Cronenberg Makes Eastern Promises
Viggo Mortensen Promises To Let It All Hang Out in Graphic Fight
While the gimmicky nude fight scene receives the most attention, David Cronenberg's latest film, "Eastern Promises," is a thoughtful drama full of character and suspense.
A History of Violence is not only the name of David Cronenberg's pre-Promises film; it is also an accurate description of his own career. While never quite making it big in the mainstream, he has achieved cult status as an uncompromising director known for his bizarrely brilliant mix of surreal and cerebral subject matter with an unflinching depiction of violence. Seeing a Cronenberg film means two things: there will be psychological ambiguity, and there will be blood.
To Russia, With Love
Eastern Promises (2007) re-teams Cronenberg with Viggo Mortensen, who also starred in 2005's A History of Violence. The film focuses on the Russian mafia, run by Semyon (Armin Mueller-Stahl) and his boss-in-training son Kirill (Vincent Cassel). Nikolai (Mortensen), a simple, unassuming chauffeur, wants to join up but must first pass a series of character and loyalty tests. Naomi Watts plays an English doctor, Anna, who delivers a 14-year-old girl's baby. The mother, Tatiana, dies and leaves behind a diary. The diary, once translated, leads Anna dangerously to the mob. Trouble and thrills ensue.
Bloody Poignant
People expecting a non-stop bloodbath should stay away from this film. Yes, there is some gruesome violence. They are, after all, the mob. But it always seems motivated, and it advances the plot rather than just functioning as spectacle. Eastern Promises is intelligent, insightful, and provides well-developed characters who gain the viewer's trust and empathy. Cronenberg does a great job of really exploring these characters and their complexities and vulnerabilities on a deeply profound level.
Really Good, but What's With the Talking?
The film is extremely suspenseful (Hitchcock with more blood) and compelling. There are some lulls here and there, and sometimes it gets a bit confusing, but it's a really good, although not quite great, film. It's always entertaining and interesting, but there's something undefinable missing to give it that extra push. Also, how many multi-lingual people really switch back and forth between two languages during a conversation? Who does that? This happens all the time in Eastern Promises. It's not annoying, but it's perplexing. Either make it all heavily-accented English or all Russian with subtitles.
The performances are fantastic. Watts brings sincerity and compassion to her role, Cassel is wonderfully smarmy, and Mortensen is excellent as the suave but aloof gangster-wannabe. Mueller-Stahl is the real stand-out, though, bringing nuance and emotional depth to his mob boss character.
Oscar is Naked, Too
Mortensen's performance is great, but he didn't deserve an Oscar nomination. The only reason he got one is because he fights in the nude for almost ten minutes. It's a ballsy move, and Oscar tends to reward people who expose themselves (like Rinko Kikuchi in Babel), but it's not worth a nomination, even though Mortensen's performance goes way beyond this one scene. The nude fight is definitely gimmicky, totally shocking, totally unforgettable, and totally Cronenberg. It's graphic and brutal. Maybe it wasn't necessary to do it without clothes, but there's something poetic and primal about someone fighting for his life au naturel, when he's most vulnerable. It's also a pivotal plot point. So, it works, and it's impressively done.
Eastern Promises makes a promise of entertainment that it keeps. It also contains a phenomenal final shot that will leave the viewer pondering its meaning long after the credits have rolled...and the memory of Viggo Mortensen's naked fighting has, somehow, faded.
Rating: **** (out of 5)
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