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A+ |
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| Story: |
A+ |
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| Acting: |
A+ |
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| Direction: |
A+ |
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| Visuals: |
A- |
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Crime and Punishment in Modern London
by Carlos (movies profile)
Nov 21, 2007
5
of
5 people found this review helpful
This is an excellent film, a complex and distinctive mystery about a criminal organization (Vory v Zakone) that has gained a foothold in cosmopolitan London. The back story is that of Tatiana, a teenage girl that dies giving birth after falling under the clutches of a Russian crime family headed by Semyon (Armin Mueller-Stahl). Anna (Naomi Watts) is a midwife that watches Tatiana die and takes an interest in her baby daughter. Nikolai (Viggo Mortensen) is a driver working for Semyon's son, Kirill (Cassel) -- he helps dispose of the body of a man Kirill has had killed. The dead girl has no identification, and Anna uses a diary, written in Russian, to try to trace her family, so they can have the baby. Anna does not read Russian, but a card in the diary leads her to the Trans Siberian restaurant and its owner, Semyon. When Anna mentions the dead girl's diary to Semyon he becomes very interested and offers to translate it. The diary contains information about Vory v Zakone and Semyon's criminal acts. Nikolai meets Anna during her first visit to the Trans Siberian restaurant and starts a tenuous relationship that grows gradually into a bond between the two. The contents of Tatiana's diary reveal how she was tricked into modern-day slavery by a far-flung post-Soviet eastern European crime syndicate. The rapidly unfolding plot has the secrets in Tatiana's diary, revenge-seeking mobsters, and Semyon's malice threaten Nikolai and Anna. They must find a way out, for not only their lives, but the baby's is at stake. Many scenes take place at night, and there is a violent darkness that surrounds Semyon and his organization, but the essence of the film, by showing that even dark hidden crimes do not go unpunished, is uplifting. The acting is superb throughout, Mortensen adeptly conveys the duality of Nikolai's character, and Watts is totally fetching and credible as a seeker of justice. There are some scenes of violence, this being a Cronenberg film, but the scenes illustrate the brutality of the code Semyon's organization lives by. Don't miss it! |
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