Eastern Promises (2007)

Once again, Director David Cronenburg's work has managed to haunt me. A full week later, and I'm still breaking down Eastern Promises.

Mysterious Nikolai Luzhin (Viggo Mortensen) is 'just a driver' for one of London's most notorious organized crime families, the Voy V Zarkone. Armed with the diary (and baby) of a now deceased pregnant prostitute, midwife Anna Ivanova (Naomi Watts) stumbles blindly into this dangerous world peaking the interest Nikolai. When he learns Anna has uncovered incriminating evidence against his 'family', Nikolai steps up to protect his own.

While the plot is weak, the pairing of Cronenburg/Mortensen creates another intense character driven story that becomes an examination of human nature.

Viggo Mortensen is brilliant. In Nikolai he creates a fascinating Russian mobster with a history. Ruthless and enigmatic, the coiled cold brutality of Nikolai emanates from Mortensen. Here is a man with deadly secrets-- he's captivating. Naomi Watts stands in contrast, but is both vulnerable and tenacious all the way through. French actor Vincent Cassel as Kirill, is a true snake as heir to the Zarkone empire and stunning Armin Mueller-Stahl is Semyon, the devious patriarch and crime boss.

The brutality of the film is true to form-- essential to the story, creating an atmosphere in which to further our characters. At the same time, it doesn't feel reckless or gratuitous.

Vague in purpose, to reveal the detail behind the ends and outs of Eastern Promises would be to reveal the magic of Cronenburg. As I see it, the combination of characters and atmosphere created under Cronenburg's direction is an adults only masterpiece worth seeing.