Eastern Promises HD DVD Review

[Wayde]

Director: David Cronenberg
Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Naomi Watts, Vincent Cassel, Armin Mueller-Stahl
Studio: Universal
Media Release Date: Dec. 28,2007

Aspect Ratio(s) 1.85:1
Audio Formats
English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 Surround
English Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 Surround
French Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 Surround
Subtitles/Captions
English SDH
French Subtitles


Movie

I will not spoil any of the surprises in Eastern Promises, and if you’re thinking of seeing this movie you’d do well to avoid reviews that do.

Eastern Promises explores the world of the Russian mob in London, England through the point of view of a midwife of Russian descent named Anna Khitrova (Naomi Watts).

We’re first introduced to the Russian mafia through seemingly unrelated scenes, starting with a grisly execution. Then, a pregnant young woman arrives bleeding at drug store and collapses in front of the pharmacist.

The unfortunate child birth scene that follows is pure Cronenberg; he has a way of capturing human pain through glistening bodily fluids that’s simple yet effective. The doctors are able to save the baby but not her mother. Anna finds a diary on the deceased mother and takes it home, hoping to have it translated from Russian so she can track down the baby’s surviving family.

Hitchcockian tension begins early in the film as we realize Anna unwittingly seeks translation from a dangerous mob patriarch, whose terrible secrets may hide within the pages of this girl’s diary.

The story moves forward as a tightly woven dark subculture dealing in human slave trade, drugs and murder begins to emerge.

The casting in this film is masterful - we don’t just get a bunch of English actors with fake Russian accents. Instead, the actors seem to immerse themselves into their roles and at times speak in Russian.

Viggo Mortensen plays a driver/bodyguard with ambitions of ascending in this sub-culture, and his brilliant performance lights up this movie. Mortensen disappears into this role so completely that some have said you might not even recognize him.

Until now I’ve never considered Mortensen’s name among the short list of truly dedicated actors who have visibly suffered to bring life to their characters. The already-legendary naked fight scene brings a new level of ugliness and pain to on-screen violence. Cronenberg and Mortensen give us a fight that is anything but thrilling. It’s grotesque and uncomfortable to witness. But it’s brilliant!

David Cronenberg

David Cronenberg is a film director who made his mark in the ’70s doing gross-out horror movies. What set him apart from the average slasher-filmmaker is that his interest always lay in the psychological rather than simply in glorifying gore. One could say he elevated gore to an art-form in a very different way from but not unlike the horror films of Dario Argento.

Cronenberg, a Canadian director, has truly advanced his art. His earlier films, from Shivers to Existenz, seemed to revel in morbidity, almost guaranteeing his audience would remain only a few dedicated rabid fans.

Cronenberg has since learned to use nuance and subtlety to reach out to more mainstream audiences. But that’s not to say he’s sold out - he still plies the trade of exploring the recesses of our fears. But now he does so in a way that seems to subvert the viewer without knowing.

Video

1.85:1/1080p/VC-1
Universal has made a lot of strong high-definition video presentations with the HD DVD format, but none better than Eastern Promises. This film will never be known for visual eye candy and special effects - its scenes are mainly indoors or on the rainy streets of London - but the amazing VC-1 transfer flesh tone and color palette is represented perfectly.

Darkened city streets are a constant in this film, and it does an impeccable job of displaying many shades of black and shadows.

Audio

Dolby TrueHD 5.1
Dolby Digital Plus 5.1
There isn’t much shooting for a movie with so many gangsters. Come to think of it, I don’t remember any gunplay scenes at all. But the audio is well balanced and effective. The dialogue is always crisp and audible. The soundtrack shifts effortlessly to environmental sound effects and musical score without any element overpowering the other.

This isn’t the kind of soundtrack that will rivet you to your seat or test your sound system. But it does a more than amicable job.

Surround-sound effects are subtle, and the subwoofer will rarely be used. I had to listen to the Dolby Digital Plus soundtrack because my player only does TrueHD in two channels. I started the film in TrueHD just to get the feel for the high resolution sound quality. The TrueHD soundtrack didn’t seem much different from the Dolby Digital Plus, but it could have been the material. It’s a nice option to throw on a TrueHD track and maybe someday I’ll be able to take better advantage of it with my Samsung BD-UP5000.

Special Features

Web Enabled features: Trailers for other Universal releases.

Secrets and Stories: 10:30. It’s a featurette with cast and crew interviews. It’s the typical promotional stuff where everyone talks about how brilliant everyone else is.

Marked for Life (6:41) It’s shown in the same manner as the first vignette and might have been put together from scenes originally intended for Secrets and Stories. But this one is far more interesting, chronicling the tattoo culture of the Russian mafia. Mortensen and Cronenberg talk in great detail about what the tattoos mean and how they’re applied to look aged on Mortensen’s body.

Overall

The film may be unflinching, bloody and violent, but it’s a thriller that masterfully builds an understated tension. Cronenberg treats the subject with a surprisingly delicate hand. I found the story really came down to one woman’s determination to save a baby. It contained themes of finding one’s roots, family, loyalty and most strongly, the ends one might endure to build a better life.

I have only seen it once but I know I will have to see it again. It lacks the kinds of special features that makes me really want to own the movie but it's definitely one to put on your rent list.

[Hakka]

Its quite violent but definately worth a look. That naked fight was nasty.

Hakka.

[Sonnie]

I watch this movie and wasn't too impressed... actually got somewhat bored during the movie. It was on the rougher side no doubt.

[Wayde]

It's definitely not for everyone. I think it'll have a hard time gaining mainstream acceptance because it "looks" like a crime drama or an action film - but it turns out to be neither.