Eastern Promises

[Remo D]

So sorry--saw this one last week and didn't even get around to posting on it as I've been simply overwhelmed...

Well, of all the genre directors we grew up with (Carpenter, Romero, Craven, have you), David Cronenberg remains the one most likely to take home a Best Director award one of these years. He may have turned his attention away from easily identifiable "horror" films, but none of his loyal fans are crying "sellout," either. And it's easy to see why--his movies remain every bit as good as they ever were (be honest, were you REALLY looking forward to seeing GHOSTS OF MARS as much as you were A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE?).

Cronenberg retains lead actor Viggo Mortensen from HISTORY and adds another impressive female lead to his line-up with Naomi Watts. You'll note that the strength of Cronenberg's films almost always depend on lead actor performances (Oliver Reed, James Woods, Christopher Walken, Jeff Goldblum, Jeremy Irons, Peter Weller, etc.) and only rarely has an actress been allowed to shine in center stage (Marilyn Chambers, Jennifer Jason Leigh)--but this time, the honors (and the results) are equally distributed.

I'm not sure what the title EASTERN PROMISES refers to specifically--but what we get is a terrific European melting-pot setting... it took me a while to comprehend that the film was actually set in London, as it takes place overwhelmingly in ethnic neighborhoods, offering us a Turkish barbershop and a Russian restaurant as the prime locales--with subtitled dialogue and a near-record amount of vodka-swilling easily drowning out any authentic British color. We have family conflicts--both in the Russian Mafia and in an expatriate Russian family... it will suffice to say that Watts is the young nurse who finds herself in charge of an infant that ultimately threatens the security of both of these families, and Mortensen is the trusted family enforcer ("I'm just a driver" that's expected to make all the problems disappear.

You want "more blood" a la Cronenberg? You've got it. You want physical transformation a la Cronenberg? You've got it (tell me that the ritual tattooing doesn't count). You want bone-cracking violence and raw, naked, emotional acting? Good grief, have you got that!

If EASTERN PROMISES goes off course at all, then it does so via an extra climax... one that takes place after which we've truly learned all we need to know--but which justifies its existence as a "movie" moment nonetheless.

You will NOT be disappointed, regardless--EASTERN PROMISES is one of the year's best thrillers.

[Irrylath]

sweet! that's good to hear. I'm gonna hit this up on my day off this week. I've been obsessed with Viggo forever and just wanted to see this movie because of him (and *ahem* his nakedness), but if I can get a good movie out of it....that makes me happy.