Naomi Watts stars as Anna Ivanova, a British-born woman of Russian descent who works as a midwife in a London hospital. When a fourteen year old pregnant girl is brought in without any ID, or any way of contacting her family, and dies while giving birth, Anna takes it upon herself to track down her family before her daughter is put into the foster system. Armed with the girl’s diary--which is written in Russian--along with a card for a restaurant in the city, Anna finds that the place is owned by a kindly old Russian man named Semyon (Armin Mueller-Stahl). When he hears of Anna’s quest, Semyon is only too happy to help Anna. He offers to translate the dairy for her, which she takes him up on, despite the fact that her uncle can read Russian.
Yet what Anna doesn’t realize at first is that Semyon is the boss of one of the
more powerful Russian mob families in London, and by giving him photocopies of
the dairy to translate, Anna has unknowingly placed herself in grave danger.
Viggo Mortensen teams up with his A History Of Violence director David Cronenberg once again for Eastern Promises, which offers an unflinching look at the Russian mob in England. Mortensen plays Nikolai Luzhin, a driver and enforcer for Semyon’s family who now finds himself dealing with the persistent Anna. Mortensen makes you forget his AHOV character--and even that Aragorn guy--with his realistically gritty performance that garnered him a well-deserved Oscar nomination.
Vincent Cassel is also superb here as Kirill, Semyon’s conflicted son and heir
to the crime empire, and Mueller-Stahl gives a finely nuanced performance that
makes him both sympathetic and revolting at the same time. Watts is also
supremely good as the naively compassionate Anna. Cronenberg doesn’t hold back
on the violence and gore, but that’s not the focal point of the film. Instead he
treats us to another intelligent examination of violence, and its repercussions,
that’s extremely fascinating to watch. There’s no commentary on the DVD, and the
special features only include a pair of 'making of' documentaries, but Eastern Promises
is still worth a look, especially if you’re seeking a far more mature and exotic
take on the crime thriller.
--SF
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