Eastern Promises [2007]

David Cronenberg’s follow-up to A History of Violence is a sequel of sorts to the heavily acclaimed film. Though Eastern Promises does indeed fail to live up to the masterpiece, it is a very good movie nonetheless. Where the former was a near surreal poetry on violence, the latter is unflinching and at times near operatic in its brutal force. The tragic death of a young pregnant mother in London opens a can of beans and leads the half-Russian obstetrician, desperate to find the orphaned baby’s home, to the very epicenter of the nefarious and deadly Russian Mafia in London. Naomi Watts’s charged performance in the role of a desperate lady with a traumatic past is reminiscent of her superlative career-making turn in Mullholand Drive. Viggo Mortensen as the menacing and ruthless gangster with a strangely sympathetic streak is an alter-ego to his character in A History of Violence or perhaps an alternate existence that the character could have had. Terrific turns by the supporting cast, and the leisurely pace of the narrative punctuated by such graphic violence that only Cronenberg – one of the most important directors of his times – can concoct and alleviate to the level of art, have ensured what could have been just another slick action movie is instead something worth watching and perhaps even contemplating on.





Director: David Cronenberg
Genre: Crime Thriller/Gangster Movie/Action
Language: English
Country: UK