I remember one thing from this movie: naked fight. There is an attempted assassination in a Turkish bath, and Viggo Mortensen fights off his attackers completely naked. Are you in, yet?
I. What is It?
Eastern Promises (2007) is the story of Nikolai, a driver for the Russian mob in London with an eye on the upper echelons of the criminal underworld. It is also the story of Tatiana, an escaped sex-slave who dies giving birth. It is also the story of Anna, the midwife who delivered Tatiana's baby, and who dove deep into a world she wasn't welcome in to solve the mystery of who this dead girl was.II. Brutal
This movie starts with a throat slashing. Then a cool-as-a-cucumber Viggo Mortensen snips off the finger tips of that corpse, and they dump the body in the ocean.
There is also the aforementioned naked bath fight, where a man's head gets impaled on a small hooked knife. The naked fight is iconic for its unflinching brutality, the way it was choreographed and shot, and the message it sends about the characters. Besting two assassins buck-ass naked is the mark of a complete badass: Nikolai defeats them as a man stripped of pretense or aid.
Director David Cronenberg does not skimp on the violence or shy away from bloodshed. That isn't to say that the film is a cartoon of blood splatter and ultraviolence. Cronenberg is showing us a brutal world in a brutal way.
There is also the aforementioned naked bath fight, where a man's head gets impaled on a small hooked knife. The naked fight is iconic for its unflinching brutality, the way it was choreographed and shot, and the message it sends about the characters. Besting two assassins buck-ass naked is the mark of a complete badass: Nikolai defeats them as a man stripped of pretense or aid.
Director David Cronenberg does not skimp on the violence or shy away from bloodshed. That isn't to say that the film is a cartoon of blood splatter and ultraviolence. Cronenberg is showing us a brutal world in a brutal way.
III. The Tattoos
Russian vory v zakone ("thief in law") tattoos are fascinating. A thief's life and accomplishments are spelled out on his body through symbolic tattoos. Sometimes these tattoos are given unwillingly, like scarlet letters.
By introducing us to this conceit, Cronenberg, and writer Steven Knight, offer us something different than the average mob movie. The vors work on a different wavelength than the traditional Italian mob, and they have their own rules and culture.
There is a scene where Nikolai must stand, stripped to his underwear, in front of a group of upper-level mob types while they read his body and pepper him with questions about his deeds. They must decide whether he is good enough to "get his stars:" a thief with eight-pointed stars on his clavicles and knees has an extremely high rank. This scene is fascinating and well-executed.
I really liked that Nikolai, who is revealed to be an undercover cop, achieves his mission and the movie leaves us with him in a position of power. So often mob movies are about the corruption and destruction of a human life. In this movie, Nikolai saves a life, a baby, and abandons the out he is given by his superiors. He stays in. He assumes a position of power and control in that mob. I like that.
Nikolai is a hard man. He has done unspeakable things to get this far. The movie doesn't undercut his monstrousness by having him suddenly change his entire life. Sure, he is pricked by his conscious: he saves the hooker from the brothel, he helps the grandpa escape, and he saves the baby. But he is not pricked enough to abandon his mission. He does what he can, but the show must go on. His work is more important than a single life here or there. In order to fight monsters, we often need monsters. Nikolai is a monster. The film allows him to be, and I think that makes for a more interesting end than a straight-up Hollywood happily-ever-after.
Vincent Cassel, who plays Kirill, is an excellent shitheel. He manages suave gangster and simpering fuckwad on the turn of a dime. Cassel is one of the best actors on the planet to pull off characters like this: you hate him, and you pity him. Kirill has had cruelty beaten into him: his father is a vicious gangster who is ashamed at how ill-fit his own son is to lead the organization. This causes Kirill to act out and showboat a brand of exaggerated violence, always hoping that his father is looking on, approving. In short, Nikolai is quietly and confidently everything that Kirill desperately wants to be. Kirill needs him, and probably loves him, but hates him, too. Both Cassel and Mortensen are wonderful in these roles.
Props also, to Armin Mueller-Stahl as Semyon, the gangster patriarch. He knows when to turn on the kindly grandpa charm, but drops ice water into his veins whenever necessary. You understand why Anna trusts him. You also understand why Kirill fears him and wants so desperately for his approval.
