Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #169 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-02-25
• Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 97 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
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, Amazon.com

Vincent Cassel (left) and Viggo Mortensen (right).	Armin Mueller-Stahl.	Viggo Mortensen (left) and Naomi Watts (right)
Viggo Mortensen (left) and Naomi Watts (right).	Naomi Watts.	Armin Mueller-Stahl (left) and Naomi Watts (right).
Mina E. Mina (left), Vincent Cassel (center) and Viggo Mortensen (right).	Vincent Cassel.	Viggo Mortensen.

Synopsis
David Cronenberg and Viggo Mortensen follow up 2005's A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE with another joint effort in EASTERN PROMISES. The film takes place in rainswept London, with Mortensen effortlessly inhabiting the role of a chauffeur (named Nikolai) for the Russian Mafia. The stoic Nikolai works for restaurant owner and powerful Mafia kingpin Semyon (Armin Mueller-Stahl) and his out-of-control son Kirill (Vincent Cassel). Cronenberg adds a few generous splashes of blood-red to his otherwise deeply grey cinematic palette as the movie begins, then allows his central storyline to unfold. Midwife Anna (Naomi Watts) comes crashing into Nikolai's life after discovering the diary of a young Russian woman who dies while giving birth, and her dealings with Semyon, and a subsequent translation of the diary, provide some horrific discoveries. Anna soon finds herself floundering in an alien world full of brutal and bloody violence, and it's not long before her own life hangs perilously in the balance.
Fans of A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE will find much to enjoy here, as will longstanding Cronenberg fans who have stuck with the director since his early low-budget horror days. Plenty of themes, ideas, and obsessions that have run right through the director's body of work are present, and he appears to have found a very effective muse in Mortensen. The chief talking points of the film will almost certainly revolve around Mortensen's extended nude sequence and the graphic killings and fight sequences, but EASTERN PROMISES is a weighty piece of work that will undoubtedly attract fans of intelligent, well-crafted thrillers.

Customer Reviews

Bloody Russians
"Eastern Promises" is a menacing,violent film set in the underworld of the Russian Mafia in London.The film is very visceral and doesn't balk at showing the highly unsavoury and vicious lifestyle of the East European gangsters. A young midwife (Naomi Watts) gets drawn into the Mob scene after delivering a baby for a teenage Ukrainian girl who dies in childbirth.Her search for the next of kin leads her to a Russian restaurant which is the base for three leading gangsters and her life and that of her family gets placed in jeopardy by her having read the dead girl's diary. The highlight of the film is the interplay between the three Russians with excellent performances from Vince Cassell as the "godfather"'s drunken ,unstable son and heir and Viggo Mortensen as his taciturn ,mysterious sidekick. The acting and characterisation in the film is first rate and the film is gripping throughout. However the violence is quite disturbing and graphic , especially the barbaric scenes in a public baths.

bland,bland,bland
What a tragic waste of terrific acting talent. My biggest gripe is the misuse of Vincent Cassell whilst Mortensen hardly does anything interesting. This was a film getting rave reviews but i can't share the enthusiasm with something so dull. For me the funniest and most brutal scene of the film takes place during the bath scene but anyone who's seen borat may struggle to suppress their laughter. It's all a bit dull.

Eastern Promises
'Eastern Promises' is a film about a midwife who inadvertently become embroiled in the world of the Russian mafia in London. It has plenty of intrigue and a few plot twists and then sadly fizzles out at the end, leaving you feeling rather dissatisfied (hence the 3 stars). It could have delivered so much more and had plenty of scope for an additional twenty minutes or so to tie up loose ends and leave the viewer with a complete ending. In it's favour it has some pretty good performances from Vigo Mortensen and Naomi Watts, but it pays to be aware that there are some quite violent scenes in this film. If you're looking for a short film with enough of a storyline to keep you engaged and don't mind an ambiguous ending then this is the place to go, personally I was left feeling rather deflated and without a feeling of resolution.