Cast: Viggo Mortensen, Naomi Watts, Vincent Cassel and Armin Mueller Stahl
Directed by David Conenberg
Script by Steve Knight
Director Conenberg comes together with Steve Knight with a russian mob thriller that easily finds its way into the list of top movies of the year 2007. It even has a scene that will not be forgotten for a long time. Yet it is not the masterpiece....why...read on...
Anna (Naomi Watts) is a midwife at a London hospital and has just delivered a baby though the mother passes away. With the mother's diary written in Russian, Anna tries to find the relatives of the girl. The diary leads her to a restaurant owner Semyon (Armin Mueller Stahl). Anna also meets the boss' son (Vincent Cassel) and the chauffeur Nikolai (Viggo Mortenson). The friendly Semyon offers to translate the book for her, inspite of Anna coming from a Russian background.
However soon Anna realises, on learning the details of the diary, that these people are not exactly what they seem. She realises that she has dipped her fingers into the murky world of the Russian mafia. And the baby's life is no longer safe.
As more light is thrown into Semyon's world, we see a more distinctive picture of the chauffeur Nokolai who is sent out to clean up the dirty works of his master.
Though Viggo Mortenson is supposed to be the main star, the truth is that he is saved by the immense screen presence that he has. If not, his was a much restrained act until the final few reels and could have easily been over shadowed by the supporting cast. For that is because you have really good performances dished out by Cassel as the queer son and Naomi Watts as Anna. And what authority does Mueller Stahl demands with his act.
As far as the film is concerned, this is the second time this season someone is trying to keep a baby alive while a mob tries to kill it. If you want a fun version, you can catch Shoot Em up but this is a more grim one.
And grim is what we expect from Cronenberg who shall always be remembered for his The History of Violence flick. And if graphic violence is his forte, he clearly shows that to us in the first few reels itself. So people who do not have an appetite for the gore, may stay away. However after then it settles down to the crime drama territory but we are then treated to a classic fight sequence in the stream room as Mortenson battles it out with a couple of thugs totally nude. Yeah, this is the live version of what you saw in Beowulf however without the camera gimmick.
Surely the biggest flaw of the film is its ending. It just does not end the way you expect it. You would believe that an additional ten minutes is coming your way, but it never does. Things are certainly not wrapped up and thus stops right when you think you are getting a wholesome experience.
Kudos to the technical team, without a doubt. Be it Ronald Sanders' editing, Peter Suschitzky's cinematography or Howard Shore's score - all contributes wonderfully to the end product. So there you have, a dark mob thriller that is good, but could have been much better if it actually had an 'ending'!
MoviemagiK rates it 3.5 outta 5
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