We stumbled on this inadvertantly.
I mean with a movie title like Eastern Promises, who's to know it isn't some arty-farty Zhang Yimou flick of undying love. The plan was to catch the latest Adrien Brody vehicle and Venice Film Festival darling, Darjeeling Limited, about 3 brothers' train-trip through India where they have to deal with their emotional baggage as well as metaphorical physical baggage whilst culture-shocking themselves. But since tickets were all but sold out on a Saturday evening, it was a welcomed surprise to turn to a gun-metal slick Russian Mob-fest instead.
Confession. I have never been a fan of Mob movies. Hell I can't remember anything from The Godfather. And when the American Gangster trailer played out in all its full Denzel Washington/Russel Crowe glory just now, I stifled a yawn. But faced with the prospect of Alvin & The Chipmunks, we thought Viggo Mortenson and Naomi Watts, together with Stylish-Violence Specialist, Director David Cronenberg, would make a better bet. And we were right.
Mortenson was a revelation! If you remember, he's Aragorn from LOTR. And in Promises, he has found a new Arwen in the very very delectable and classy Naomi Watts. Well, I had a crush on Watts when she had a crush on that big ape Kong not too long ago.
The now short, slicked-haired Viggo plays Nikolai, Russian driver and 'undertaker' to a Russian Mob boss' homosexual son Kirill (french actor VIncent Casell). Kirill's papa, Semyon (Armin Mueller Stahl) is chief mob-ster of the powerful Vory and runs the Trans-Siberia Restaurant as a front for under-age prostitution, contraband smuggling and cut-throat assasinations. When a teenage Russian hooker dies at childbirth in Trafalgar Hospital where Anna (Naomi Watts) works, she uncovers the girl's diary which leads up the dark and dangerous path to Semyon's Vory and an inevitable romantic entanglement with Nikolai.
Believe me, you will want to watch this more than once just for Mortenson. He really makes Promises his own. Cronenberg is known for his complex exploration of the human psyche and in Nikolai, this is as 3-dimensional as it gets. Expect plenty of blood and gore though. And of course, the much talked about Russian Baths scene where Nikolai fights off 2 killers from the Chechen Vory, completely naked. Yes girls, Aragorn in the buff!
The show is 140mins long. The pace is super-tight. And there is hardly a wrong turn or dull moment in its own unassuming yet 'tastefully' hellacious way. You get realistic insights into the Russian Mafia too. Like how 2 eight-pointed stars tattooed on your chest, above the heart, means you've earned the right to join the happy 'family'.
Watch out American Gangsters, the Russkies are in town.
8/10
Labels: Movies