Eastern Promises (2007)

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

Director:

David Cronenberg

Writer:

Steven Knight (screenplay)

Stars:

Naomi Watts, Viggo Mortensen, Armin Mueller-Stahl

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 31 wins & 59 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Josef Altin	...	Ekrem
Mina E. Mina	...	Azim
Aleksandar Mikic	...	Soyka (as Aleksander Mikic)
Sarah-Jeanne Labrosse	...	Tatiana (as Sarah Jeanne Labrosse)
Lalita Ahmed	...	Customer
Badi Uzzaman	...	Chemist
Naomi Watts	...	Anna
Doña Croll	...	Nurse (as Dona Croll)
Raza Jaffrey	...	Doctor Aziz
Sinéad Cusack	...	Helen (as Sinead Cusack)
Jerzy Skolimowski	...	Stepan
Tatiana Maslany	...	Tatiana (voice)
Viggo Mortensen	...	Nikolai
Vincent Cassel	...	Kirill
Armin Mueller-Stahl	...	Semyon

Storyline

In London, the Russian pregnant teenager Tatiana arrives bleeding in a hospital, and the doctors save her baby only. The Russian descendant midwife Anna Khitrova finds Tatiana's diary written in Russian language in her belongings and decided to find her family to deliver the baby, she brings the diary home and ask her uncle Stepan to translate the document. Stepan refuses, but Anna finds a card of a restaurant owned by the Russian Semyon inside the diary and she visits the old man trying to find a lead to contact Tatiana's family. When she mentions the existence of the diary, Semyon immediately offers to translate the document. However, Stepan translates part of the diary and Anna discovers that Semyon and his sick son Kirill had raped Tatiana when she was fourteen years old and forced her to work as prostitute in a brothel of their own. Further, Semyon is the dangerous boss of the Russian mafia "Vory v Zakone", jeopardizing the safety of Anna and her family. Meanwhile, Semyon's ...

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Plot Keywords:

russian | diary | baby | midwife | criminal | 

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Taglines:

Every sin leaves a mark.

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Genres:

Crime | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

18A

Details

Official Sites:

Metropolitan Films [France] Official site

Country:

USA UK Canada

Language:

English Russian Turkish Ukrainian Urdu

Release Date:

14 September 2007 (Canada)

Also Known As:

Promesses de l'ombre

Filming Locations:

Broadway Market, Hackney, London, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

£25,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£623,491 (UK) (26 October 2007)

Gross:

£2,011,119 (UK) (16 November 2007)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Focus Features, BBC Films, Astral Media

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min 96 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

David Cronenberg:  [Music]  Howard Shore score

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Goofs

Tatiana has been on heroin according to the diary, and has had several shots recently, as can be seen on the needle marks. Therefore, the baby was addicted at birth and has to be treated with methadone or such. At 3 months of age, the baby should have the drugs out of his system. How much was in his system at birth depends on how soon before delivery the mother took drugs. The long term effects are dependent on the amount of drugs given to the mother especially if there was drug use in the first trimester. Many times there is a delay of several years before difficulties begin to appear, especially at school-age when learning difficulties become evident.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Azim: He says "Christmas." So I say to him,
[in Turkish]
Azim: "Should we go shopping?"
[English]
Azim: The kid's 16. He says, "But uncle, it's Christmas."

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Connections

Featured in 14th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards (2008)

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Soundtracks

Slavery and Suffering
Traditional Revolutionary Song
Arranged by Dimitri Oleg Yachinov
Performed by The Red Army Choir under the direction of B. Alexandrov
Courtesy of Silva Screen Records Ltd.
Under license from FGL Productions

User Reviews

Another masterpiece

Eastern Promises is a further proof David Cronenberg is one of the last classic film-makers left. At the same time, he is a modernist. The combination, in the dark London he created, is a moral tale which makes you think of Dostoievsky. It's a story of crime and redemption with an unusual (hidden) tenderness. At the same time, it is a very serious trip into the rites of a secret society as we can see more and more in our big cities. A criminal secret society.

Cronenberg (and his friend Peter Suschistky) have created another universe that seems another version of ours. As usual it is a mental one, but so close to what we call "reality" that it makes you uncomfortable and eventually horrified. The cast is fantastic and the script is brilliant.