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:

Josef Altin, Naomi Watts, Viggo Mortensen

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 27 wins & 43 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 | restaurant | 

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Taglines:

Every sin leaves a mark.

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Genres:

Crime | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong brutal and bloody violence, some graphic sexuality, language and nudity

Details

Official Sites:

Metropolitan Films [fr] Official site

Country:

USA UK Canada

Language:

English Russian Turkish Ukrainian Urdu

Release Date:

21 September 2007 (USA)

Also Known As:

Promesas del este

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

To prepare for his role, Viggo Mortensen traveled alone to Moscow, St. Petersburg and the Ural Mountain region of Siberia, where he spent five days driving around without a translator. He read books on the gangs of the vory v zakone (thieves in law), Russian prison culture and the importance of prison tattoos as criminal résumés, and perfected his character's Siberian accent and learned lines in Russian, Ukrainian and English. During filming, he used worry beads made in prison from melted-down plastic cigarette lighters and decorated his trailer with copies of Russian icons.

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Goofs

In the end credits, "Make up" is listed as "Maek up" at one point.

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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

Referenced in Who Wants to Be a Millionaire: Million Dollar Movie Week 4 (2010)

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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

Cronenberg delivers.

I know a gent that did police detective work in St Petersburg, Russia for a couple of years, mostly blackmarket stuff. One night over dinner he told me, "In St Petersburg everything is available. And you don't want to know what everything is". Eastern Promises has more than a little bit of 'everything'.

Some real edge of your seat moments in this instant classic. Set in dark wet, and noir London, Eastern Promises takes a look into a Russian Gangster mentality and culture with some scenes that will make both your skin crawl and your heart ache. This is one tough and nasty thriller. Not for the squeamish.

A twisted morality tale of family dynamics, gang loyalty and one possible way the Good Guys just might usurp the Bad. Every principal character etches a note that resonates true to the scale of the story. And its an excellent dark dark black hearted story full of places and people that you just hope this movie is as close as you ever get to them. Genuinely bad characters with such exquisite details that it doesn't feel like fiction.

Go see it. Pleasant nightmares!