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Eastern Promises [2007] | ![Eastern Promises [2007]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51ua6GfhuML._SL160_.jpg)
 enlarge | Director: David Cronenberg
Actors: Viggo Mortensen, Vincent Cassel, Naomi Watts, Armin Mueller-stahl
Studio: Pathe Distribution
Category: DVD
List Price: £19.99
Buy New: £3.79
You Save: £16.20 (81%)
New (21) Used (11) from £2.40
Rating:  42 reviews
Sales Rank: 1184
Format: Pal
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
Region: 2
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 97 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
EAN: 5060002835906
ASIN: B0010VXMP8
Release Date: February 25, 2008
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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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 Stills from Eastern Promises (click for larger image). Photos by Peter Mountain.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 37 more reviews...
 Doesn't match promise November 13, 2008
A reader (London)
I've really enjoyed the work of director David Cronenberg over the years, so I watched Eastern Promises with anticipation. Naomi Watts plays a London midwife who takes an interest in the case of a young East European girl who dies in childbirth. From the girl's diary she makes contact with a seemingly respectable Russian businessman, Armin Mueller-Stahl, but later learns he's involved in Russian Organized Crime, the girl has been trafficked and forced into prostitution, and the businessman's son is the baby's father. The male lead is Viggo Mortensen, who plays a "driver", but actually muscle within the organization. His character has a tough exterior but within lies a spark of humanity, so he helps Naomi Watts' character to discover the truth about the girl, rescue her from his boss, and so on.
The trafficking of young East European girls into sex slavery in the West is a hugely important issue. The problem with this film is that it tries to work as a character-driven thriller but falls down because of numerous implausibilities. The Mortensen character has ambitions within ROC but doesn't appear to know much about people trafficking, yet it's one of their most lucrative businesses. He's complicit in the rape of a sex slave but secures her freedom, by tipping off police about her alone - the police don't appear to be interested about all the other girls kept in the house, or how they got there. Naomi Watts, who does a perfect English accent, appears to keep the dead girl's baby in an empty delivery theatre for most of the film. Later she says she doesn't want the baby to be fostered, as if social services wouldn't have got involved immediately. When Mortensen's character is admitted to hospital after a knife fight, she just happens to be strolling down a corridor and sees him being wheeled on a trolley.
When a film tackles such an important and sensitive issue as trafficking, it has a duty to do it in a way that respects the intelligence of the audience, or else the film will come over as tacky and exploitative.
 Okayish October 30, 2008
Yellow-Sn0W (Bristol, UK)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Not too bad a film, was quite disappointing after all the hype I'd read about it. As gangster films go, this is okay, no where near most of the others though.
 Bloody Russians September 29, 2008
L. Davidson (Belfast, N.Ireland)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
"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 September 2, 2008
godzilla78 (northern ireland)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
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 August 31, 2008
Spider Monkey (UK)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
'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.
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