Eastern Promises

I have been thinking some more about Eastern Promises which we watched last night and was one of my Christmas presents from Beth. It stars Viggo Mortensen¹ and is directed by David Cronenberg and without both of them I think it would just be a rather bloody little thriller of no great consequence.

It certainly is bloody. The BBFC 18 rating notes "contains strong bloody violence". They're not joking: it includes two throat cutting scenes each vividly shown on screen and a brutal fight in a bath house involving a naked Mortensen which I'm not even going to start to describe.

It is a strong cast but what makes the movie is Mortensen. Watching the way he stands, the way he looks at things, and the way he moves is a real pleasure. He is a truly superb actor completely inhabiting the character he's creating.

So I strongly recommend it, although for the squeamish (like Beth and me) you may need to look away on a couple of occasions.

Oh, and yes, you do get to see all of Mortensen in that bath house ...