“Eastern Promises” is a movie you watch while sitting up on the edge of your seat for a little bit. If not for the riveting storyline, then because of the amount of talent that is on screen for an hour and forty minutes. It was a good way in to the film before I realized my mouth had been open the entire time in awe. “Eastern Promises” takes the cinematic innovation of the independent film and merges it with that of the classic Hollywood atmosphere. The result is a story that is so well executed that’s hard to take your eyes off of. You’ll regret blinking.
When a nurse, Anna (Naomi Watts), delivers the baby of a mysterious young girl, she goes through her diary and finds a connection to a family-owned restaurant. The owner, Semyon (Armin Mueller-Stahl), knows this diary contains dark secrets about his son (Kirill, played by Vincent Cassel) that could hurt the flow of his crime-organized family. Now Anna must get help from the mysterious driver, Nikolai (Viggo Mortensen), who works under the family. Can he be trusted?
Obviously this is a very abridged version of the fantastic storyline; watching the story and characters unfold is like poetry. The film invests a lot of time in its characters and the story moves along at a brisk pace without any trouble. It certainly has a “Godfather” vibe to it, which is sure to please fans of the classic Hollywood style. Meanwhile, the foreign look and feel of the movie is sure to please many indie-lovers as well. It’s a beautifully shot film and the slightest subtleties are sure to spark conversation among literary film geeks. “What is the purpose of Nikolai’s beads? What is the point of showing the small fire in front of Nikolai’s face? What does Anna’s bike stand for?” I could go on, but watch it to understand it.
Acting? The best I’ve seen this year. Viggo Mortensen may have secured his Oscar this year. If he’s not nominated, then boycott the Academy Awards. Mortensen’s every word, every mannerism and every subtle facial expression is so well calculated it was almost impossible to believe he was the heroic Aragorn of “Lord of the Rings.” Armin Mueller-Stahl covers everything his character would be. He’s deceitful, but friendly, vile, but a gentleman—He plays his role with such presence that when he and Mortensen are on screen at the same time I was wondering how the screen didn’t explode under the pressure of so much talent. This isn’t to undermine Naomi Watts, who is as much of a classic beauty as an amazing actress, and Vincent Cassel, who has probably given the performance of his career in this film.
These characters move the story along like clockwork and its fun analyzing their moves and mannerisms. Nikolai is easily the most interesting character of the movie. His mysterious nature leads the audience to believe he means well, but there’s something different about him than the rest of the characters. (To say anymore would spoil it.) Meanwhile, Anna is a sympathizer—The audience connects to Nikolai through her and as a result we feel engrossed in this crime-family’s world. There’s really no escaping this movie. And you don’t want too.
David Cronenberg has come a long way in his directing career. Although I’ve only seen a handful of his films, which are good, none of them match the atmosphere of this character-drama thriller. He has taken a powerful story and pushed some of the finest actors to their limits to create something I can only call cinematic literature. It is a fine piece of filmmaking that begs to be revisited and analyzed like old-English writing. To not see this movie would be doing one a great disservice. This is top-notch filmmaking. While I enjoy a good action romp, it’s good to see that the Oscar season is kicking in to high gear after so many pirates, transforming cars and ludicrous gunfights have saturated the summer. “Eastern Promises” promises a great film.
**** out of ****
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment