Eastern Promises
2007 Directed by David Cronenberg
Synopsis
Every sin leaves a mark.
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.
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The naked knife fight in the Sauna will stay with me forever.
For me this is one of Cronenberg's best. In his double bill of exploring the world of violence, I prefer this one over A History of Violence. It is not often that Cronenberg allows any kind of absolution in his films, but here he does and it works beautifully. It is of course carried by an absolutely stunning performance by Mortensen. Without a central performance like that and fantastic support around him (especially Cassel) a film like this could have turned into nothing more than a generic crime thriller. This is not the case of course as Cronenberg once again shows what a skilled filmmaker he really is.
I really like Cronenberg the realist, he makes for some fascinating viewing.
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Film #3 of The Caker Baker's 30 Countries project
Country: Canada
Russians are just scary fuckin' people.
If you're not totally convinced yet that Viggo Mortensen is one of the greatest actors of our time, watch Eastern Promises.
Mortensen is a revelation.
Naomi was fine, but Viggo, oh my god, he just owns the movie.
Though it kind of comes apart in the second half, it's one hell of a story, a harsh, unforgiving story, but a terrific story all the same.
The ending kind of sucked. Totally anticlimatic.
Can I just say again that Russians are scary fuckin' people?
And that scene in the bathhouse...I'll just say that I'm not likely to forget it.
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This is one of the more brutal films I've seen. It's dark, depressing and not for a moment dull. A young girl dies giving birth to a baby which was a product of a rape. When a midwife begins to track down the girls family she discovers that the rapist was a large figure in a dangerous Russian gang in London.
This film is very realistic, painfully so. It shows the most disturbing and gut-wrenching sides of humanity. The dark subject matter is accompanied nicely with some of the most gory and grotesque violence I've seen in a very long time. Cronenberg has a way of making violence even more unattractive than it is or as you'd imagine it to…
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Every single character in this movie other than the ivanovna family did not seem to have a heart. So I did not care about anyone or anything that was going on. But then BOOM. Came the revelation, about who Viggo Mortensen really was. Then the jigsaw puzzle that Mr.Cronenberg was putting together was seen!!
A powerful film, with a heavy duty performance from Viggo Mortensen and when Cronenberg is behind it there is little that can go wrong.
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This review reportedly contains spoilers. I can handle the truth.
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David Cronenberg has the biggest man crush on Viggo Mortensen ever. I definitively understand why, that man is sexy as hell (no homo). It's just amusing to see how much Cronenberg embellishes that latent sexiness in his movies. Honestly at this point when Cronenberg makes a film and it doesn't have any Viggo I can't help but feel a little cheated. Thankfully Eastern Promises isn't one of those films. There is certainly enough Viggo to go all the damn way around in this one.
Eastern Promises is about Russian gangsters. For a film about Russian gangsters it's surprisingly not that bleak. There is of course a healthy dose of classic Cronenbergian violence. There's talk of rape and the harsh reality…
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The movie is great, the family tensions from both families are very strong and relatable in a way. The overall tone and moral ambiguity keep it engaging throughout, and the naked fight is memorable, it's hard to believe he managed to pull that off without it being ridiculous which is what I would expect if someone just told me about it, but it feels primal and desperate .
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Really good fun. Really good Cronenberg.
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Awesome movie, everyone is firing on all cylinders. Brutal violence and good acting. The nude fight is amazing. Not an unearthly running time either at 1 hours and 40 minutes. Naomi Watts, Viggo Mortensen and Vincent Cassell, what's not to like.
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Film #3 of The Caker Baker's 30 Countries project
Country: Canada
Russians are just scary fuckin' people.
If you're not totally convinced yet that Viggo Mortensen is one of the greatest actors of our time, watch Eastern Promises.
Mortensen is a revelation.
Naomi was fine, but Viggo, oh my god, he just owns the movie.
Though it kind of comes apart in the second half, it's one hell of a story, a harsh, unforgiving story, but a terrific story all the same.
The ending kind of sucked. Totally anticlimatic.
Can I just say again that Russians are scary fuckin' people?
And that scene in the bathhouse...I'll just say that I'm not likely to forget it.
-
Every single character in this movie other than the ivanovna family did not seem to have a heart. So I did not care about anyone or anything that was going on. But then BOOM. Came the revelation, about who Viggo Mortensen really was. Then the jigsaw puzzle that Mr.Cronenberg was putting together was seen!!
A powerful film, with a heavy duty performance from Viggo Mortensen and when Cronenberg is behind it there is little that can go wrong.
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Character driven crime drama which is let down by a mishandled final act. Viggo Mortensen is an outstanding character actor, as are Vincent Cassel and Naomi Watts, a measured film worth seeing, never reaches great heights though.
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Shower fight.
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Naomi watts stars as a midwife who gets mixed up with the Russian mafia in London after a young teenage mother dies during childbirth.
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Bad ass Russian gangsters, throat cutting, a qt on a motorcycle what more could you want!?
Eastern Promises is by far my favorite gangster/mobster movie of all time. Goodfellas, Godfather, Scarface are all great but this shit is the bees knees.
Not only is it a top notch thug film by David Croneberg the master of body horror, but it's also a sweet drama about a women protecting a child from the horrors of reality. The real story here isn't the bloody violence it's the love this young women has for the child. It's a sweet movie that will make you DAWWW in parts. Even Viggo's character isn't as tough and cruel as he wants you to think he is.…