I've gone back to using stars for rating films. For my system, click here.
Eastern Promises David Cronenberg | 2007 | UK/Canada/USA -------------------------------------------------- A midwife follows up on the diary of a prostitute who died giving birth, and crosses paths with the Russian Mafia. -------------------------------------------------- Cronenberg needs to start writing his own material again - perhaps then his films will be as succinct but not as contrived as this. Knight's script, on the one hand, provides an ample basis for the thematic grounding which interests the director (primarily, sexuality as the means by which identity is constructed and maintained), but it's far too short and story-driven to be of any lasting impact. There's not a scene wasted, and it's very riveting at times thanks to a weighty central performance from Mortensen (Mueller-Stahl is good too, though Watts disappoints), but as a whole it seems economic to a fault; perhaps it's a sign of the director moving further into foreign territory (for him and us both), into a more subtle style of filmmaking, one wherein thematic fabrics are presented in more structurally accessible frameworks, which is fair enough, but for me it might take a few viewings to adapt (A History of Violence worked for me because I took it to be about the medium itself, and its silly finale was effective and convincing). The representation of violence is unusually problematic, too: never one to shy away from disturbing imagery, the violence here takes on an almost parodic tone; the opening scene brought gasps from the (full capacity) screening I attended, which does well in portraying the danger and indifference of the culture portrayed (a reason why the Turkish bath scene is so tense when it finally happens), but as for the throat-slashing scene in the graveyard, its persistence to shock - the victim makes sure to pull down his scarf and bare all - seems forced and unnecessary. As for the Turkish bath scene itself, though, it's Cronenberg's most memorable sequence in years, and one of the best action scenes in general, too: visceral, fleshy and genuinely thrilling.
