While also being a terrific and exciting gangster film in its own right, David Cronenberg's "Eastern Promises" is above all a profound human drama about integrity and courage. Naomi Watts plays a second-generation Russian immigrant in London who is confronted by a difficult moral dilemma. And so does the viewer, because unlike most films dealing with sensationalistic subjects such as forced prostitution, human trafficking and sexual exploitation, "Eastern Promises" doesn't manicheistically divide the world between "good" victims and "bad" villains. Instead, the victims are mostly passive (like in real life), while the real struggle occurs between our revulsion at oppression and injustice, and our fascination with the human evil. Rarely have we seen a more complex and fascinating gallery of ruthless gangsters who remain humane and attractive despite their unforgivable behaviour. They are members of the London chapter of the fearsome Russian mafia organization known as "Vory v zakone" ("Thieves in law") and they include such memorable figures as Semyon (Armin Mueller-Stahl), his son Kirill (Vincent Cassel) and his driver Nikolai (Viggo Mortensen). Sharply written, brilliantly directed and perfectly acted, "Eastern Promises" is David Cronenberg's best film.
