Vengeance Is Mine, All Others Pay Cash (2021) Review

“Vengeance is Mine, All Others Pay Cash” Theatrical Poster

Director: Edwin
Cast: Marthino Lio, Ladya Cheryl, Cecep Arif Rahman, Sal Priadi, Reza Rahadian, Ratu Felisha, Lukman Sardi, Djenar Maesa Ayu, Christine Hakim, Ayu Laksmi
Running Time: 114 min.

By Paul Bramhall

It’s perhaps not surprising that little of Indonesia’s arthouse cinema scene has made it across to western shores, however with Vengeance Is Mine, All Others Pay Cash, director Edwin has (albeit unintentionally) ensured his latest work has an opportunity to be seen by a wider audience beyond local cinemas. For a start, that title. Dating as far back as Chang Cheh’s Vengeance! in 1970 (and probably further), if there’s one word in the English vocabulary that’ll help secure a distribution deal for a foreign production in English language markets, its that one. Secondly, cast Cecep Arif Rahman from The Raid 2 in a cameo as an imprisoned blind kung-fu master that our main character has an opportunity to share a cell with, and you have a double dose of international appeal.

I was considering my approach for this review, and contemplated pretending to reel off my knowledge of Edwin’s work, all of which naturally led up to me watching his latest production, so as to maintain my finely tuned image of having a wide-ranging knowledge of Asian cinema (even if said image only exists in my head). But ultimately, I decided against it. To be honest, I checked out Vengeance Is Mine, All Others Pay Cash because it has a really cool title, and seeing Rahman’s name in the cast was just the icing on the cake.

What can’t be argued is that VIM, AOPC (as I’ll refer to it from here on in) is Edwin’s most accessible work for newcomers, and his 6^th time in the director’s chair of a full-length feature. After helming a number of shorts he’d make his feature length debut with Blind Pig Who Wants to Fly in 2008, going on to helm Postcard from the Zoo and Someone’s Wife in the Boat of Someone’s Husband in 2013, Possessive in 2017, and Aruna & Her Palate in 2018. For VIM, AOPC he stays with the approach of his last feature, which was adapted from a novel, this time using Eka Kurniawan’s 3^rd novel of the same name from 2014 as the source material. Ironically VIM, AOPC was intended to be made prior to Aruna & Her Palate, having acquired the rights to adapt the novel in May 2016, but predictions that it was considered “unfilmable” proved to be more of a reality than expected, which led to it taking 5 years to eventually hit the screen.

Thankfully the end result has been worth the wait, and the period of 1989 – 1992 that the story takes place in is also reflective of the era VIM, AOPC looks to capture through its look and tone. Filmed on 16mm, the lived-in look of the picture gives it an authentic quality that very much feels like we could be watching a production made at the same time as it’s setting, and Edwin himself has stated its part homage, part deconstruction of Indonesia’s action cinema output of the era. A time when the country was in the twilight of President Suharto’s New Order regime, who’d been in power since 1967 and by this point was defined by violent military oppression, it was also an era where Indonesian action cinema was defined by its level of machismo and pure escapism. 

Directors like Arizal cranked out entertainingly violent actioners starring the likes of Chris Mitchum, Barry Prima, George Rudy, and Peter O’Brien, complete with titles like Final Score and The Stabilizer. VIM, AOPC essentially takes that same level of machismo, and flips it on its head, giving us a protagonist who’s all too eager to get into scuffles with anyone he comes across, but can’t escape the fact that his number one problem is erectile dysfunction. Played by Marthino Lio (The Big 4), living in a small Javanese village sees his inability to get it up become common knowledge, both amongst his own family members and the rest of the village residents, leading to his unsatiable desire to prove his manliness in other ways. From duelling scooter races to fist fights, Lio’s appetite to showcase his masculinity leads to him being hired by a small-time gangster to rough up a local big shot.

What he didn’t count on was the big shot having a female bodyguard who he’ll need to get through first, played by Edwin regular Ladya Cheryl (Banyu Biru). As the pair duke it out in a quarry, their empathy towards each other at doing what they do to earn a living gradually turns into something more, and they fall in love. Despite Lio’s attempts to avoid her due to his impotence, to his surprise she accepts him for who he is, insisting she still wants to marry him. However her sexual needs eventually lead to a moment of weakness with her ex, and when she becomes pregnant it sends Lio into a spiral of depression and violence. At the same time, after its revealed what led to his current state of flaccidness, Cheryl hopes to find forgiveness by seeking revenge on those responsible, and win him back against the odds.

While the subject matter may sound like it could be mined for comedic value, the narrative is actually played straight, instead taking an almost whimsical approach to how events unfold, and unconcerned about occasionally meandering off on tangents. The result is a narrative that encompasses everything from gangsters, ghosts, leech oil (think herbal Viagra), and narration provided through the traditional painted signs on the back of delivery trucks coming to life through animation. While it’s likely lost on non-native Indonesian speakers, the performances are also intentionally delivered in that slightly stilted late 80’s/early 90’s manner that was the norm in Indonesian cinema, adding to the authentic period feel without ever feeling like it’s being retro for sake of it.

While watching a lengthy interview with Edwin I was surprised that he didn’t mention the Hong Kong action cinema influence, as there are definitely times when I felt certain scenes had to be a homage to some of the HK classics (he did however say that Cheryl’s character was based on Cynthia Rothrock, who made a handful of Indonesian movies in the early 90’s, including Angel of Fury and the 2 Lady Dragon flicks.). The fight between Lio and Cheryl that takes place in the quarry feels reminiscent of the finale between Joyce Godenzi and Agnes Aurelio in She Shoots Straight, right down to Cheryl’s perm. Similarly, later when Lio is thrown in a cell with the previously mentioned Cecep Arif Rahman, it feels like the latter’s character is a riff on Jason Pai Piao’s role in A Deadly Secret.

However it’s important to call out that VIM, AOPC isn’t a fight flick, nor does it at any point pretend to be, rather being a love story which happens to have a sprinkling of fights that take place as a part of it. Underpinning everything is the theme of what it means to be a man, and the masculinity that’s associated with it, one which occasionally comes to the fore in effective and unsettling ways. This is particularly true when it reveals the sexual trauma that Lio suffered as a child as the origin of his current predicament, allowing the audience to understand why his lack of desire is an inherent part of his lived experience. At its heart though is the relationship between the pair of central characters, and the trails and tribulations that they face as they look to find redemption, themselves, and finally each other. 

While Lio delivers a strong performance (although I definitely didn’t buy him as someone in their early 20’s), its Cheryl that steals the show as his conflicted wife, here collaborating with Edwin for the 6th time in a creative partnership that dates back to the 2005 short Kara, Anak Sebatang Pohon. In a performance which encapsulates bad assery, vulnerability, and sexuality, she’s entirely convincing and a joy to watch. As my first venture into the world of director Edwin, VIM, AOPC proves to be a rewarding experience, displaying an enjoyably loose directorial style and a subtle sense of humor (a scene involving Cheryl longingly gazing towards a tank full of geoduck clams is a stroke of genius). More than just a cool sounding movie title, Vengeance is Mine, All Others Pay Cash comes strongly recommended.

Paul Bramhall’s Rating: 8/10