Eastern Promises

            Viggo Mortensen’s work in David Cronenberg’s  “A History of Violence” and “Eastern Promises” have odd thematic counterbalances to each other; in the former film, he portrays simplistic coffee-shop owner Tom Stall, whose past behavior of brutality and extreme violence is methodically revealed throughout the course of the movie; in the latter, Mortensen offers us the polar opposite –harsh, vicious Russian mobster Nikolai, whose innate good nature is only progressively recognized. The idea of men disguising and layering themselves within false identities are the connecting themes behind Cronenberg’s two films, which together mark the most mature, expertly crafted work the director has accomplished.

            “Eastern Promises” recently won the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto Film Festival, beating out strong contenders such as “No Country For Old Men,”  “Michael Clayton,” and “Lust, Caution” for the top prize. Indeed, Cronenberg’s film is marvelously crafted in the same way as his masterpiece, “A History of Violence,” in such a way that commercial audiences will be mesmerized, and yet those seeking intelligent, artistically intriguing pictures will be enthralled, as well. The same cannot be said for all of Cronenberg’s works, but that doesn’t mean the director has compromised his style for commercial purposes; “Eastern Promises” has all of the elements of a classic film from the director, most noticeably scenes of intensely graphic carnage.

            The film opens with two inciting incidents that propel the plot into effect. Like the opening tracking shot of “A History of Violence,” the two expositional scenes are meant to shock and repulse; within the first five minutes of the movie, people uncomfortable with excessive violence will have left the theater. But Cronenberg, as always, shows restraint with the quantity of violence. His images of brutality come in brief, unanticipated bursts of sickening glory, and then we are propelled back into the spiraling web of a plot once again.

            Speaking of the plot, “Eastern Promises” delivers a potboiler worthy of Hitchcock. Russian mafia “prince” Kirill (Vincent Cassell), stationed in London under the control of his father Semyon (Armin Mueller-Stahl), has a fellow mob goon murdered for spreading rumors of drunkenness and homosexuality. Semyon, meanwhile, rapes a fourteen year-old prostitute, and eventually has a few questions to answer when said prostitute dies while giving birth to Semyon’s child. Anna (Naomi Watts), the nurse at the London hospital where the baby is born, finds a diary written by the deceased prostitute in which the dirty secrets of Semyon and his mob family are revealed. With her formerly KGB uncle translating the diary into English, Anna becomes privy to information that could have her killed. In the midst of both deaths is Nikolai (Mortensen), the Russian driver for Kirill who is central to protecting the family.

            Using this as only a starting point for a labyrinth web of twists, Cronenberg wastes no time in his narrative, keeping the running time at a compact 100 minutes. Like the Coen Brothers, Cronenberg has never been one to let a film drag on – his projects are consistently moderate in length, and, in effect, are all the more immediate and visceral. He gets incredibly believable performances from his cast, with Cassell and Mueller-Stahl sleazing along in supporting turns worthy of William Hurt and Ed Harris’ brilliance in “A History of Violence.” Watts is good, but has the unfortunate prospect of appearing in the least interesting scenes of the film. The grand prize for acting in “Eastern Promises” undoubtedly goes to Mortensen, who is steely and threatening in appearance; he’s the most compelling character in the film, and Mortensen’s unique style of under-acting complements every scene in which he appears. If at first the viewer seems to identify with Anna, our sympathies ultimately lie with Nikolai, who is knocked down to the status of a weak underling in a highly publicized scene where Mortensen is beaten brutally for a few minutes in a steam room, all the while being completely nude.

            As eccentric as their personalities may be in reality, there is no denying the cinematic accomplishments of Cronenberg and Mortensen, who have crafted two superior films together in the past two years. Whether or not their latest project will retain it’s Toronto success once the Oscar season heats up is unknown, but few films this fall will likely have the edginess and unabashed thrills of “Eastern Promises” (this, of course, excludes any work done by Joel and Ethan Coen.)

 
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