Well it seemed like there was some devil doing everything in their power to prevent me from seeing the film. The week of its exclusive premiere I found myself working. Then I opted to see it in Springfield with the same person I saw History of Violence with but being from out of town we were unable to find the theater. So once poverty crept up I figured DVD would be the place for me. Well after about 7 weeks to the day it finally came in. Facets carries five copies of it and I *$$! you not I asked every time I went in there (which is about four days a week). However despite the built up anticipation and frustration it wasn't like I waited for years in this case. I found that the film rather expertly picked up where AHOV left off. After catching a little of AHOV on cable awhile back I started to think that that particular film might be one for the ages, one that gets better with age. Eastern Promises might be that as well. Cronenberg was exposing something larger in AHOV, something that spoke about America and its violent inclinations. Here violence is looked at in a different light. The question isn't whether violence is ever justified, but is it necessary? Mortensen's character almost takes a pacifist standpoint attacking pretty much only when attacked. Throughout the film he's the mediator, and few films have such a subtle but believable character arch. This isn't a film that has a great reveal that disrupts the narrative, because it is believable. When we first meet him he looks creepy and a little intimidating. However the relationship is set up to lead us to "hope" he's not quite a bad guy. 

The cast is great as an ensemble and it is interesting how someone from France, Germany, Poland, and England could all believably play Russians. I know nothing about the real Russian underworld so I can't comment on their research but human trafficking is just as prevalent here. There was a strip club close by that got busted awhile back for bringing in a bunch of Eastern Europeans and keeping them in squalid conditions, so clearly that problem isn't exactly exclusive to England. With Watts I felt a great deal of compassion for her character. I didn't think her attraction to Vigo was instant, in fact I thought she was rather put off by him, much the same way we were. She seemed creeped out a little and untrustworthy when he offered her a ride, but with a great deal of subtlety it seemed believable that she would warm up to him. I love the gradual nature of the whole film, because nothing really "explodes" here, it simply builds gradually, layering in a subtle way. 

Part of me is hoping Cronenberg will start writing again, because as great as this and AHOV might be I still think his best work came when he was at least co-scripting his films. Not to say that he didn't have a great deal of control over this project and didn't take some liberties with the script, but it doesn't seem wholly like one of his creations.