Eastern Promises

I don't normally reach for David Cronenberg films.  Often dark and violent, his films require me to visit a specific frame of mind, and that's not always easy.

Actually, I have trouble going there most of the time.  I don't like walking away from a film feeling dead inside, and I seem to have labeled Eastern Promises as one of the films that leaves me devastated, even though I'm reminded tonight that such a label is inaccurate.  All things considered, Eastern Promises ends on an uplifting note, but if the film's content is any indication of what actually goes on in the world, and the kind of people who live out there, then I'm not sure I want to be reminded all that often, which makes me wonder why I even own the DVD at all.

I got a similar feeling after watching Stephen Frears' Dirty Pretty Things, his film about the black market human organ trade.  I love Stephen Frears' films, but I couldn't see myself watching Dirty Pretty Things again because I felt so devastated afterward.  I never picked up the film on DVD.  I probably won't watch the film again.

With Eastern Promises, though, I kept seeing the DVD in stores and I couldn't stop thinking about the film, most notably Viggo Mortensen's performance as the Russian mobster and Naomi Watts' underrated performance as Anna, the midwife who lost her own child.  I decided that I didn't feel quite the same with this one; despite the violence and shock, the story wouldn't let me go.  This is a solid piece of writing that ties up just enough, that shows just enough, that I want to go back from time to time.

Cronenberg's films often feature shocking violence and gore, but always seem to know where to put the line between "just enough" and "too much."  He does not shy away from graphic content, but his films are not just graphic for graphic's sake.  Though disquieting, I get the sense that every moment, every one of Cronenberg's choices, belongs in the film.

Supposedly, Cronenberg is making a sequel, with Viggo Mortensen returning to reprise his role as Nikolai.  I've seen several comments questioning why a sequel is necessary, and I don't understand why anybody would refuse such a thing.  Nikolai is a character worth reprising, and it's not like Naomi Watts took down the Russian mob.  There are stories left to tell, and I'm looking forward to seeing where Cronenberg and Mortensen go next.

Of course, I just might need to find the right frame of mind before I go.