“Eastern Promises” reunites the graphic, gritty directing style of David Cronenberg with the dynamic acting of Viggo Mortenson. They first worked together on the film “A History of Violence”, a film focused on a family man trying desperately to escape his violent past. Both films feature character-driven plots with much less violence than one would expect by going on the title alone, but the brutality and bloodshed that ensues makes a lasting impression.
Viggo Mortenson plays Nikolai, the toughened chauffeur to mob boss Semyon and his son who pushes his actions to excess. While Mortenson’s title is “chauffeur”, he often ends up as baby-sitter to Semyon’s son, Kirill, who constantly tests the boundaries afforded to him as Semyon’s heir. From his tattooed frame and constant cool, we get a feel that there is much more to the quiet-speaking Nikolai than one would infer from the title of chauffeur.
The story unfolds as Naomi Watts, an innocent mid-wife, stumbles upon the diary of a young Russian prostitute in London. As she searches for answers behind the diary, she unknowingly intertwines herself into the devious underworld of London’s Russian mafia. It is through her naïve questioning and unflinching search for the truth that she encounters Semyon and more importantly, Nikolai.
Semyon plays the role of mob kingpin disturbingly well with a cool, laid back demeanor but as Anna (Naomi Watts’ character) inches closer to the truth, we begin to see Semyon lose his composed manner. While Semyon slowly loses his calm with the ever-pestering Anna, Nikolai keeps his nonchalant gangster disposition throughout the movie. He displays his ever composed character during scenes that would break most characters: Kirill forces him to have sex with an underage prostitute while later in the movie it has him in a bath house scene knife fighting two thugs in the nude.
Cronenberg exercises great restraint and balance in this movie by using graphic scenes of violence (the movie’s very first scene has a Mafioso sawing into a characters throat with methodical precision) while keeping the movie focused on the emotional plight of the characters. I think a lot of directors would automatically feel the need to emphasize the violent nature of a mob movie with surplus killings and gratuitous violence. Cronenberg’s message of violence is clear: a few graphic scenes have the ability to portray violence just as much, if not more, than numerous scenes of carnage.
The film has an authentic feel to it that comes from how much time was spent on the different aspects of the movie. All the characters, especially Mortenson’s Nikolai, have their Russian speech and accents nailed solid. Cronenberg also does well by keeping the mood of the movie, gloomy and intense, through the ominous backdrop of dreary London.
Another high point was the subject matter. Countless mafia movies come out every decade but almost all of them are centered around the Cosa Nostra (Sicilian mob) but writer Steve Knight chose the little written about (at least in Hollywood) Russian mafia. I thought that the movie worked well on every level, writing, directing and acting, a hard goal to accomplish these days in the hubbub of Hollywood.
Viggo Mortenson plays Nikolai, the toughened chauffeur to mob boss Semyon and his son who pushes his actions to excess. While Mortenson’s title is “chauffeur”, he often ends up as baby-sitter to Semyon’s son, Kirill, who constantly tests the boundaries afforded to him as Semyon’s heir. From his tattooed frame and constant cool, we get a feel that there is much more to the quiet-speaking Nikolai than one would infer from the title of chauffeur.
The story unfolds as Naomi Watts, an innocent mid-wife, stumbles upon the diary of a young Russian prostitute in London. As she searches for answers behind the diary, she unknowingly intertwines herself into the devious underworld of London’s Russian mafia. It is through her naïve questioning and unflinching search for the truth that she encounters Semyon and more importantly, Nikolai.
Semyon plays the role of mob kingpin disturbingly well with a cool, laid back demeanor but as Anna (Naomi Watts’ character) inches closer to the truth, we begin to see Semyon lose his composed manner. While Semyon slowly loses his calm with the ever-pestering Anna, Nikolai keeps his nonchalant gangster disposition throughout the movie. He displays his ever composed character during scenes that would break most characters: Kirill forces him to have sex with an underage prostitute while later in the movie it has him in a bath house scene knife fighting two thugs in the nude.
Cronenberg exercises great restraint and balance in this movie by using graphic scenes of violence (the movie’s very first scene has a Mafioso sawing into a characters throat with methodical precision) while keeping the movie focused on the emotional plight of the characters. I think a lot of directors would automatically feel the need to emphasize the violent nature of a mob movie with surplus killings and gratuitous violence. Cronenberg’s message of violence is clear: a few graphic scenes have the ability to portray violence just as much, if not more, than numerous scenes of carnage.
The film has an authentic feel to it that comes from how much time was spent on the different aspects of the movie. All the characters, especially Mortenson’s Nikolai, have their Russian speech and accents nailed solid. Cronenberg also does well by keeping the mood of the movie, gloomy and intense, through the ominous backdrop of dreary London.
Another high point was the subject matter. Countless mafia movies come out every decade but almost all of them are centered around the Cosa Nostra (Sicilian mob) but writer Steve Knight chose the little written about (at least in Hollywood) Russian mafia. I thought that the movie worked well on every level, writing, directing and acting, a hard goal to accomplish these days in the hubbub of Hollywood.
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