Review: ‘Promises’ shows gruesome truth of mob

Directed by: David Cronenberg

Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Naomi Watts, Vincent Cassel, Armin Mueller-Stahl

Rated: R

Director David Cronenberg began his career with stylized fantasy/horror films such as “The Brood,” “Scanners” and “Videodrome.” He stepped more into the mainstream, while staying true to his creepy roots, with “Dead Ringers,” he tackled what many people thought was the unfilmable William Burroughs novel “Naked Lunch,” and finally he achieved mainstream success with 2005’s highly acclaimed “A History of Violence.” That film was nominated for a number of awards including two Oscars, and it elevated Cronenberg’s status as a director.

He returns – with “A History of Violence” star Viggo Mortensen – with a perfectly crafted (albeit violent and, in some spots, downright gruesome) film, “Eastern Promises.” The plot and character development in the film are truly rich, and the film works on a number of levels. The milieu in which it’s set is at once familiar and foreign.

There have been countless films (and most recently a hit TV series) about the American “mafia.” Japanese “yakuza” films, while not as well known in the United States, have been hugely popular in Japan since the late 1940s. English gangster life has been explored in films such as “Get Carter” (the original), “The Krays” and “Snatch.” There was a character in the latter film, a very, very bad guy who was purportedly a member of a London branch of the Russian version of the mafia. There aren’t many films that have touched on the subject, but it’s this gangster group that is at the center of Cronenberg’s film.

Robert L. Friedman, author of the book “Red Mafiya: How the Russian Mob Has Invaded America,” states matter-of-factly, “Italian organized crime in America is a pimple on a horse’s (behind) compared with Russian organized crime in America – and globally.”

The film opens with a visceral scene of violence. This scene and a number of others are up close and personal. It’s much more real than the cartoonish havoc seen in recent films like “Live Free or Die Hard,” et al.

The action then switches to a London hospital where Anna Khitrova (Naomi Watts) tends to a young Russian girl who dies giving birth. The baby lives, and Anna takes the mother’s diary to her Russian uncle for translation in hopes of uncovering some clue as to the girl’s relatives. Her uncle refuses, which leads Anna to seek help elsewhere. She finds a business card in the diary for a London-based Russian restaurant. The owner, Semyon (Armin Mueller-Stahl), seems friendly enough and offers to translate. Little does Anna know, Semyon is the “godfather” of the Russian mafia in London and she has set upon a path that threatens her life, the life of the baby and several other ancillary participants. The scruples of the Russian mob make the characters in “The Godfather” and “The Sopranos” seem like Boy Scouts.

Semyon’s son Kirill is a drunken, power-crazed sadist, and his main underling is the chauffeur, Nikolai, played by Mortensen. It’s through Nikolai we learn about the significance of the tattoos that cover most Russian hood’s bodies. The tattoos are indelibly inked history of the person’s life. And Nikolai has a lengthy biography. The tattoo angle plays an important role in two of the film’s major twists.

Anna begins to suspect there is more to Semyon than she first understood. Nikolai, on the other hand, seems like a decent enough fellow. Decent, but he’d still cut off your fingers and pull your teeth; both of which he does to a corpse in the film.

There are many surprises (none of which are telegraphed) in the film – and the bath house scene will be a piece of filmmaking that, like the shower scene in “Psycho,” will still have movie buffs excited decades from now.

“Eastern Promises” ranks with Cronenberg’s finest work. It’s taut and original but be forewarned: There are a few sex scenes, some other nudity, language you’d expect from characters such as these, and a lot of very real-looking acts of violence shot with an unflinching camera eye.

Jim Wunderle owns Wunderle Sound Services and is a Springfield freelance writer and musician. He can be reached at info@wunderlesound.com.