Available at Amazon.com
Directed by
James Wan
Cast:
Josef Altin … Ekrem
Mina E. Mina … Azim
Aleksandar Mikic … Soyka
Sarah-Jeanne Labrosse … Tatiana
Lalita Ahmed … Customer
Badi Uzzaman … Chemist
Naomi Watts … Anna
Doña Croll … Nurse (as Dona Croll)
Raza Jaffrey … Doctor Aziz
Sinéad Cusack … Helen
Jerzy Skolimowski … Stepan
Tatiana Maslany … Tatiana’s Voice (voice)
Viggo Mortensen … Nikolai
Vincent Cassel … Kirill
Armin Mueller-Stahl … Semyon
Shannon-Fleur Roux … Maria
Lillibet Langley … Violin Girl
Mia Soteriou … Azim’s Wife
For mind-bending, surrealistic cinema, David Lynch has always been the undisputed leading name in that field. Those looking for a close second would probably next point toward David Cronenberg, whose explorations of humanity and frailty have often times lead to graphic depictions of gore and violence of a psychedelic nature. This is why it was an eye opener to witness Cronenberg’s A History of Violence, which featured a definite mainstream appeal that was quite divergent from the director’s norm. Even more shocking is the strangely conventional tones of his follow-up, Eastern Promises, a mob picture that again explores familiar themes with the director, but packages it in a film that will stand as his most crowd-pleasing since The Fly.
The picture centers around a midwife name Anna (Naomi Watts), who watches a young mother die in the ER one night as she gives birth to a young girl. Looking for personal effects, Anna comes across a diary, but finds the book is written only in Russian. As she searches for someone to translate, she finds a business card for a local restaurant featuring Russian cuisine. Unfortunately for Anna and her family, what starts as a leisurely visit exposes her to a horrible world of organized crime and human slavery.
This is an absolutely captivating work by David Cronenberg. His most accessible film by far, the story contains no fat, moving from one set piece to another with grace and subtlety. Just as he did with A History of Violence the director dwells very much upon the duel nature of humanity, both within larger and more personal settings. I personally love the dichotomy of one sequence in which Anna’s family enjoys their Christmas in a very small, lonely setting and then a large mafia holiday celebration is studied in tandem. At first it seems as if things are definitely worse off for Anna, but further examination shows how honest and forthcoming her family is with their lives. It is the Russian mobsters whose lives is shown to be full of double dealings and deceit, as their ties are exposed to not be nearly as strong as they would let on.
Within the characters themselves, we also get to scrutinize this theme. When we first meet Armin Mueller-Stahl’s Semyon, you would think the old man was like any grandfather. Charming and set in his ways, his lovable nature only hints at the sinister personality that lies beneath his tender facade. Many other characters are not as obvious though. Semyon’s son Kirill (Vincent Cassel) holds secrets of his own, but none are ever fully explored. He’s a tortured man, trying to live up to his father’s example, but deep down may be hiding needs that would completely alienate him from the only world he has ever known.
Even the headquarters of the Vory V Zakone in the film is itself a paradox, parading around as a family restaurant during the day, when the business of an entirely different type of family resides within when the doors are closed for business. During daylight hours, the restaurant holds joyous parties, but during the night we see criminals holding intimate ceremonies in the shadows of the building. Considering this theme of duality is the architecture that this film is based on, its fitting that Cronenberg would use a piece of architecture to hammer home his ideas.
The movie also features what may be the finest performance of Viggo Mortensen’s career. His Nikolai is a man of few words, letting his actions do his talking. He’s a man that doesn’t reveal much about himself throughout the picture, but you can tell something is working underneath the surface. Then when his moment of truth comes, we get to really see what this man is made of and the results are astonishing.
Watts is his equal in many ways, showing an inner strength, even though Anna is completely out of her depth. This is a terrific character that defies these monsters at every turn, never wanting to give in to the mob’s horrible threats. I think sometimes there’s a tendency for film makers to try and write a strong female as if she were a man, but Watts’ character never loses her femininity. While she never gets fight scenes or any real action within the picture – like Ripley (Alien) or the Bride (Kill Bill) – by never really giving up in her situation you can see just how strong she really is. Watts also gives a terrifically restrained performance that just reiterates just why she’s one of the best actresses working today.
Another terrific aspect of Eastern Promises is just how economical its storytelling is. The film is only about an hour and forty minutes, but never feels as if its dramatic weight is shorted in any way. The movie is deliberately paced by Cronenberg, his only fault being that he seems to climax the film too early. With twenty minutes to go, there is a fight scene in a bath house which is a stunning use of violence. This was probably the finest cinematic fight of 2007, featuring a striking brutality, but never going into the director’s usual surrealistic realm. Still, the fight is such a highlight that it may hamper just how possible it is for the film’s ending to be as powerful.
There’s a definite progression of film-making evolution to be found in David Cronenberg’s work from A History of Violence to Eastern Promises. Even though his films seem to be becoming more accessible, Cronenberg doesn’t have to undersize just how complex his themes and discussions can be. All he seems to be doing is offering his films to a wider audience while using a clever subterfuge to get his messages across.
The movie looks great on DVD, with a crisp and clear image throughout. There doesn’t seem to be much problem with this transfer and the colors are bright. The film is presented in Anamorphic Widescreen with an aspect ratio of 1.85:1.
The Audio
The Audio track is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1and is also quite good. There’s no problems with dialogue ever being overpowered, and the sound design is brought out nicely.
Secrets and Stories – This Featurette goes about 10 minutes or so and is a fairly interesting, yet standard “making of” extra. Cronenberg speaks very well of his actors, especially Naomi Watts, and we get to see a lot of where is ideas for the film came from.
Marked for Life – This is really the more interesting extra, as it talks about the importance of tattoos within the Vory V Zakone and how a gangster’s life story is told on his body. Apparently a man is not even allowed to join without the tattoos and Cronenberg states that the movie really didn’t hit its stride until the film started focusing more on this aspect of the picture.
Trailers
