Christopherson, Auteur Theory in Eastern Promises

When a British midwife (Naomi Campbell) unknowingly delves into the dark secrets of a Russian mafia family in London, she uncovers a world of rape, sex-trafficking, alcohol, drugs, murder, and lies.  While not a horror film (though I did watch some scenes with my hands over my eyes) David Cronenberg's 2007 film Eastern Promises features the trademark style of the director’s work.  His recurring focus on gore and to some extent bodily horror makes this film not one for the faint of heart. The means by which people die or are maimed in this film are calling cards of the director’s auteuristic style.

For instance, from the very beginning, the viewer is not spared any blood or gore. The first man to die, Soyka, (Aleksandar Mikic) has his jugular sawed as he bleeds out, instead of having his throat simply slit. Another director may have opted for something less sinister but not Cronenberg. The very next scene is of a young girl (Sarah-Jeanne Labrosse) beginning to gush blood after going into a complicated and ultimately fatal labor. More blood in this scene may have come across as unnecessary and gauche, but from experience Cronenberg has discovered just how far he can push audiences. From the beginning of Eastern Promises, he goes for the full effect of blood and gore and is unrelenting throughout the film.

Finally, there is the famed fight in the Turkish baths. In this scene, Nikolai (Viggo Mortensen) fatally injures two men sent to kill him in gruesome ways.  One man’s head is driven into the blade of knife. The other is stabbed in the eye after pulling the knife out of his chest with his bare hands. For Cronenberg, there are no tiny, clean bullet holes, but an emphasis is placed on gore, blood, and violence. 

Renaudin, Eastern Promises

Eastern Promises, directed by David Cronenberg, premiered in 2007 is a compelling story that utilizes and explicitly gives some insight into a very taboo and under publicized subject matter. The film addresses the abduction and use of European Young girls that are forced into prostitution. If violence begets realism then Eastern Promises is as real as it gets. Cronenberg’s taste for delivering imagery unlike any seen before is evident in this film mainly the fight scenes. In particular of those scenes, the bathhouse fight sequence transcends the realism of violence in films, as we know it. The bathhouse brawl is so intimidating and realistic that some reviewers described it as difficult to watch. Every punch, cut, crack, scream, and impalement is shocking in its intensity. Eastern Promises does a fantastic job incorporating intricate details to establish the level of realism. The film uses realism to divulge the little known and violent lifestyle of the Russian mafia.

Fossier, Realism in Eastern Promises

Eastern Promises (2007)
is a crime
thriller film directed by David Cronenberg. The film, though praised for its
sense of realism, follows a trademark of Cronenbergs films. For example, the
scene with the 14 year old giving birth is related to Cronenberg’s fascination
with disease. In fact, “While Eastern Promises received some mixed
reviews, most reviewers and critics recognized the hand of David Cronenberg,
the director, in the film.” I haven’t seen enough of Cronenberg’s films to
comment personally, but that statistic coupled with the definition of Auteur
theory – the theory that holds that a film reflects the director’s personal
creative vision- makes me categorize this film in the “Auteur” file.
However, viewing cinema as an “extension of
photography” to chronicle the world around us, I would argue that this film is
based in the Realism theory. While some fans can pinpoint specific
characteristics of Cronenberg’s films in this one, the main attempt is at
realism. “While there are many formalist photographers, cinematographers, and
directors, most films do not try to manipulate reality too much.” The scene in
which the history of Russian tattoos is explained (30:00) is quite accurate,
and going from our notes on the movie I would say that Cronenberg’s influence
isn’t enough to overcome the realism of the movie.
As a final resolution of this film being a Realistic
film in terms of its approach to engage audiences, the scene in which Nikolai
Luzhin (Viggo Mortensen), Russian mob boss Semyon’s (Armin Mueller-Stahl)
driver must fornicate with “of these bitches” in order to prove himself. The
scene is not over stylized in anyway to indicate obvious autuership and is
accurate of the Russian attitudes and customs regarding homosexuals.
Though traces of Cronenberg’s presence can be seen in
this film, that can be said of any director’s body of work when scrutinized to
deeply. As our notes say, most films try not to stay from obvious reality too
much, and in the case of Eastern Promises
I do not think Cronenberg’s influences overshadow the realism intent of this
film.

