Eastern Promises

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Eastern Promises

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Eastern Promises

Armin Mueller-Stahl, Naomi Watts, Sinead Cusack, Viggo Mortensen, Vincent Cassel

A Russian teenager living in London who dies during childbirth leaves clues to a midwife in her journal that that could tie her child to a rape involving a violent Russian mob family.

Id: 10889693

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Eastern Promises Recent Reviews
  • DrZeek
    November 30, 2009
    DrZeek
    Anna: So you've read the diary. How can you keep doing what you're doing?
    Nikolai Luzhin: I'm just a driver.

    Director David Cronenberg teams up again with Viggo Mortensen for this well made, well acted Russian mob crime drama set in London.

    There are really two stories he...( read more)re, which despite involving the same characters, really do not come together until nearing the end.

    The first story involves a pregnant girl dying in a hospital, but not before giving birth to her child. A nurse, Anna, played by Naomi Watts, discovers a Russian diary in the pregnant girl's purse, and decides to get it translated in order to see if there is any family for the baby to go to now.

    This leads her to a restaurant run by Semyon, played by Armin Mueller-Stahl. When Semyon is not managing the restaurant, he is doing his work as one of the big wheels in the Russian mob. Semyon's discovery of this diary makes him curious, while Watts only wants to find out the truth behind the dead girl's life.

    Anna's plot serves as a gateway into this Russian mob life and into the other plot, which involves Semyon's son, Kirill, played by Vincent Cassel, and a driver Nikolai, played by Mortensen. After Kirill does something he shouldn't under the nose of his father, Semyon is at the point where he needs to figure out what to do with his son, how to further business by helping along Nikolai, and what to do about other characters involved in the mob.

    Kirill: [about Nikolai] He is no driver, he is the undertaker.

    As the stories moves on, connections between the two become more and more apparent, before reaching a well wrapped up conclusion.

    Nikolai Luzhin: Anger is dangerous. It makes people do stupid things.

    The main strength of the movie lies in its performances. Watts is very good as a nurse, who has had trouble in her own past in relating to this situation, involving dead girl and her child. Cassel's Kirill is a well seen slimy character, who at one point forces another character to have sex with an underage girl in front of him, to prove that he is loyal. Mueller-Stahl is quietly evil as Semyon, who does very little physically, but is very imposing just because of his demeanor.

    Semyon: So, you know where I am...and now I know where you are, Anna Ivanovna.

    Mortensen truly shines as the mysterious driver Nikolai. He literally gives it his all for the character, absorbed by his accent, the look of him ranging from his many tattoos, to the tiny scars like the one above his lip, bringing all sorts of mannerisms to his character for the better. He is truly great throughout, and the way the story works to develop his character is pretty amazing.

    As a Cronenberg film, even as it is fairly accessible for most audiences, he still has the scenes that make this a Cronenberg film. I am referring to the brutal violence on display at times, including an amazing fight in a wash room, that is incredibly thrilling and painful to watch as one very vulnerable character does just about everything to survive. In addition, again true to Cronenberg films, Howard Shore provides a great score.

    On my first viewing of this feature, I seemed to have been less involved than I was for the additional viewings. I can easily say that I really love this movie. Its very lean, getting to the point, while still maintaining a tone comparable to other, more epic in scope, crime dramas. The story is very carefully setup to reveal the why of everything very late in the game, and while its certainly interesting to observe these characters, namely Nikolai, one the film shifts into its final 30 minutes, it really fits all the puzzle pieces exactly into place.

    By the end of the film, I was fully interested in seeing further installments of this film in order to see the further exploits of Mortensen's Nikolai, and the early rumors of plans for a sequel make me more than happy.

    A well acted, brutal crime drama.

    Nikolai: Forget any of this happened. Stay away from people like me.
  • lewiskendell
    October 16, 2009
    lewiskendell
    Eastern Promises is not a pleasant film. Imagine a darker version of A History of Violence with a heavy emphasis on the Russian mob. The plots of those two movies aren't similar, but the uncomfortable realism of them both is the common thread that binds them together. 

    I don't c...( read more)onsider myself squeamish, but Eastern Promises made me positively cringe at times. Not at any excessive violence or profanity, but because it immerses you in a story and a world that's quite possibly not very different from reality. It all seems so realistic, that it reminded me that these kind of events are the actual lives of real people out there. The quality of the acting is just that outstanding. 

    I can't say that I loved watching Eastern Promises, but I can say that it was a very good movie. Quality and enjoyment don't always go hand-in-hand. I recommend it to anyone who can appreciate a grim movie about a bleak world.  
  • SirPant
    October 1, 2009
    SirPant
    David Cronenburg back on form after the terrible History of Violence. Well acted and well shot. Thank fuck for that!
  • 76Majikat
    August 10, 2009
    76Majikat
    A gangster movie with a difference, it?s subtle, non-flashy, yet it includes all the vital ingredients and perfection of a top-notch Organised Crime film.

    Viggo Mortensen was brilliant in this role, the super-cool Russian ?driver? for the son of a crime family, is slick, smart...( read more) and undeniably cold. I?ve never really been blown away by Mortensen?s talents, but this role for me, showed that he can deliver an impressive performance. Cassel as always was great (and a little trivia here) took just a few weeks to learn conversational Russian for this role.

    The storyline is fairly simplistic and not too ambitious as far as films in this genre usually go, yet the result is a new angle with a big impact.

    This is my second viewing of this film and I was just as impressed second time around.
  • ladyp1964
    June 21, 2009
    ladyp1964
    I think I've been watching too much violence lately.... I seem to be enjoying it.

    Here you see the brutal inside workings of the Russian mafia.
  • pure388
    December 27, 2009
    pure388
    Viggo Mortensen was very impressive, the best thing about the movie actually..

    Not the most mind blowing plot but it was the good performances by the leads which really made this one for me..
  • ldycat2006
    December 25, 2009
    ldycat2006
    Slow moving at first then get to be OK. I can say I liked it, but not so much the naked fight scene, even though I do like Viggo, naked.
  • GreenGoblin92
    December 23, 2009
    GreenGoblin92
    Awful film. Awful ending. Awful characters (except for Naomi Watts' character).

    I actually thought History of Violence was OK, but this was just terrible. Would've been better if it was more about the diary and Naomi Watts investigating -- No Viggo or the other crazy dude, graph...( read more)ic violence and the sex/nudity. Though Viggo was good, but his character sucked.

    It's weird. A film like this would've had a graphic ending (since this film itself was quite violent), but its ending was similar to a PG rated movie. Hell, even some Disney movies ended that way -- "hahaha...I shall destroy your baby", but the baby is saved. LOL...How disney-ish for a brutal film like this.
  • hawkledge
    December 20, 2009
    hawkledge
    Masterful, absorbing crime thriller drama, a perfect storm of engrossing tension with a pervading sense of lingering dread, cinematographer Peter Suschitzky paints a vision of incredible evil, with virtuoso performances from each lead, an intense Naomi Watts, a fearless Viggo Mor...( read more)tensen fascinating, and Armin Mueller-Stahl riveting.
  • fm014
    December 16, 2009
    fm014
    Violent story with great cast.
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