Eastern Promises (2007)

Directed By: David Cronenberg
Starring: Naomi Watts, Viggo Mortensen, Vincent Cassel, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Sinead Cusack, Jerzy Skolimowski

When David Cronenberg made A History of Violence he made a mark on modern cinema with a classic of the modern age. This was due in no small part to the performance of Viggo Mortensen, announcing himself as a great actor post Lord of the Rings fame. It was a career best role, which Mortensen relished and embraced. With Cronenberg’s follow up he feels safely assured Mortensen can do the same.
Eastern Promises is a curious tale about a Russian prostitute who dies giving birth prompting Naomi Watts Anna, coincidentally daughter of a Russian, to attempt to find the family of this girl. This inadvertently leads her down a dangerous path to Armin Mueller-Stahl’s restaurant and the Russian Mafia.
As Eastern Promises develops you begin to ask yourself the same question over and over again. Where can this possibly go? On one side we have the Russian mafia, run by Semyon (Mueller-Stahl), his soon Kirill (Vincent Cassel) and Mortensen’s Nikolai who is referred to as the driver. On the other, an ordinary family with Anna (Watts) her mother Helen (Sinead Cusack) and uncle Stepan (Skolimowski). There is apparently no avenue for resolution with this story and so unlike A History of Violence which always feels as if it is heading to one, unavoidable conclusion, this film seems to meander its way to a conclusion.
Along the way we see a mixture of intriguing and pointless events which Cronenberg attempts to weave into a mysterious tale of a powerful crime family. Being a Cronenberg film there are moments of disturbingly graphic violence which may put of more sensitive viewers, but Cronenberg's fans will lap up.
As for the performances, only Mortensen stands out as Nikolai. A controlled reserved man, who seems more ruthless and deadly than any of them holds the audience attention unconditionally. Mueller-Stahl provides gravitas and a nuanced performance but feels in no way comparable to other cinematic crime lords. Vincent Cassel is in many annoying, only because he seems to relish playing the slightly bizarre character but comes off more irritable than anything else. For an actor who in the past has shown real promise this comes as quite a disappointment. And Naomi Watts lacks any real character to play with, spending most of her time pursuing the truth. She is the one character who doesn’t seem to grow or have anything to learn. But merely to ensue the safety of her baby.
But that doesn’t reduce this film to mediocrity. Instead the film is saved by a series of particularly gripping and magnificent scenes. The most obvious and one that everyone who sees this film will talk about is the Bath scene. Due to the earlier actions set in motion by Kirill, an action which brings to mind many films where by the mob bosses son doesn’t live up to expectation, Nikolai is sent to some Roman Baths. What ensues in perhaps one of the most invigoratingly original fight scenes, and most brutal, of recent time. It truly is one of those scenes which have to be scene.
Ultimately though this is what lets the film down. Whilst this and a few other scenes, all starring Mortensen stand out as great moments the rest is left to disappear as lost thoughts of an uneventful picture? Lost because of the films seemingly lack of direction, or conclusion. Once Anna uncovers more of the truth around the dead prostitute, the film begins to edge closer to some form of revelation and a few scenes shed a great deal of illumination on the proceedings making the final act much more satisfying than you first expect. Having said that it never scales the heights of that great scene in the bath house and as such leaves you feeling letdown and unsatisfied.

Mortensen continues to impress in leading roles which are both unconventional and engaging. He could well become the new antihero of Hollywood cinema, but Cronenberg is below form with a below par script which lacks direction and so fails to engage the audience completely.