I’ve never been to a premiere where the director warned the audience they were going to hate him even before they’d seen the Film. But at Wednesday’s night mega premiere of “Mother,” a psychological horror thriller starring Jennifer Lawrence, writer-director Darren Aronofsky told the audience just that.

Before the screening, the Brooklyn born writer-director gazed up from the stage into the mezzanine — for some reason the orchestra was half empty — and told the enthusiastic audience, “This is awesome! Look at all these people up there! This is not your normal movie to show at Radio City.”

He was referring to how in his youth the movies screened at Radio City included “The Sound of Music.”

He told the audience, “You’re all laughing and smiling now, but you’re really going to hate me in about an hour and a half, so really I’d like to apologize for what’s going to be happening in about 90 minutes.”

Aronofsky wasn’t exaggerating when he added, “This film takes you to new places.”

The 48 year-old filmmaker has a singular vision in all his films, including “The Wrestler,” “Noah” and “Requiem for a Dream.” My favorite Aronofsky film is “Black Swan,” for which Natalie Portman received an Oscar and like all his films has a gonzo ending.

In “Mother,” Jennifer Lawrence embodies every woman. She plays the long suffering much younger wife of an artist (Javier Bardem) with writer’s block who thrives on the adoration of his fans. These are visitors who come and go to the remote run down mansion in which they live and in which the wife spends her days renovating. These visitors from hell are played by Ed Harris, Michelle Pfeiffer, brothers Brian and Domhnall Gleeson and Kristen Wiig.

He added, “I really wanted to make a film not about my mother, not your mother, but about ‘our mother.’ I was thinking how it must feel to have all these guests who really don’t show you much respect. With that in mind I attacked my computer and vomited on you guys.”

The director ended his introduction by praising his star, who is in every frame of the movie and who he is reportedly dating: “When you have to find a right source to hang your movie on, it’s a really tall task. As you will see, what this talent did, it’s just incredible You’re with her for the next two hours and she glows brighter than any projector in the world, the once in a generation talent, Ms Jennifer Lawrence.”

It was a spectacular evening whatever you thought of the film. But the best part was the surprise performance of Patti Smith, who began playing with her band as the end credits of the film were rolling. Smith sang a terrific rendition of “Because the Night,” which some audience members missed: shellshocked by the movie’s cataclysmic ending, some of them had already bolted for the exits.

You can view Smith’s performance of “Because the Night” here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9I6L3N7i8Q.

(Images courtesy of Paramount)

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