Eastern Promises
Looking a bit like a rangy Ed Harris, Viggo Mortenson plays Nikolai, a tough Russian mobster whose dealings collide with Anna, a British OB/GYN. The collision comes in the form of a young Russian girl’s tragedy, but their paths do not immediately cross. He is entangled in the vor v zakone Russian Mafia and aide-de-camp for Kirill (Vincent Cassel), son of kingpin Semyon (Armin Mueller-Stahl). It is through Semyon that Anna and Nikolai come into contact. Kirill and Semyon are lifers in this game and Cassel and Muelle-Stahl carry themselves with the proper sense of menacing entitlement. Kirill is born into this world and is as mindless and heedless as a child; he is a deadly adult, however. Cassel plays Kirill, a vain man, without any vanity – he seems to revel in the character’s awfulness, and I applaud him for it. Viggo, with his weird haircut and multiple agendas, never seems to settle on a tone for Nikolai (though that may be the point). Any interest he shows in Anna seems drummed up just for the movie and/or his ulterior motives.
Anna is played by Naomi Watts; does no one use their native accent in this film? She is played with her unique brand of intelligent, quaking fear. Her father was Russian, which may explain why she is drawn to the case of this girl, or else it’s just that she’s uniquely suited to help find out more about her. She surely would be able to identify scary mob types on sight, what with their suspicious demeanors and all. Nevertheless, she stumbles into a huge mafia mess and then the fun starts.
It seems all Mafia movies, be they Italian, Russian, or Japanese, all seem to share this brutal, high testosterone subaural keening that repels me. The men stab each other, penetrate whores, and destroy property with cold-eyed abandon. Mortenson seems to be different, but we can’t peg why. He just doesn’t seem to not-care enough. He can certainly hold his own in a very unfair surprise attack (the much-touted naked knife fight). Not much makes me (or my companion) recoil beyond a flinch, but wow, these guys sure like the violence!
Armin Mueller-Stahl is perfectly cast as a restauranteur and grandfatherly old man fronting a vicious killing organization, his clear blue eyes glittering with vodka and mayhem, and twinkling with hospitality and familial concern. I can’t rightly say that I “liked” Eastern Promises. It definitely had major moments, intense highs, strong performances, and plot surprises. It pulls no wimpy punches and it gives us the full business. Yet it seemed to be over very abruptly and unfinished, just as I was beginning to connect with everything. You see for yourself.
MPAA Rating R-strong brutal and bloody violence, some graphic sexuality, language and nudity.
Release date 9/21/07
Time in minutes 100
Director David Cronenberg
Studio Focus Features
