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Eastern Promises (2007) 7.7
Ratings:
7.7/10 from 136,870 users
Metascore: 82/100
Reviews: 371 user | 333 critic | 35 from Metacritic.com 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 CronenbergWriter:Steven Knight (screenplay) |
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Cast
| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Josef Altin | ... | ||
 |
Mina E. Mina | ... | |
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Aleksandar Mikic | ... |
Soyka
(as Aleksander Mikic)
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| Sarah-Jeanne Labrosse | ... |
Tatiana
(as Sarah Jeanne Labrosse)
|
|
|
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Lalita Ahmed | ... |
Customer
|
|
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Badi Uzzaman | ... |
Chemist
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| Naomi Watts | ... | ||
|
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Doña Croll | ... |
Nurse
(as Dona Croll)
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| Raza Jaffrey | ... |
Doctor Aziz
|
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| Sinéad Cusack | ... |
Helen
(as Sinead Cusack)
|
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| Jerzy Skolimowski | ... |
Stepan
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| Tatiana Maslany | ... |
Tatiana
(voice)
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| Viggo Mortensen | ... | ||
| Vincent Cassel | ... | ||
| Armin Mueller-Stahl | ... | ||
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Plot Summary
|
Plot Synopsis
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 ... Written by Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Taglines:
Every sin leaves a mark.Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)
Rated R for strong brutal and bloody violence, some graphic sexuality, language and nudity | See all certifications »Parents Guide:
View content advisory »
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Details
Release Date:
21 September 2007 (USA) See more »Also Known As:
Promesas del este See more »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
Show detailed
company contact information
on
IMDbPro »
Technical Specs
Runtime:
|Color:
ColorAspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1
Edit
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."
See more »
Did You Know?
Trivia
One day after shooting, Viggo Mortensen went to a pub without washing off his tattoos or even changing out of his costume. He claims that some of the patrons became very frightened of him, assuming he was a real member of Vory v Zakone. See more »Goofs
After Nikolai was excepted by the mafia bosses, he gets his stars tattooed. When he is in the public bath, the tattoos are completely healed. There was one day between these scenes. See more »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."
See more »
"Eastern Promises" will take your breath away, churn your stomach, and then leave you with memories of unforgettable characters as well as perplexing thoughts about good and evil. David Cronenberg's movie about Russian and Chechen mobsters clashing in London is more than violent - it is brutal, savage, shocking. But do not expect just an action film, exploiting blood and gore. After you shake off its terrific immediate impact (there is no way to think while watching it), you realize that "Eastern Promises" is also a kind of morality tale, complex and important.
Only after you hold your breath, cover your eyes, and get through the movie do you realize how "Eastern Promises" manages to contradict Friedrich Nietzsche effectively. The German philosopher's "Beyond Good and Evil" denied the possibility of a universal morality. Cronenberg's film says that ethics - without expectation of rewards, in this life or a possible other one - can prevail even in the depths of great evil. The "History of Violence" director continues his subtle, subtext theme of upholding Anne Frank's belief that "in spite of everything people are really good at heart," and he does so without a smidgen of sentimentality.
There is no goodness in evidence as Viggo Mortensen's scary Russian mobster does every bidding of Armin Mueller-Stahl's chilling godfather figure, ruling ruthlessly over a family, which includes his son, a monster out of control, played brilliantly by Vincent Cassel (son of Jean-Pierre Cassel).
During a pre-release press tour, Cronenberg spoke of his wish to present "provocative, juicy stories... with complexity... showing that all monsters are sentimental and have some kind of relationship to a moral compass." That is all true, but what makes "Eastern Promises" so appealing is that there is no pop psychology (or worse, pop philosophy) in or about it. The film hits you over the head with its magnificently written story (Steven Knight, of "Dirty Pretty Things"), not with a message.
The title, on one level, refers to promises made to young women in Russia, luring them to the West, where the Mob enslaves them as prostitutes. It is one of these drugged and brutalized women whose death opens the film, and brings an English nurse (Naomi Watts) into the story.
As a multitude of promises, threats and tragedies unfolds, you get the maximum out of "Eastern Promises" with minimum advance knowledge of its story. Initially, that is. When you return to see it again, it won't matter that you'll know how it ends, you will want to re-experience what is certain to become a classic film. ("Eastern Promises" was shown at the Toronto Festival last week, opened in San Francisco today, goes nationwide on Sept. 21.)