David Cronenberg in the Real World
'Eastern Promises' fails to deliver
By Andy Klein
When A History of Violence was released two years ago, I wrote that it might be the least characteristic film of David Cronenberg's career, with the exception of the misbegotten M. Butterfly (1993). But I may have spoken too fast: When one fluke is joined by a second, similar fluke, they're not flukes anymore. The joint gravitational pull of A History of Violence and the new Eastern Promises forces a change in what constitutes a "characteristic" Cronenberg film.
Cronenberg made his name in the late '70s and early '80s with a series of inventive and distinctive horror films. He was always referred to in connection with that specific genre. With the triple whammy of The Fly (1986), Dead Ringers (1988), and Naked Lunch (1991), he didn't so much break out of the category as he expanded its boundaries. He also proved himself the most important living Canadian director.
A History of Violence took place in a much realer, less stylized world than most of his work, and the same can be said of Eastern Promises. The screenplay here is by Steve Knight, who wrote the brilliant Stephen Frears film Dirty Pretty Things (2002), and the texture feels closer to that than to any previous Cronenberg movie, even A History of Violence.
Viggo Mortensen is once again the male lead. I'm reluctant to say "hero," since Naomi Watts is really the protagonist. Watts plays Anna, a midwife at a London hospital. When a young woman - no more than age 14 or 15 - dies giving birth, Anna takes it upon herself to track down the woman's family. All she has to go on is a diary, written in Russian ... and the card of a Russian restaurant.
Innocently, she goes to the restaurant, meeting Semyon (Armin Mueller-Stahl), the avuncular owner. She also meets Semyon's wild son, Kirill (Vincent Cassel), and his chauffeur, Nikolai (Mortensen). At first we might think that Semyon is the honest, beleaguered father of a rotten kid, but it shortly becomes clear that he is a mob boss, and the restaurant also serves as his headquarters. Kirill may be scary, but, in his calm way, Semyon is much scarier.
In short, Anna has stumbled into the den of a ruthless Russian Mafia family. Worse yet, the mob has good reason to try to stifle her investigation: The dead woman was an immigrant, forced into working as a prostitute for Semyon and company. If her death can be tied to them, they'll be in jeopardy. Until they make sure it can't be, Anna's in jeopardy.
In the midst of this is Nikolai, tight-lipped and reliable, who seems destined to be a far better mobster than the neurotic, unpredictable Kirill. By his nature, Nikolai reveals little of himself. His discretion makes him a valuable addition to the family ... unless, of course, there's something he isn't revealing even to them.
How can one explain the relative disappointment of Eastern Promises? It's well made and fast-moving and has, at its center, four excellent actors. Watts immediately gives Anna depth and believability. Mortensen is, as always, charismatic, even as he disappears into his character (who is, in many ways, parallel to his Tom in A History of Violence). Cassel is frightening, not because his character is evil, but rather because he's insecure and defensive (for reasons that become increasingly clear).
Yet, I could easily imagine Eastern Promises coming from any number of directors, something that can rarely be said of a Cronenberg movie. Like A History, it seems distant from the grotesque obsessions that usually mark the director's work. And even that film spun into unreal territory once William Hurt showed up. Eastern Promises has its moments of hideous violence and a few touches of Cronenberg's disgust with human flesh, but for the most part it's simply an OK gangster movie.
Published: 09/13/2007
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