Eastern Promises

Eastern Promises
by David Cronenberg (2007)

A fourteen-year-old girl dies shortly after giving birth to a baby girl.
Her identity is unknown, but thanks to a diary that the young girl had with her, midwife Anna Khitrova investigates her past, uncovering links to Russian organized crime.

Quote.

“𝘐𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘰 𝘨𝘪𝘢’ 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘰. 𝘚𝘰𝘯𝘰 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘪 𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘪. 𝘖𝘳𝘢 𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘪 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰.” (𝐍𝐢𝐤𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐢 𝐋𝐮𝐳𝐡𝐢𝐧)

Calm, reserved, and reliable.

His tattoos are like a map and show us how much, beyond a mysterious past, is enough to know: he has one for when he was in prison in Siberia after stealing, at the age of fifteen, spare parts from a government official’s car; another for the prison in Saint Petersburg where he spent a lot of time in isolation. This is Nikolai: the man that each of us would want by our side in any sticky situation. Because he doesn’t create problems; he solves them. Especially thanks to his coolness and his ability to “dismantle” both engines and people. He has a nice resume that allows him to work for one of the most famous Russian crime families in London. He can often be found in the company of Kirill, the wild and incompetent son of the boss, who spends his days getting drunk and visiting brothels. He gets along well enough with him so that there are no problems, even if he is aware that he is worth much more. Nikolai knows the ruthless laws of crime well, but his kind demeanor reveals a humanity hidden deep down, which occasionally comes to light. Because, after all, he knows that his main task is just to go forward, backward, right, and left. As he often repeats, he is just a driver.

Considerations.

Cronenberg paints a ruthless and clear picture of Russian organized crime and its atrocities, giving us at least a couple of memorable sequences. The body with its language becomes the center of the narrative (human trafficking, tattoos, violence, and prostitution) and prevails over the typical clichés found in gangster movies, which are based on rapid gunfire. Also, the midwife’s perspective used by the director to tell the story is decidedly unusual but brilliant. This is despite the contrary opinion of some critics. **The Promise of the Assassin** leaves us breathless as the plot unfolds and the answers come to light, especially the almost total lack of morality that hides behind a friendly facade. Viggo Mortensen is immense in conveying all the ambiguity of his character, and should be listened to in the original language to fully appreciate his skill in bending his speech to a Russian cadence. The rest of the cast is no less impressive, presenting a group of actors perfectly suited to their roles. **The Promise of the Assassin** is a dark, pitch-black, and above all, original film, destined for those who want to see a genre film that unfolds using not-so-conventional solutions.

---