Product Description
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Thriller set among the Russian mafia in London from Canadian
director David Cronenberg. Nikolai Luzhin (Viggo Mortensen) is a
driver for one of London's organized crime families who are part
of the notorious Vory V Zakone criminal brotherhood. The family
is headed by Semyon (Armin Mueller-Stahl), a cold and brutal man
who hides his true nature behind his public role as a charming
restaurateur and his volatile son and enforcer, Kirill (Vincent
Cassell), is Nikolai's closest friend. Nikolai's carefully
maintained existence is threatened when he meets Anna Khitrova
(Naomi Watts), a midwife at a North London hospital who has been
deeply affected by the plight of a teenager (Sarah-Jeanne
Labrosse) who died giving birth. The girl left behind a diary
written in Russian in which Anna seeks the answers to the baby's
lineage. By delving into the diary, Anna has accidentally
unleashed the full fury of the Vory. With Semyon and Kirill
closing ranks and Anna pressing her inquiries - Nikolai finds his
loyalties divided. Lives hang in the balance as a disturbing
chain of murder and revenge reverberates through the darkest
corners of both the family and London itself.
From .co.uk
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David Cronenberg's signature obsessions flower in Eastern
Promises, a stunning look at violence, responsibility, and skin.
Near Christmas time in London, a baby is born to a teenage
junkie--an event that leads a midwife (Naomi Watts) into the
world of the Russian mob. Central to this world is an ambitious
enforcer (Viggo Mortensen) who's lately buddied up with the
reckless son (Vincent Cassel) of a mob boss (Armin Mueller-Stahl,
doing his benign-sinister thing). Screenwriter Steve Knight also
wrote Dirty Pretty Things, and in some ways this is a companion
piece to that film, though utterly different in style. The plot
is classical to the point of being familiar, but Cronenberg
doesn't allow anything to become sentimental; he and his peerless
cinematographer Peter Suschitzky take a cool, controlled approach
to this story. Because of that, when the movie erupts in its
(relatively brief) violence, it's genuinely shocking. Cronenberg
really puts the viewer through it, as though to shame the easy
purveyors of pulp violence--nobody will cheer when the blood runs
in this film. Still, Eastern Promises has a furtive humour,
nicely conveyed in Viggo Mortensen's highly original performance.
Covered in tattoos, his body a scroll depicting his personal
history of violence, Mortensen conveys a subtle blend of resolve
and lost-ness. He's a true, haunting mystery man. --Robert
Horton, .com
Stills from Eastern Promises (click for larger image). Photos by
Peter ain.
Vincent Cassel (left) and Viggo Mortensen (right).
( https://images-eu.ssl-images-.com/images/G/01/dvd/focus/eastern/DF-00304R.jpg )
Armin Mueller-Stahl.
( https://images-eu.ssl-images-.com/G/01/dvd/focus/eastern/DF-06220.jpg )
Viggo Mortensen (left) and Naomi Watts (right)
( https://images-eu.ssl-images-.com/images/G/01/dvd/focus/eastern/DF-02028.jpg )
Viggo Mortensen (left) and Naomi Watts (right).
( https://images-eu.ssl-images-.com/images/G/01/dvd/focus/eastern/DF-02353.jpg )
Naomi Watts.
( https://images-eu.ssl-images-.com/images/G/01/dvd/focus/eastern/DF-03801.jpg )
Armin Mueller-Stahl (left) and Naomi Watts (right).
( https://images-eu.ssl-images-.com/images/G/01/dvd/focus/eastern/DF-04010R.jpg )
Mina E. Mina (left), Vincent Cassel (center) and Viggo Mortensen
(right).
( https://images-eu.ssl-images-.com/images/G/01/dvd/focus/eastern/DF-05705.jpg )
Vincent Cassel.
( https://images-eu.ssl-images-.com/images/G/01/dvd/focus/eastern/DF-00754R.jpg )
Viggo Mortensen.
( https://images-eu.ssl-images-.com/images/G/01/dvd/focus/eastern/DF-06838R.jpg )