Runzel Realism in Eastern Promises

Eastern Promises, directed by David Cronenberg, follows the story of A British nurse played by Naomi Watts and her struggle to rectify the death of a young Russian girl who left her child motherless. Viggo Mortensen takes the role of Nikolai Luzhin, a driver for Kirill (Vincent Cassel) the son of a leader of the Russian mob. The twisted interworking of organized crime is realistically portrayed.  The movie has a strong intertwined plot while still holding true to its realistic ideas. Even in the fight scene in the bathhouses Nikolai is almost killed and most go to the hospital unlike most action scenes where the hero escapes virtually unscathed. David Cronenberg’s Character Kirill, the son of Semyon (Russian mafia boss) is struggling with strong internal conflicts. There are several hints that Kirill struggles with his sexuality as well as his own self-respect. Cronenberg does an incredible job realistically portraying Kirill through his actions in the film. Kirill forces Nikolai to have sex with one of his father’s prostitutes while he watches to “prove he is not a fairy”. Nikolai in response calls Kirill a psycho but must obey. When Simon betrays Nikolai the fight scene is gruesome and realistic after when Kirill is told to kill the child there are no sensationalisms in the way it is filmed. Kirill is in tears not wanting to kill the child he says, “it is just a baby papa…” speaking to himself. Cronenberg is an expect and portraying human emotion he uses everything from natural light and setting to realistic character portrayal to build a single cohesive realistic plot line. 

Muller, Eastern Promises

Eastern Promises(2007), directed by David Cronenberg, is a film about three separate groups of Russian immigrants integrate themselves into the western culture of London. One group, Anna (Naomi Watts) and her family, live simple lives and an honest living. Another, Tatiana (Sarah-Jeanne Labrosse) , a young girl who became part of a human trafficking/ensalvement ring of the Russian mafia. Lastly, the Russian mafia, who smuggle women, liquor, etc and who are driven by violence, power and extravagant living. Cronenberg's films often involve the idea of the horror involved caused by mutation. In this film the mutation is the act of extreme violence of the mafia against one another and others that get in the way.

The realistic application of the plots of the different groups of immigrants and how their story lines intertwine is very likely in the real world. Immigrants of the same nationality often cross paths due to the tight nit communities that they often live within.

The first scene shown is realistic in both the lighting, scenery, and character proxemics. The two characters barely know each other and the viewer can sense the uneasiness that Anna feels towards Nicolai (Viggo Mortensen). They however quickly make associations with the motorcycle and Russian roots. The interactions between the two are portrayed realistically.

The second scene links the three different groups portrayed in the film: the Russian mafia, the young Russian girl who was raped (portrayed through her baby), and Anna the midwife. This scene combines many dynamics and makes the connections between all the characters real and concrete. The viewer sees the mafia king in a transparent light as he frankly threatens both Anna and the baby and with the realistic use of the lighting of the dim hospital it makes the viewer feel the innocence of the cild, the vulnerability Anna has created by visiting the Russian restaurant owner, and the invincibility that the mafia king thinks that he possesses.

The third scene shown is when Nicolai is being examined by the leaders of the mafia group. Here the viewer sees a demonstration of how a member of the Russian mafia has tattoos covering his body that tell a man's story. From his tattoos, the men were able to see that he was incarcerated among other things. Nicolai denounces his mom as a whore and that he has no father because he had a job supporting the government. This is a realistic testament to the entrance of a man into the mafia. The mafia is now his family and he receives his stars over his heart and on his knees.

Cronenberg did a very good job of displaying the elements of the Russian immigration both good and bad in the western world.

Innella, Eastern Promises

David Cronenburg's Eastern Promises tells a sad story about a young girl who was taken as a sex slave by the russian mafia and was impregnated. She is forced to consume heroine and then dies; however, her baby survives. When a midwife named Anna helps birth the baby, she becomes connected to the baby. She took the girl's journal when she was brought into the hospital and brings it to a russian restaurant to have the owner translate it. She does not know that the owner of the hospital is the mafia boss and soon becomes involved with another man who is an undercover agent and has become part of the mafia.

