Oct
17
2007
Every movie has an official tagline and an unofficial one. The official tagline for Eastern Promises, the new film from David Cronenberg, is every sin leaves a mark. The unofficial tagline, and the only thing that I had heard about the movie before it showed at Campbell Hall last Friday, was that Viggo Mortensen did an entire fight scene naked.
While that scene was memorable, more for the violence than any lack of clothing, it is merely a small part of a film about family and trust in the midst of the violent Russian mob in London.
The storyline is simple. It does not take too many unexpected twists or turns but the characters are complex enough to draw you in and not let go. The performances from Mortensen as Nikolai and Noami Watts as Anna make the film worth watching. Anna does not go into her dealings with the mob with any kind of naiveté. She knows the dangers and takes them on anyway. Watts manages to strike a balance between fear and bravado so that you believe this woman would take on the Mob.
Mortensen plays the role with his trademark understatement. He makes you believe that the character could be someone cold enough to say, “Sentimental value, I’ve heard of that.” If that was the beginning and the end of the character, he would be boring and probably unforgivable but we do see that he has another side. The shifts and turns are balanced deftly to make Nikolai compelling.
Vincent Cassel provides the occasional comic relief as the prodigal son who never quite lives up to expectations but occasionally does the unexpected.
As with most films by Cronenberg this one has scenes that are gory enough to cause audible gasps by the audience. The aforementioned naked fight scene is one of them. The scenes aren’t frequent but they are intense. If the prospect of this doesn’t put you off completely you should definitely give this movie a try.