Set in and around the Finsbury area of London, David Cronenberg goes out to prove that Muslim terrorists are not the only thing to fear in this once exclusive district. Eastern Promises follows the story of Anna a Midwife in Trafalgar Hospital, whom one day delivers the child of a young Russian girl, while the baby survives the mother dies. With no way of identifying the mother other than her Christian name Tatiana, Anna decides to get her only possession a diary written in Russian translated. With Russian blood in her family Anna initially tries to get her uncle Stepan to translate the diary, but he seems to be struck by an issue of dignity feeling that in doing so he is condoning Anna to grave rob.
In her search for the truth Anna heads to a Russian restaurant, the card of which was found in Tatiana's diary. It's here that she finds the kindly Semyon, a man who seems eager to not only help Anna, but seems to have a soft spot for her too. But as Anna looks closer into events things are not as they seem, and this baby and a significant recent killing seems to be the start of a vicious shake up in the London Russian Mafia scene.
Hitting hard at the core of this movie I was initially impressed, and then sadly dismayed by David Cronenberg's recent offering. There is something awfully wrong about overseas directors hitting the UK trying to depict aspects of our lifestyle, because no matter how hard they try they never quite get it right. This is certainly the case here, and while I'll admit to being a big Cronenberg fan, putting someone like this at the helm of this vessel is a terrible mistake. The second issue is that all the movies main cast are from foreign shores to a German, an American, an Australian, and a French man, all of whom play characters with at the least a hint of Russian blood. The cast Armin Mueller Stahl (Semyon), Viggo Mortenson (Nikolai), Naomi Watts (Anna), and Seymour Cassel (Kirill) all offer good performances, but Watts lacks some significant British traits, namely she never says goodbye; the British are known for their goodbyes sometimes offering multiple goodbyes on departure especially when a favour has been given. Now I appreciate that the screenwriter has a hand in this but there was a certain amount of improvisation, something I'm sure a British actress would have picked up on.
The biggest issue for me about the movie is that if you put a movie and the name David Cronenberg together you have a certain expectation, and while some scenes are traditional Cronenberg, in respect of an action of thrill perspective the movie significantly lacks. Anyone who remembers Cronenberg's horror offerings will no doubt be a little dumbstruck here; with the exception of a fight scene in Fnsbury's Public Baths the movie barely moves in intensity above a slow plod. I honestly expected the movie to end with a violent confrontation; Cronenberg instead delivers the equivalent of Radio Four's Book At Bedtime.
What Cronenberg does do is put in all the groundwork, you get a good feel that something is on the horizon, and a few graphic throat slashing's certainly give you the impression that the best is still to come. Cronenberg also shows a really dated look at certain aspects of London, as well as the real multi-cultural view of England, something often hidden from British films. I can't help but think that Cronenberg studied The Long God Friday as there are some clear reflective aspects. But you feel like this is the first part of a series come the movies conclusion, with only one real aspect of the story achieving a suitable resolution.
While the actors all perform well as I mentioned earlier, they too rather like the plot lack a little development. There are aspects of Anna's background that are never addressed, but raised almost as a promise for the finale, Nikolai's little secret is obvious a mile off and there is only so many times you can hear "I'm Just TheDriver", Kirill's odd behaviour and off the rails spinning is never properly addressed, and the rumours and myth making surrounding Semyon are never given any hard evidence to back them up, although he does bark the odd "final" order. Distressingly a window of opportunity for Viggo Mortenson finds himself in another situation where he gets his twiglet out, in a scene that I can only describe as a bloody re-enactment from Ken Russell's Women In Love, Mortensons small offerings are literally thrust in our face in a shamefull series of penis and anus shots. The only benefit of this scene is the bloody outcome for his opponents.
Eastern Promises is not a bad film, in fact it colourfully shows aspects of life that the average Joe on the street is shamefully unaware of. The movie offers its viewer a good education, and by the end you're familiar with a few words of Russian, and an insight into Russian festivities and lifestyles. But the reality is that it's a very hollow movie filled with a delicious exterior and nothing inside, and I guess this is addressed in the first few seconds of the movie when the words "BBC Films" appears, and while we all know that the BBC make drama the world envy's little mention is ever given to their film-making arm.
I wanted so much to love Eastern Promises, being a real Cronenberg fan and a lover of British gangster culture. And while the movies 90 minutes runtime filled a gap in an otherwise boring Boxing Day, I'd not be in a hurry to see the film again; in fact I'd be greatly surprised if I ever watched it again.
Eastern Promises hits UK DVD shelves on the 25th February 2008, with no Special Features an a £17.99 RRP. Spencer Hawken 12/07
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Soundtrack
Good
How does it compare to others by the same director?
Satisfactory
Value for Money
Satisfactory
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