Eastern Promises Movie Review
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As much as I have praised ‘The Departed,’ there can be no doubt in anyone’s mind that there is only one real story about family corruption within a mob, and it is ‘The Godfather.’ Watching ‘Eastern Promises’ was a real eye-opener that not only brings back memories of the Don, but also the mysterious identity behind Viggo Mortensen in ‘A History of Violence.’ With elements of these two classics, mixed into parallel plotlines, family tattoos, and a whole lot of bloodshed, ‘Eastern Promises’ keeps every promise imaginable in the line of mafia flicks.
Nikolai Luzhin (Mortensen) is a driver for one of London’s most notorious Russian Mafia families, part of a brotherhood known as “thieves in law.” Headed by Semyon (Armin Mueller-Stahl), the family’s fortunes are shaken by Semyon’s volatile son, Kirill (Vincent Cassel), who shares a stronger bond with Nikolai than Semyon. But Nikolai’s maintained life becomes jarred when he comes across Anna (Naomi Watts), a midwife at a London hospital. Following the death of a young teenager while giving birth to a baby, Anna becomes deeply saddened and tries to trace the baby’s bloodline. She eventually comes across the girl’s personal diary, written in Russian, and seeks answers in it…… big mistake! By reading through the diary, Anna has accidentally unleashed the full fury of the criminal brotherhood. As Semyon and Kirill close in on Anna, Nikolai unknowingly finds his loyalties divided. As the family that built him begins to question his allegiance, Nikolai begins to realize that the ultra-violent world he has come up in, is full of nothing more than red handed mobsters who can’t be trusted.
Director David Cronenberg crafted a really dark, yet deeply sadistic, character when he cast Viggo Mortensen as a loving small-town father with a violent past in ‘A History of Violence.’ I’m not sure exactly if Mortensen and Cronenberg have some dire connection off-screen, but as anyone can attest, certain chemistries on-screen never wear away, and just as the critics predicted, Mortensen undoubtedly makes the performance of his career in ‘Eastern Promises’ as a man caught between family and moral loyalty. I found my ‘Best Actress’ last week in Jodie Foster’s ‘The Brave One,’ and unless veteran Denzel Washington gets a few extra bullets in the upcoming ‘American Gangster,’ I’m pretty sure we have found the year’s ‘Best Actor.’
Being the lead may have been all he needed to pull this off, but Mortensen’s performance becomes really accentuated as he manages to create a strong, emotional driven, bond with Maria Bello. Despite the serious sex scenes, their connection still seemed vaguely strangled in ‘A History of Violence,’ but in ‘Eastern Promises,’ they just bring out the absolute best in each other, and it doesn’t take long for the audience to realize it. On her own, Bello also makes a noteworthy performance that is full of emotion as she must deal with a deceased teenage mother, and cope with the realization of the corruption within the Russian mafia……, a corruption that is permanently oppressed with knives and bullets (“Whack ‘em!”).
Like ‘A History of Violence,’ Cronenberg doesn’t waste any time getting to the point. All I needed really, was the bloody whacks to be satisfied, but even amidst the ultra-violence, Cronenberg shows some prime directing as he manages to develop several storylines, and give each of his supporting characters a good moment in the spotlight. It may seem like a bit of a rush, and it can get a little annoying to hear the accents of each mobster, but when the final clip is over, your adrenaline will be completely pumped to the limit, and it will stick that way for a good while afterwards. It’s like being tied up in a chair for a hundred minutes, waiting for someone to hit you upside the head with a baseball bat, and just as you see the bat nearing your eyes, everything goes black……… you may be safe, but you still can’t move.
‘Eastern Promises’ may be really short compared to the average mafia flick, but the real aspect of uniqueness is how it creates a truly dismal image of the Russian mob (which is exactly what any mob is all about). In modern terms, nothing beats ‘The Godfather’ or ‘The Departed,’ but like any other mafia classic, it will still leave its mark in cold blood on the legacy which Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola made (kind of funny huh? People get “made” in the mafia).
Posted by Colonnade Archives
on Sep 21 2007. Filed under Features.
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