The film has many realistic aspects and there are a few scenes that really exemplify this. One of the scenes is near the beginning of the film where the pregnant girl, Tatiana goes into a pharmacy asking for help. She is in what looks to be a nightgown and she is dirty and wet from being outside in the rain. She looks very sick and she is bleeding from under her gown. She then faints and ends up dying. This scene shows the realistic aspect of the film by showcasing the horrifying realities of the mafia.

Another scene that shows the realistic aspect of the mafia is the scene in which Kiril, the "prince" of the mafia forces the undercover agent, Nikolai, to have sex with one of the girls that the mafia has taken to use as their sex slaves. He does this because he says Nikolai has to prove that he is not homosexual. Kiril refers to the girls as his father's "stable" and then watches as Nikolai picks a girl and has sex with her. After Nikolai has sex with her, he makes Kiril leave the room and he gives the girl money to run away from the mafia. This scene shows the total disregard to human life that the mafia has and their barbaric ways.

A similar portrayal of disregard occurs when the mafia boss discovers that Anna's uncle has read Tatiana's journal. When he finds this out, he sends Nikolai to go kill him because he "knows too much". The viewer does not know what happens to Anna's uncle until Anna confronts Nikolai and he tells her that he paid for him to have a first class flight to Scotland where he is staying in a hotel for his safety. Despite the fact that Nikolai saved Anna's uncle, the demand of the boss shows the reality that the mafia will stop at nothing to continue their operations.

Eastern Promises is a frightening portrayal of the way of life of the mafia and the actions that they take in order to stay alive.

Otto, Auteur Theory in Eastern Promises

Director David Cronenberg’s Eastern Promises(2007) is about a a young girl, forced to be a sex slave, a family attempting to adapt to a new home, and a violent Russian mob family trying to keep secrets from both each other and the rest of the world. This film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role, as well as many other awards, many of which were won. Starring Viggo Mortensen, Naomi Watts and Armin Mueller-Stahl, Cronenberg’s film speaks to the violence of the mob and what people will do to protect their family, as well as how characters can change and develop. Like other film’s of Cronenberg’s, this film was shot to be realistic, and at times quite violent and gory, showing the wounds inflicted on others and filming the death of those who have had too much. David Cronenberg seems to have a specific style in his methods of directing a film, and in all of them, the auteur is easily recognizable through the bodily pain that character display, not only through their development, but on their bodies as well.

The first shot shows Nikolai(Mortensen) crawling on the floor of a bath house, a place where he was betrayed and almost killed. He fights his way, naked, to defeat two men who come in to murder him. It is also important to note the tattoos which he has all over his body. These tattoos tell the story of his life, and as it is explained in the film, if one has no tattoos, one does does exist, one does not have a past. With blood all over from being cut multiple times, Nikolai ends up in a hospital, very weak from his latest endeavor to protect himself from the Russian mob family with whom he had recently become familiar with. This shot emphasizes Cronenberg’s realistic style, as well as his knack for making scene look as though a massacre has taken place. Even with just the bathroom scene, the mise en scene speaks loudly of the work of Cronenberg.

The second and third shots demonstrate much of the same, with fingers being cut off, a thing which would often be cut out, not shown on film, yet here is a close-up shot and the sounds of the bone breaking as the man performing the action struggles to break it off, as well as the blood flowing from the man’s neck, who is murdered because he was thought to have been sharing secrets with others. These three shots all share a common factor of blood, violence, pain, and human mutilation. The man whose finger tips are being removed is the same man who was murdered by the young boy, a boy was was essentially forced to kill, and in return is murdered himself because of his actions. This is another theme that runs through the films of Cronenberg, the idea of betrayal and lies, and the pain and suffering one endures because of others, both mentally and physically.

Cronenberg’s auteur style, violent and bloody, says something about human nature and his realistic style of death and human destruction, as well as character growth is so distinct that many can see his films and know his work. There were good and bad reviews regarding this film, but all were able to recognize the bloody work of Cronenberg.