Cronenberg, Viggo delivers
An underage prostitute dies in the arms of hospital midwife Anna Khitrova (Naomi Watts) while delivering her baby, prompting Anna on a mission to find the newborn’s remaining relatives. Her only clue is the girl’s diary, but Anna is unable to read the Russian-worded contents. Within the pages Anna finds a name card that points to the establishment of gentlemanly restaurant owner Semyon (Armin Mueller-Stahl). Meanwhile, Anna’s Russian-literate uncle discovers in the diary a connection between the prostitute and Semyon’s son Kirill (Vincent Cassel), a member of the vory v zakone Russian crime organisation, and warns Anna not to continue her search. Semyon tries to intimidate Anna into giving up the diary, but when that fails, he sends his driver and son’s bodyguard Nikolai (Viggo Mortensen) to negotiate.
I smiled after the credits started rolling, because I realised director David Cronenberg has essentially ripped off The Godfather (its concept, not plot) without anyone noticing it. Like how The Godfather highlights Italian idiosyncrasies, Eastern Promises introduces authentic Russian culture (well, it looked convincing to me), and the music and food that goes with it. Also similar is the way Eastern provides a general but interesting look into the inner workings of organised crime, specifically the Russian mafia, where the track record of a mobster is tattooed onto his body, to be flaunted at the popular mafia hangout – the Turkish bathhouse. Unless you’re some real crime story fanatic, these may seem new to you (it was to me), since most gangster movies nowadays are either about the Italians or the African-Americans. Sometimes you get to see the occasional Russian gangster in movies, but they look pretty similar to the Italian variety except for the accent. Kudos to Cronenberg and writer Stephen Knight for giving them a distinct identity of their own.
Cronenberg was also smart to use Mortensen again after his fine work in A History of Violence. He is perfect as Nikolai, another one of those violent-man-with-a-heart roles that he gets typecast for since Lord of the Rings. Nikolai is easily the most interesting character in the movie, because it is so hard to tell if he’s a good guy or a villain. When ordered by Kirill to prove his sexuality, Nikolai did not hesitate to give his all to a reluctant hooker. But when Kirill has his back turned, Nikolai gave money and words of consolation to the girl. He charms you with his humour and his ability to put out a cigarette on his tongue, but in the next scene he is mutilating a corpse to erase evidences. For a time I even suspected that he was somehow responsible for the pregnant girl. His swinging from naughty to nice and back again is so erratic, you get a feeling that there’s something more to this lowly but seasoned mob enforcer.
The movie flounders a bit when it comes to its big reveal. I can’t say it’s terribly surprising, because odd behaviours in certain characters already more or less clued you in on this. What disappoints is that it seemed so much like a cheap B-movie contrivance. Still, there’s a pretty clever but very subtle moment at the end that reveals how “flexible” Nikolai can be when it comes to achieving his goal, that sort of requires the said contrivance for the scene to work.
Eastern will probably be the best Russian gangster movie Hollywood can offer in the years to come. It’s not unbeatable, but Mortensen’s performance alone will be tough to surpass. - BMF
For the record:
A History of Violence > Eastern Promises (but not by much; they’re pretty close)
Turkish delight: The violent bathhouse brawl.
Academy Award-nominated: Viggo Mortensen for Best Actor.
For the pervs #1: Viggo gets fully nekkid here.
For the pervs #2: But Naomi doesn’t.
For the pervs #3: And they do not get to screw, which is strange for a Cronenberg movie.
Directed by David Cronenberg (A History of Violence, Spider) and written by Steven Knight (Amazing Grace, Dirty Pretty Things). Stars Viggo Mortensen, Naomi Watts, Vincent Cassel, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Sinéad Cusack and Jerzy Skolimowski. |
