Last night was the Opening Night Gala of the 51st London Film Festival. I was lucky enough to get tickets last week and the event was unbelievably exciting. "Eastern Promises", it has not yet been released in the United Kingdom, was the film. I saw Naomi Watts, Vincent Cassel, and David Cronenberg, who may be the classiest living director in person. Stephen Frears and Terry Gilliam were there as well, or so I'm told, but I didn't actually know this until I was reading the newspaper today. The screening took place at the Odeon Leicester Square (the picture above is the theatre although it is obviously not a recent photograph) and the whole red carpet (I got to walk on it) getup was all there. The staff had placed a small program, a bottle of water, and some excellent dark chocolate in each individual seat...which was a very cool touch. Before the film, Anthony Minghella, the Chair of the BFI as well as the Academy Award winning director of The English Patient, and Amanda Nevill, director of the BFI, did a short introduction before the film and then invited Robert Thomson, the Editor of The Times who bears an absolutely striking resemblance to "Ratatouille"'s Anton Ego, onto the stage and then he gave his two cents. Sandra Hepbron, Artistic Director of the LFF, then spoke for a couple minutes and then invited David Cronenberg onto the stage who then, once again, welcomed the producers as well as Vincent Cassel and Naomi Watts onto the stage (Mortensen was in the States filming). Cronenberg talked about the film--like I said, ultra classy and very witty--and then the film started (See review below).
I've got tickets for several other films that I have already mentioned and the next event I have tickets for, but not necessarily the next one I'll see, is Disney's newly buzzed "Enchanted" (weird choice for a film festival...tell me about it) with Amy Adams. I may be seeing Ang Lee's "Lust, Caution" the day I see "Enchanted".Eastern Promises: In Review
David Cronenberg's newest film, "Eastern Promises", opens with a scene that Sweeney Todd would watch in envy. This scene sets the mood of what will unfold to be one of the best mob movies in recent memory. This is a first class thriller and a very entertaining film. Setting the film in London is one of the film's main strengths. Cronenberg's vision of London is unlike any that has been seen by tourists or most people living in the city. This is a London where you must always be cautious of what is around the corner and if you don't watch out then you might find yourself without teeth, fingers, or toes and thrown in the Thames in a body bag. This new, and terrifying, London adds so much excitement to the film and really seems to become a character in the film as time goes by. The brilliant performances by Viggo Mortensen, Vincent Cassel, and Armin Mueller-Stahl, the fantastic direction by David Cronenberg, and the already mentioned London scenery make "Eastern Promises" one of the best films of the year.
Viggo Mortensen plays Nikolai, a mysterious chauffeur for one of the notorious families in the Russian mafia, the Vory V Zakone. Mortensen's intense performance is, indeed, the actor's best performance to date. It seems that whenever he teams up with David Cronenberg, that phrase is uttered. It is a very physical performance and also one that requires excellent delivery of Steven Knight's dialogue, which he does excellently. Armin Mueller-Stahl is Semyon, the head of the family that Nikolai drives for. Mueller-Stahl's work in this film is captivating. Although this point has been made by numerous reviews, his transitions between the family loving Grandfather and then the violent mob boss are what really make his performance. It is one of my favorite supporting works of the year and, as of now, probably my favorite. Vincent Cassel, best known to the English speaking world as François Toulour in "Ocean's Twelve" and "Ocean's Thirteen", plays Kirill, Semyon' son. Cassel delivers an extremely impressive performance that deserves serious Oscar buzz but will probably not gain it. While I think that Mueller-Stahl gives a better performance, Cassel is almost just as good. Just so she is not left out, Naomi Watts does a good job in this film but in her earlier scenes I was, simply put, not impressed. As the film went on, I started to enjoy her performance more but it really is just a solid performance and nothing else (I'm not saying that a solid performance is not a good thing, Watts definitely does a good job).
David Cronenberg's direction, however, is what impressed me the most. The infamous shower scene towards the last third of the film is one of the best directed scenes of the decade. Other notable directorial achievements in this film are all of Nikolai's character developing mannerisms (The best being when he puts a cigarette out on his tongue) and also Armin Mueller-Stahl's already mentioned transitions from good to bad. I can easily see this being my favorite directing job of the year but I don't think the Academy will go for it due to the extreme violence that the film has. Steven Knight's screenplay, while impressive, has some flaws. A lot of these flaws are earlier in the film, like some of Watts' acting, and are later redeemed but I still can't help but remember some of the little details that bugged me.
"Eastern Promises" is one of the year's best films and should be noted especially for the exceptional directorial work by David Cronenberg and also the superb acting by the ensemble. A-
Viggo Mortensen plays Nikolai, a mysterious chauffeur for one of the notorious families in the Russian mafia, the Vory V Zakone. Mortensen's intense performance is, indeed, the actor's best performance to date. It seems that whenever he teams up with David Cronenberg, that phrase is uttered. It is a very physical performance and also one that requires excellent delivery of Steven Knight's dialogue, which he does excellently. Armin Mueller-Stahl is Semyon, the head of the family that Nikolai drives for. Mueller-Stahl's work in this film is captivating. Although this point has been made by numerous reviews, his transitions between the family loving Grandfather and then the violent mob boss are what really make his performance. It is one of my favorite supporting works of the year and, as of now, probably my favorite. Vincent Cassel, best known to the English speaking world as François Toulour in "Ocean's Twelve" and "Ocean's Thirteen", plays Kirill, Semyon' son. Cassel delivers an extremely impressive performance that deserves serious Oscar buzz but will probably not gain it. While I think that Mueller-Stahl gives a better performance, Cassel is almost just as good. Just so she is not left out, Naomi Watts does a good job in this film but in her earlier scenes I was, simply put, not impressed. As the film went on, I started to enjoy her performance more but it really is just a solid performance and nothing else (I'm not saying that a solid performance is not a good thing, Watts definitely does a good job).
David Cronenberg's direction, however, is what impressed me the most. The infamous shower scene towards the last third of the film is one of the best directed scenes of the decade. Other notable directorial achievements in this film are all of Nikolai's character developing mannerisms (The best being when he puts a cigarette out on his tongue) and also Armin Mueller-Stahl's already mentioned transitions from good to bad. I can easily see this being my favorite directing job of the year but I don't think the Academy will go for it due to the extreme violence that the film has. Steven Knight's screenplay, while impressive, has some flaws. A lot of these flaws are earlier in the film, like some of Watts' acting, and are later redeemed but I still can't help but remember some of the little details that bugged me.
"Eastern Promises" is one of the year's best films and should be noted especially for the exceptional directorial work by David Cronenberg and also the superb acting by the ensemble. A-
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