Eastern Promises (2007)
Genre: Crime / Thriller
Duration: 100 minuten
Country:
United Kingdom / Canada / United States
Directed by: David Cronenberg
Stars: Viggo Mortensen, Naomi Watts and Vincent Cassel
IMDb score:
7,6 (269.702)
Releasedate: 14 September 2007
Eastern Promises plot
"Every sin leaves a mark."
Anna is an idealistic woman in whose arms a young Russian girl dies during childbirth. Anna knows nothing about the woman and her handbag is the only grip she has with regard to the woman's identity. Her search leads her deep into the world of the Russian mafia in London and its newest member: Nicolaï. Nicolaï is hired to make murdered opponents of the gang unrecognizable, and it turns out that a diary in the Russian handbag contains evidence against Nicolaï's boss.
Actors and actresses
Nikolai Luzhin
Anna Ivanovna Khitrova
Kirill
Semyon
Helen
Yuri
Stepan
Ekrem
Azim
Soyka
Reviews & comments
FlorisV
-
- 1741 messages
- 732 votes
Bought for next to nothing because I have a soft spot for Naomi Watts.
Good movie except for the incredibly weak, too fast and disappointing ending. I was hoping for a settlement with the mafia family. There was so much more potential in the story as Mortensen turned out to be undercover, why not roll up the whole gang. The ending suggests that Mortensen is "on top of things" after all, but they don't show it.
Excellent acting by Watts, who can appear very fragile and anxious and by Mortensen, who has learned to speak a nice word of Russian.
Here and there very typical Cronenberg with unnecessary gore that mars the rest of the beautifully shot film. A good, exciting atmosphere. Too bad, fifteen minutes more and you have a top film with a blistering climax instead of this weak drip. Now I'm stuck with a very tight enough due to the disappointment.
Translated from Dutch · View original
filmfan0511
-
- 1038 messages
- 1065 votes
Nice surprise. Eastern Promises is Cronenberg on the conventional track, with a more straightforward narrative than you'd ever expect from him, but it works wonderfully. And where the film may lack underlying ideas and deeper subtext, it is made up for by the fantastic character work. Because above all, this is a real character film, with a surprising amount of heart and soul. The (Russian) gangster milieu may be portrayed somewhat small and limited here, but the relationships between the various main characters are intriguing and therefore receive full attention. Great acting too. Viggo Mortensen is the beating heart of the film, but the ever fantastic Vincent Cassel also manages to put many dimensions into his role. Annoying, hateful, thoroughly bad. Or not? The scene with the baby at the end is a very beautiful and almost touching one here. Naomi Watts is my favorite actress so it's always nice to see her, but unfortunately her character wasn't the most interesting. More could have been done with her role. The ending is a bit simple and easy; Cronenberg is surprisingly optimistic here and positive too. Astonishing.
Fine and confidently directed for the rest, and there are enough touches in the film where you can clearly see Cronenberg's hand. The rather visceral and gory murders, for example; there are few directors who would portray this so uncompromisingly. I'm just thinking of the scene in the bathhouse; very brutal and visceral, and it almost physically hurts as a viewer. Something like this is very strong in direction and execution, and makes the film rise above similar crime films. 4*.
Translated from Dutch · View original
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