Eastern Promises (2007)
Eastern Promises (2007) 8/10
As someone who not a fan of director David Cronenberg, his latest work comes as abit of a surprise. A masterful take on the tale of the Russian mafia, Cronenberg takes a fairly cliched mafia genre and crafts a compelling, bloody tale of promises broken. Already, Eastern Promises has garnered several Golden Globes nominations, and will almost certainly earn a few Oscar nominations as well. And they would be well deserved.
The death of a young immigrant woman sets off two parallel storylines and brings us into the world of the Russian mafia. Compared to another high profile gangland drama this year, American Gangster which similarly uses two distinct plot lines, Eastern Promises does not wait until the ending for the two storylines to converge. It also helps that Eastern Promises is simply more interesting than American Gangster. The first storyline follows Naomi Watts as a nurse who delivers the baby of the dead woman. Finding the diary of the woman, Watts begins to unravel the story behind the life and death of this immigrant, and discovers the dark underbelly of the Russian underworld. The second plotline follows Viggo Mortenson, ostensibly a chauffeur for the son of a Russian mob boss, but in reality he does much more than just drive.
Cronenberg brings out excellent performances from his cast, and Viggo Mortensen has probably the single most memorable scene of the film. I won’t spoil it for you, but suffice to say, it is a daring and bloody performance that makes him a strong contender for Best Actor this year. Mortenson is equal bits mysterious and inscrutable, and utterly electrifying on screen. Not to be outdone, leading lady Naomi Watts not only has strong chemistry with Mortenson, but also continues her streak of picking excellent arthouse projects to star in. Definitely one of the most bankable female leads around today, And rounding up, we have an excellent supporting cast, including the likes of Vincent Cassel which makes Eastern Promises a top notch drama.
With a great script and an excellent cast, Cronenberg weaves a powerful and compelling tale that ranks as one of his best films so far.
