David Cronenberg, Eastern Promises

by Kathryn Durfee
09/22/2007

Way back in 2005, my mother and I, both mourning the end of the Lord of the Rings trilogy and thus the end of a scruffy, strong but humble Aragorn, excitedly went to see director David Cronenberg's A History of Violence. In this film, based on the graphic novels by John Wagner and Vince Locke, Viggo Mortensen plays Tom Stall, the owner of a peaceful little diner in a small town. His secret past is revealed when he inadvertently becomes a local hero for killing two men who aim to rob him and harm his waitress. A mobster, played by Ed Harris, arrives in town to confront this reluctant hero. They've been looking for a man named Joey, and he's just recently turned up as a news feature for his heroic act. Is this a case of mistaken identity, or is Tom actually a hunted hit man? If my memory serves me correctly, Violence ends abruptly with little plot resolution. At the time, I felt that I had been cheated. I had invested two hours in a movie only to be left with no answers.

I eventually wrote off Violence, choosing to depend on the nearly perfect Rings trilogy and Andrew Davis's 1998 thriller A Perfect Murder for my Viggo fix. It wasn't until I saw Cronenberg's and Mortensen's new release, Eastern Promises, that I finally began to understand the director's style. Promises finds Mortensen donning a Russian accent and countless tattoos (I wonder if his Fellowship tattoo is visible?) to play Nikolai, a mysterious and oddly ruthless Russian employed by one of London's most notorious organized crime families of Eastern European descent.

Nikolai works for Semyon (Armin Mueller-Stahl), the head of the Vory V Zakone brotherhood, and his son Kirill (Vincent Cassel, a.k.a Ocean's 12's The Night Fox). Originally hired as a driver/undertaker, Nikolai soon becomes part of the brotherhood, gaining the trust of both Semyon and Kirill. Nikolai's plans change when he crosses paths with Anna Khitrova (Naomi Watts), a midwife at a local hospital. When a young girl dies giving birth, Anna becomes determined to find the girl's family in order to keep the baby out of foster care. The young mother left behind a diary, but Anna needs someone to translate the Russian for her. Finding a business card from the Trans-Siberian restaurant in the pages of the diary, Anna seeks it out in hopes of finding answers. Placing the diary in the hands of Semyon, Anna unknowingly places herself, her family, and the baby in grave danger. When Anna continues to search for information about the baby's lineage, Nikolai is forced to choose sides, thereby endangering his own life.

Yes, I too was overwhelmed with dread when I discovered that most of the film revolved around the protection of an orphaned infant. I immediately thought, "Wait, I already saw this movie and it blew!" But don't panic, Cronenberg and Mortensen achieve what Davis and Owen most certainly did not. By this I am of course referring to the presence of meaningful dialogue, three-dimensional characters, and an actual story in Promises.

I don't want to spoil any plot twists, but I will say that I walked out of Promises feeling the same way I did after Violence. I wasn't ready for the film to end, not necessarily because of the quality but because I wanted more answers. I have now deduced that this is Cronenberg's schtick. His goal is not to deliver riveting plots tied up in nice little packages that set you up, give you all the information, and send you home happy. He instead aims to present his audience with a glimpse into the lives of others. For this director, the who and what are not as important as the why. Promises, like Violence, is a character study. Who is Nikolai? Where did he come from? Why does he get involved with Anna's quest?

Overall, Promises is very well put together and typical of Cronenberg's work. The violence is sporadic but graphic and intense, and so is the sexual content. Mortensen delivers; he is barely recognizable as the accented Nikolai. Quiet and softspoken, he is given to outbursts of physical strength and power. Cassel's Kurill is a typical boss's-son-playboy who doesn't quite seem to understand the meaning of the life he was born into. Naomi Watts plays a somewhat bland Anna, barely hinting at what could have been a more emotionally-compelling role.

Promises is not just another mob film. Cronenberg and his cast raise the film to Godfather -esque levels, creating a powerful character study and exploration of human nature.