Following the recent successes, SPIDER and A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE, director David Cronenberg has quickly turned into a filmmaker whose next film is a cause for excitement. Not quite on the same level as his past two productions, EASTERN PROMISES is still a compelling thriller that peers into the underworld of the Russian mob in London. Cronenberg's HISTORY OF VIOLENCE star Viggo Mortensen deserves an Oscar nomination as the lead in a cast full of excellent performances.
A 14-year-old prostitute dies during childbirth. Midwife Anna (Naomi Watts, KING KONG) finds the girl's diary, which is written in Russian, and makes an effort to get it translated, so that she can find the girl's family. She eventually follows a business card found in the girl's journal for a private Russian restaurant, where she meets the owner Semyon (Armin Mueller-Stahl, SHINE), who claims he does not know the girl, but offers to translate the diary for her. In meeting Semyon, she meets his drunk and leering son Kirill (Vincent Cassel, IRREVERSIBLE) and the stoic driver Nikolai (Mortensen), who we soon learn are involved in the bloody murder that starts off the picture.
From the trailers, the story seems to be Anna's, but it is really Nikolai's tale. He is a cool and calculated man, who disposes of dead bodies as if he were disposing of a bag of shredded credit card receipts. The life of these gangsters are tattooed on their bodies. They receive stars on their knees and shoulders once they become made men. Nikolai is smart and levelheaded, which gains him the trust of Semyon, who wants the issue of the prostitute's diary dealt with because it has incriminating information in it. Mortensen slips into his role with such ease that a person who has never seen him in anything before would surely believe he is really Russian. He is a killer, but we start to see his human side and wonder whether that will betray his loyalty to his boss. Mortensen is featured in a phenomenal fight scene that is destined to go down in history. He deserves accolades just for that sequence alone.
The only weakness is that the story often telegraphs things to come. A seasoned movie-watcher will know a certain twist before it comes, but it never ruins the film only lessens the impact of the reveal. I will discuss no more about it only to say that it is nice to see a distribution company who believes twists should be kept completely out of the trailer. After coming out of a weak summer of movies, the fall already looks promising with some very good genre films.
Along with 3:10 TO YUMA, we get smart and entertaining pictures that do not pander to the lowest common denominator. This tightly woven crime story feels more authentic thanks to the great performances from Mortensen, Watts, Mueller-Stahl and Cassel. If Watts' Anna serves as the film's conscience then Mortensen's Nikolai is its avenging angel.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
