‘Eastern Promises’ movie review: David Cronenberg’s deliberate mafia story

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Director David Cronenberg re-teams with A History of Violence star Viggo Mortensen in Eastern Promises, a stylistically similar view of the Russian mafia in London that teems with authenticity.

Cronenberg´s trademarks – deliberate pacing, not-so subtle exploration of violence – are on full display here, leaving the film as a love-it-or-hate-it experience; fans of the director (myself included) will eat it up as Cronenberg continues to deliver at, perhaps, the apex of his career.

Naomi Watts is Anna Khitrova, midwife at London´s Trafalgar Hospital who delivers a baby girl a minute after the unknown mother is pronounced deceased. In an attempt to discover the identity of the mother – and find a home for the baby – Anna looks through her diary for some information.

It´s in Russian, and when her uncle Stepan refuses to translate it, she takes it to restaurant owner Seymon – who is also, unbeknownst to Anna, a ruthless Mafioso patriarch whose rabid son Kiril (Vincent Cassel) is mentioned extensively in the diary.

Mortensen stars as Nikolai, who works as a driver for Semyon and Kiril, and is tasked with some morally questionable duties while rising through their ranks.

What could have become a straight thriller is instead more interested in character and detail; it´s a testament to Cronenberg´s abilities that he manages to paint this world so vividly while still telling a compelling story.

Highlight of the film is a bathhouse fight scene featuring a gratuitously nude Mortensen; this is the scene that´ll have ‘em talking, as Cronenberg contrasts harsh realism with action-movie standards – you´ll likely hear some chuckles throughout the audience, most viewers not knowing how to react. After this stunner, however, the film meanders somewhat to an anticlimactic (though effective) finale.

Mortensen completely disappears into the role of Nikolai; he´s almost unrecognizable at times (though he bears a striking resemblance to Ed Harris here) in one of the few instances of a Hollywood star not serving distraction when donning a foreign accent.

Watts is given less to work with but remains credible as Anna; Polish director Jerzy Skolimowski is wonderful as her “old-school” working-class Russian uncle Stepan. Screenplay is by Steven Knight, who offers a similarly gritty view of the criminal London underbelly as he did in Stephen Frears´ underrated Dirty Pretty Things.

Eastern Promises

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Jason Pirodsky

Jason Pirodsky has been writing about the Prague film scene and reviewing films in print and online media since 2005. A member of the Online Film Critics Society, you can also catch his musings on life in Prague at expats.cz and tips on mindfulness sourced from ancient principles at MaArtial.com.

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