So Becca and I saw Cronenberg's recent film, Eastern Promises tonight. I LOVE Cronenberg's films, and having the opportunity to see his films in the theater is a delight. My father and I had seen A History of Violence when it came out, so I know that Cronenberg has been getting nothing but better in recent years; trading horror for brutal, honest drama (though one could argue that all his films fit this description, instead of mere horror). I went in with high expectations, knowing fully well that they'd be met, particularly with the stunning Viggo Mortensen and equally lovely Naomi Watts as the leads.

I was not disappointed.



What I got was a moving film with depth and layers; more and more coming up as more and more was peeled away. This is a film, reminiscent of The Godfather, which grabs ahold of your throat and your heart.

But who really blew me away? Vincent Cassel. Viggo and Naomi were superb, and the much talked about Viggo full-frontal nude fight more than delivered; but the French actor with the intriguing looks made an impression on me. I am only familiar with him in Derailed, the fact that he's married to Monica Bellucci and that his half-sister dates Gaspard Ulliel. Oh, and that all four of them hang out in an impossibly gorgeous group of Europeans, of course.

Vincent played Kirill, the thug son of gangster Semyon and close friend to their chauffuer, Nikolai(Mortensen). Kirill (as I have seen aptly compared to) is the Fredo of his family, a show-boating disappointment who prefers to drown his sorrows with alcohol, and no matter how much he abuses him, absolutely adores his father and tries constantly to please him. At times Kirill comes off as brutal and cold, but his heart is revealed when he is around the family's small children, and especially when he's with Nikolai.

Yes, that's right. Kirill is a gay Fredo.

With Nikolai, Kirill is open and vulnerable; but when he feels he must impress his father or when his affections are growing too obvious, he lashes out in macho bravado (even going so far as to demand to watch Nikolai have sex with a prostitute). Nikolai sees through him, but allows Kirill to grow affectionate with him, touching, groping, and nuzzling; patiently waiting out Kirill's outbursts, only to gently calm him afterwards. Nikolai knows full well that Kirill's love for him can be easily manipulated to topple his father, the powerful matriarch.

And perhaps Kirill knows this, but even he is powerless against his own emotions, as the film's climax shows. As much as he tries to demonstrate the opposite through physical violence and his posturing, Kirill is ruled by his heart.

Yes, yes, I greatly appreciate the site of two beautiful men together, but I ain't just imagining this so I can have something to file away for use when the urge to abuse the vagina arises. Cronenberg confirms it:

Cronenberg adds subversive touch to London crime thriller
by: Suzan Ayscough Sep 3, 2007
http://www.playbackmag.com/articles/magazine/20070903/cronenberg.html

Gala Presentation: Eastern Promises
Director: David Cronenberg
Writer: Steve Knight
Producers: Robert Lantos, Paul Webster
Cast: Viggo Mortensen, Naomi Watts, Vincent Cassel, Armin Mueller-Stahl
Distributor: Odeon Films
International Sales: Focus Features


David Cronenberg is an artist driven to explore the subversive side of human nature. So to say his latest crime thriller, Eastern Promises, is about the seedy, exotic Russian mob in London's underground is a surface-scratcher.

Cronenberg loves discussing the politics of film and human sexuality.

"I think human sexuality permeates everything," he confides to Playback during an editing break, "and human sexuality takes many forms, so it's not something where I would ever censor myself."

Cronenberg is referring to the recurring theme of homoeroticism in his work (from Stereo or Crimes of the Future through Dead Ringers, Naked Lunch and Crash) and how it affected his decision to make Eastern Promises.

In this story, the mysterious and charismatic Nikolai (Viggo Mortensen) is a driver for one of London's most notorious organized crime families, headed by Semyon (Armin Mueller-Stahl), whose charm masks the brutality of the entire family, enforced by Semyon's volatile son Kirill (Vincent Cassel), who is secretly in love with Nikolai.

"Their relationship came with the script," explains Cronenberg, who collaborated with writer Steve Knight on two rewrites. "And that was one of the interesting things that made me want to do this movie.

"It was sort of a gangster movie that subverted all the clichés and added some things you've maybe never seen before," he continues. "And one of them is that relationship between those two characters, because it's obvious that Kirill is in love with Nikolai, but could never admit it to himself, because, of course, in that underworld, to be gay is to be incredibly weak and incredibly vulnerable."

More:

It’s a very homoerotic film. And not just because of that scene. You have this cocooned, violent all-male society where everyone is jockeying for power. And I think the central relationship of the film is between Vincent Cassel’s character, Kirill, the real son of the mob leader, and Nikolai, the “adopted” son, who Kirill sees as a threat while at the same time being crazy in love with him and unable to admit it.

I discussed this with Vincent a lot, and he was completely ready to do this. He’s played gay characters before. At first, he was thinking that he would have to approach it that Nikolai is a father figure to him, which he partially is also. But then it morphed as we played it, and became very flirtatious. You can see how the Nikolai character is mercilessly manipulating him by using the sexuality to turn him on and off. And that was definitely in the script.

But by the end, there is something oddly tender about that relationship, because Nikolai seems to have pity for him.
Yes, it’s odd because it seems so real. And the Nikolai character is ultimately so mysterious that you don’t know if it’s pure manipulation or if there’s real compassion there. It’s hard to say.

Now let's ogle, shall we?


















I gotta see Eastern Promises again.