Eastern Promises

Title: Eastern Promises
Director: David Cronenberg
Cast: Viggo Mortensen, Naomi Watts, Vincent Cassell
Year: 2007
MPAA: Rated R for strong brutal and bloody violence, some graphic sexuality, language and nudity.
Date of Review: December 30, 2007

With A History of Violence in 2005, fans and critics began to wonder if David Cronenberg had begun a transition to more mainstream cinema. His signature weirdness and overtly sexual imagery seemed to be gone, and instead of his typical blend of science fiction and horror we were given a fairly straightforward story about a small town family man who may or may not be an ex-mob hitman. It was still a fantastic film and one of the best of it’s year, but it just didn’t have much of a "Cronenberg feel" to it, aside from a few brutally violent scenes - though what R-rated crime thriller doesn’t have those these days?

Now in 2007 we have Eastern Promises Cronenberg’s latest film which also happens to be a fairly basic crime thriller, and also stars Viggo Mortensen. Set in London, England, it tells the story of a young midwife named Anna (Naomi Watts) who crosses paths with the Russian mafia when she tries to have the diary of a young dead Russian girl translated. It’s a simple setup for a simple story, but unfortunately it is dragged down significantly by characters (mostly Anna) making incredibly stupid choices - choices which would even leave a child sitting there scratching their head.

It is established early on in the film that Anna is a naive young woman. Her initial action of taking the diary from the body of the dead young girl is shown with a certain amount of innocence - she did not take the diary thinking she was grave robbing (as her uncle accuses her of), but rather out of pure curiosity. However, throughout the course of the film her naivety turns to stupidity as signs are continually thrown at her that she is dealing with very dangerous people, and she continues to pursue her crusade of justice against the men who wronged this girl whom she never met. There’s a scene later in the film where Anna shows up at the doorstep of the mafia household and starts yelling and cursing and throwing accusations at them. This scene occurs long after it has been made perfectly clear to her that these are dangerous criminals, so why does she still continue to try to stir up trouble? Bravery? No, she is not brave, she is just stupid to continue her hopeless mission.

Unfortunately, Anna is not the only annoying character in the film. One of the film’s main antagonists - and the guy that you are really, really supposed to hate - is Kirill, the son of the mob boss. Played by French character actor Vincent Cassell (husband of bombshell Monica Bellucci), Kirill is like the polar opposite of our hero, Nikolai (Viggo Mortensen). He is a sadistic, psychotic, incredibly diseased individual with a venomous relationship with his father. Unfortunately, much of the menace of his character is lost due to some horrible dialogue which seems better suited for a Steven Seagal film. At one point Nikolai and Kirill are arguing about Kirill’s disrespectful nature. Nikolai says something to the effect of, "Kirill, show some respect", to which Kirill replies by pulling a wad of cash out of his jacket and saying, "respect? This is respect." There are other lines in the film similar to this that make it seem like the writer was watching too many big-muscled action movies before hunkering down to write this serious drama.

But don’t take all this negativity as a way of saying it’s a bad film - it’s very far from it. It’s simply disappointing to see from such a skilled director as Cronenberg, whose distinct style and strange, outside-the-box approach to cinema could have produced something much more cutting than what we have here. There is no doubt that Viggo Mortensen’s performance is great, and perhaps one of the best performances of the year. With a flawless accent and a conflicted attitude towards the events surrounding him, he’s convincing as a cold-hearted mob man with some moral dilemmas about his work and the people he works with. Though his job description is as a "driver", many scenes show that he’s like the mob’s "garbage boy", doing the jobs no one else wants to do. In one of the more Cronenberg-like scenes, Nikolai is given the task of cutting off the fingertips of a dead man so as to make it harder to identify his body. Of course Nikolai has to act cold and heartless around his friends and allies, but in quieter scenes - such as those where Nikolai is simply driving someone home - Mortensen shows a strong ability to convey emotion through subtle facial expressions, and this is much of what makes Eastern Promises succeed in the end.

So, while slightly disappointing to a Cronenberg enthusiast, his latest effort is still an interesting look at the Russian mafia - an organized crime sect which seems oddly absent from mainstream cinema, which usually focuses on the more stereotypical Italian mafia. Despite some moments that could be described best as "D’uh! moments" with Anna, and some annoying dialogue, Eastern Promises is worth seeing, even if just for Viggo Mortensen’s great portrayal of Nikolai.

7 / 10