Region: UK/US/Canada
Director: David Cronenberg
Starring: Naomi Watts (Anna), Viggo Mortensen (Nikolai), Armin Mueller-Stahl (Semyon), Vincent Cassel (Kirill)
watched Cronenberg's Eastern Promises, Although it is still quite attractive in general, no matter the plot or the characters, I always feel that it is not enough. It's like a group of fierce generals are making moves, but they only point to it.
The beginning of the movie is fierce and direct, bloody and gloomy, and the thrill of melee combat with cold weapons is very strong. Director Cronenberg emphasized that there is a special meaning to killing with a knife, and indeed, the killer must be close to the victim, and in the film it has a stronger impact. But like many suspense films, when the atmosphere gradually slowed down, it failed to properly whet the audience's appetite again or subvert audience expectations. By the end, it's fair to say that not many were unexpected.
There is one or two scenes that I believe will be talked about in the future, especially the scene where the killer Nikolai fights two killers in leather jackets with bare fists in the hammam. The blood and tattoos seem to merge into one, and some people may say " Violent pornography". It's a pity that although I watched this scene with trepidation, I never doubted the final outcome of this duel.
Although the characters in the film are mainly Russian immigrants from London, they are just borrowing a bridge, and the immigrant lives in it are just embellishments. As a suspense film, I can accept it. Dirty Pretty Things (2002), written by Steven Knight, is also a suspense film based on illegal immigrants living in London, but it focuses more on immigrant life.
Eastern Promises has a strong cast, with Naomi Watts as Nurse Anne, Armin Mueller-Stahl as the restaurateur, and Viggo Mortensen as Nikolai all doing well, while Vincent Cassel as Son is somewhat inexplicably exaggerated. The lineup is British/Australian, German, American/Danish, French, reflecting the immigrant city of London. It is a pity that although the actors are excellent, because of the plot setting, in the middle of the movie, as the plot develops in the expected direction, the behavior of the characters is also step-by-step, which somewhat weakens the character complexity of the characters.
Critic Mark Kermode was one of the few to give the film a thumbs up, in his opinion that the film needs to be watched alongside the director's predecessor The History of Violence (2005) to appreciate it. Maybe people who have seen The History of Violence will see this film differently than I did.
http://taohuawu.net/2007/10/31/eastern-promises/
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