By introducing us to this conceit, Cronenberg, and writer Steven Knight, offer us something different than the average mob movie. The vors work on a different wavelength than the traditional Italian mob, and they have their own rules and culture.
There is a scene where Nikolai must stand, stripped to his underwear, in front of a group of upper-level mob types while they read his body and pepper him with questions about his deeds. They must decide whether he is good enough to "get his stars:" a thief with eight-pointed stars on his clavicles and knees has an extremely high rank. This scene is fascinating and well-executed.
IV. A Different Spin
This section contains spoilers, so proceed with caution...I really liked that Nikolai, who is revealed to be an undercover cop, achieves his mission and the movie leaves us with him in a position of power. So often mob movies are about the corruption and destruction of a human life. In this movie, Nikolai saves a life, a baby, and abandons the out he is given by his superiors. He stays in. He assumes a position of power and control in that mob. I like that.
Nikolai is a hard man. He has done unspeakable things to get this far. The movie doesn't undercut his monstrousness by having him suddenly change his entire life. Sure, he is pricked by his conscious: he saves the hooker from the brothel, he helps the grandpa escape, and he saves the baby. But he is not pricked enough to abandon his mission. He does what he can, but the show must go on. His work is more important than a single life here or there. In order to fight monsters, we often need monsters. Nikolai is a monster. The film allows him to be, and I think that makes for a more interesting end than a straight-up Hollywood happily-ever-after.
V. Excellent Acting
Viggo Mortensen is great. This marks his second outing with David Cronenberg, after 2005's A History of Violence. Mortensen is a singular talent and works well with Cronenberg. His Nikolai is reasonable but willing to be brutal. Mortensen never appears to be play-acting at bad ass. His performance is assured and nuanced. Nikolai is a man who has had softness beaten out of him.Vincent Cassel, who plays Kirill, is an excellent shitheel. He manages suave gangster and simpering fuckwad on the turn of a dime. Cassel is one of the best actors on the planet to pull off characters like this: you hate him, and you pity him. Kirill has had cruelty beaten into him: his father is a vicious gangster who is ashamed at how ill-fit his own son is to lead the organization. This causes Kirill to act out and showboat a brand of exaggerated violence, always hoping that his father is looking on, approving. In short, Nikolai is quietly and confidently everything that Kirill desperately wants to be. Kirill needs him, and probably loves him, but hates him, too. Both Cassel and Mortensen are wonderful in these roles.
Props also, to Armin Mueller-Stahl as Semyon, the gangster patriarch. He knows when to turn on the kindly grandpa charm, but drops ice water into his veins whenever necessary. You understand why Anna trusts him. You also understand why Kirill fears him and wants so desperately for his approval.
VI. A Quick, Nasty Piece of Work
This film is 100 minutes long. It digs into characters and tells a compelling story without wasting the viewer's time. I appreciated that.
VII. Should You Watch It?
Miscellany
- None of the mobsters in this movie use guns. In his research, Cronenberg found that mobsters of this variety favor knives, as they are more easily explained away to police than firearms. These mobsters primarily use linoleum cutting knives. Indeed, the blades carried by the assassins in the bath are hooked linoleum knives.- Mortensen spent five days in Moscow and St. Petersberg, backpacking around without a translator, reading about prison tattoos and perfecting his Siberian accent.
- The naked fight was shot over two days, with the actual actors. No stunt doubles were used.
- There was a sequel in the works, but it has never materialized.
- Mortensen was nominated for an Oscar for his work as Nikolai (but lost out to Daniel Day-Lewis).
- The original ending had XXXX riding off into the sunset in a sports car. This was the ending that the studio wanted. Vaughn secretly filmed the sequence where Sidney shoots XXXX and, after it was well-received, inserted it into the film.
- J.J. Connolly wrote a sequel, Viva La Madness, and it was optioned as a TV show, starring Jason Stathem. I can't find much about the show, other than stories about its development, so I must assume that it either never made it past the pilot stage, or was unsuccessful. Sad.
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