were on
the same page.He stayed very faithful
to my screenplay and since we worked out the structure and scene by scene and
since he loved my idea of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly premise
he shot just about everything I wrote.
10.I think Jay Chattaway’s music adds a lot.
How important was the music in bringing your vision to life?
Jay’s
music was perfect.Bill had Jay onboard
from the beginning if I remember correctly.Jay brought that down to earth gritty musical sense to the film and it
worked great.
11..
Do you think the genre is making a come back? Is the genre “timeless�
Vigilante worked because - as I said before- New
York City was collapsing and the ordinary citizen suffered.There is no way it could be done today due
to political correctness.Other revenge
movies can done but if they are written by Hollywood writers they would feel
stale and untrue.Also gangs ran the
streets at night.The police department
was ineffectual for many reasons.Unless
street crime came back to New York in a big way any kind of vigilante movie
where citizens take the law into their own hands would seem irrelevant.And if written by a Hollywood writer it was
would feel stale and fake.Another
note – domestic terrorism is more a danger now.There is a high alert on the streets and more surveillance cameras so a Vigilante movie today would again have
to be in the working class neighborhoods mainly occupied by new immigrants.
12.
What are you working on now?
I
have a screenplay based on my stage play titled The Girl in the Wall that Tony Kaye is producing and
directing.We are just waiting on financing.Tony is a brilliant director and the script
is really, really atypical.It starts
off like a murder mystery with horror movie aspects and becomes something else
entirely.I am also working with
director Mark Pellington (Arlington Road).He loves my screenplay Caravaggio based on my stage play of the same title and my novel
Baroque.My producer will be in Italy
next week putting it all together.
13.
Why do you think Vigilante has such long lasting appeal and what explains the recent
cult following?
I am doing a lot of acting in indie movies and
short films and web series and recently when I was acting in an indie film
someone in the crew said aloud that I wrote Vigilante and a quietness
came over the set.They were
stunned.I am thrilled that younger
people love the film mainly because it so much mine as a writer.I can only think that it is getting this
following not only BAM considering it and The Movie Channel airing it now
because it captured a time so different than today.Also because it is so authentic and visceral,
something movies are not today and probably will not be in the near
future.I love that many of my lines
are quoted on the internet.They came
directly from me and my own feelings of living in New York City in the rough
and tumble 70’s and 80’s.My favorite
scene is when Fred sets up Willie Colon for Robert to shoot.Robert shoots him right before Willie tells
him that “he didn’t kill†his son.But
Robert shoots anyway leaving the gun on the table.Then the girl opens the bathroom door and
fires.Fred shoots her and she is
blasted back into the bathtub. Amazing work by Bill.Great action scene.And my favorite scene of all is when Robert
is wrestling Don on the tower.Don says
“This doesn’t mean shit to me.†And Robert replies “It does to me.â€And then pushes him over the rail.You will not see anything that tangible or
intuitive in movie writing today especially not in the Marvel Comic book world
cinema lives in today and I believe Vigilante fans know that.
(Vigilante
is a unique work of an era long gone by. The public is more fearful of
terrorist attacks in this post-9/11 world. New York's crime rate has been
significantly lowered and many of seedier areas have been renewed. Vetere's
screenplay was a vital part in creating a visceral cinematic experience and
realistic crime film that is highly underrated. It also reminds the viewer of
an era where socio-political landscape of a major city was in upheaval. )
Bill
Blick is Assistant Professor and Librarian at Queensborough
Community College of the City University of New York. He has an M.A. in English
literature and M.L.S. from Queens College.He has previously published several articles in Senses of Cinema, and in
several other venues on such topics as film, popular culture, education and
librarianship, crime fiction, and literature. He has also presented at academic
conferences in Ireland, Poland, England, and other symposiums on crime fiction,
film, and literature.
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