Eastern Promises

2007, Rated R, 100 minutes, Directed by David Cronenberg, Written by Steven Knight, Produced by Robert Lantos & Paul Webster, Cinematography by Peter Suschitzky, Original Music by Howard Shore

With: Viggo Mortensen (Nikolai), Vincent Cassel (Kirill), Armin Mueller-Stahl (Semyon), Naomi Watts (Anna)

The mafia lives in the world of secrets and deception, money and power, influence and intimidation. Eastern Promises fits squarely into that world in its depiction of the Russian mafia in London. It is a slow burn film that inches its way forward into a crescendo of twists and fights. It is a deep investigation into the underworld that while well focused undoes itself in the minutiae and teeters on the brink of monotony.

The story launches from the death of a Russian teenager who dies during childbirth under the care of Anna (Naomi Watts). Anna, in an effort to track down any family, has the girl’s diary translated and discovers that she was a prisoner of the Russian mafia. She is uncertain and scared about what to do with that information however as she unintentionally exposed herself to the mafia when she was trying to track down the teenage girls family. She meets the mob boss Semyon (Armin Mueller-Stahl), his son Kirill (Vincent Cassel) and his right hand man Nikolai (Viggo Mortensen). She finds herself quickly trapped in their world and at their mercy as they try to track down all the condemning information. The viewer quickly finds himself jumping in between two worlds: a scared, for lack of a better word, civilian who wants to do the right thing, and the seedy and gritty underworld ruled by a mafia who is scared of the information Anna holds and will do whatever it takes to protect itself and the family.

The movie does an excellent job of staying focused. Instead of trying to get in every aspect of mafia life like some films have tried, it instead focuses on one event and how that event impacts all involved. It carefully and slowly divulges information about the central plot as it progresses step by step toward the conclusion of the “problem.” It is a tightly written and compelling plot that leaves the viewer guessing what will happen next. 

The actors carry the weight of this slow moving film and for the most part succeed. Viggo Mortensen was nominated for an Oscar for his portrayal of Nikolai and that recognition was well deserved. He played a very complicated character whose motives and intentions were never fully known or understood. You never quite know what to make of him as he does an excellent job of keeping his character ambiguous and moving back and forth. Watts does a fine job playing a scared, yet determined character who will go as far as it takes to find the babies family. She is willing to walk right into the mafia’s headquarters and she exhibits strong resolve throughout but at the same time uncertainty. Armin Mueller-Stahl does an excellent job of playing a controlling but calm mob boss. You can always see there is so much more going on in his mind than his words demonstrate. He is always thinking or scheming and his seedy character shines throughout. 

While the story is tight and the acting is good, the film itself is simply too slow. While it only runs 100 minutes it feels like 2.5 hours at least by the time the credit roles. While for some films this can be a good feeling as it savors every moment, Eastern Promises is not one of them. The movies strength is also its weakness: it focuses on one central event. This is a mark of a great film but this movie focuses too slowly on the event. Sometimes this slow burn technique works well but there needs to be a major catharsis at the conclusion, and while Eastern Promises third act is a ramping up of the action, it comes too near the conclusion to make up for the snail pacing leading up to it. I know that one of my more frequent critiques of movies is that it has too much going on, but for various reasons  this movie has too little.

The tagline for the film is “every sin leaves a mark.” One look at Nikolai’s body and you can see he has quite a story to tell. Unfortunately however, the only bit we get about that is a 2 minute clip of an examination and quick explanation of his tattoos. What could have been a wonderfully developed backstory is instead cursorily addressed and leaves the viewer wanting more. Perhaps they are saving it for the purported sequel.

There are many intriguing and well developed aspects to Eastern Promises. It is also fun to deal with a mafia that is not Italian. The film does a good job of revealing only what is absolutely necessary and divulging information piece by piece forcing the viewer to actively put together the puzzle. Unfortunately, like puzzles, it is easy to lose interest as the gaps are glacial filled. You get a great but  sometimes painstakingly slow look at the Russian mafia. We will have to wait and see what the sequel brings to the table.

B-

Content Advisory

there is an explicit sex scene, a fight scene where one man is naked, several graphic depictions of violence including multiple throats slit, lots of language and some intense fighting scenes and several scenes with a dead body

Food for thought/discussion

1. Did Anna go to far in her quest for the truth? How far is too far?

2. In the movie Nikolai Luzhin says “Anger is dangerous. It makes people do stupid things.” How does anger and its consequences play out in the film?

3. What are Nikolai’s motives in the film? Do they change at all?

4. The tagline for the film is “Every sin leaves its mark.” Is this true? How do past sins affect our present lives?