EASTERN PROMISES

Director: David Cronenberg (The Fly, A History of Violence)
Starring: Naomi Watts, Viggo Mortenson

I've found Cronenberg's last 2 films (Promises & A History of Violence) to live in very similar places, artistically speaking. And yes, they are both good enough flicks to be called art, me thinks. The similarities should be obvious I suppose, considering they both run over the same ground - thinky, violent thrillers that nonetheless (nominally) follow some mainstream conventions. They also both star Viggo Mortenson, who I'll admit I'm conflicted about as an actor, although his role here as a Russian mafioso is by far his best work. He's generally submerged himself into the role, although the character is overwhelming quiet and stoic (just like in every other Mortenson performance), virtually static unless in an action scene. Quiet, rugged, and internalized are some ways to describe his performances, "rock-like unresponsiveness" would be another. Here however, it works fairly well, as he plays an ambitious, tough-guy Russian gangster caught between the violence of his world and his own understanding of right and wrong.

The plot follows an English midwife (Watts) who after delivering a baby to a dying prostitute, seeks answers in the girl's diary. The simple act of possessing the diary puts her in danger, as it implicates a number of very powerful and very violent Russian gangsters, although she is unaware of this at first because she doesn't read Russian. When she (unknowingly) takes the diary to the boss himself, her life soon hangs by the merest thread. She meets, and is attracted to Nikolai (Mortenson), who is a rising gangster, a close confidant of the boss' eratic son. After a twist or two of the thriller plot, Mortenson finds himself in the highest echelons of the gangster society. He also finds himself hunted by competing mobsters. Here's where I'll note the fully naked fight scene that every review mentions. It's worth noting. It's probably the most unique and interesting fight sequence I've ever seen, as Mortenson battles a couple of hitmen in a sauna. Or at least the most interesting since Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

The movie's plot is interesting enough that I won't give away too many details, except to say that there are a few twists of the sort commonly found in Hollywood thrillers. Okay, I guess I'll also say that they're done much better than in most Hollywood thrillers.

Standouts: Direction, Viggo.
Blowouts: I didn't find the film to have as much to say about violence as many reviewers seem to think it does.

Grade: A-