Official Movie Website Theatrical Release 09/14/07 (Limited) 09/21/07 Home Video Not Available MPAA Rating Rated R for strong brutal and bloody violence, some graphic sexuality, language and nudity Running Time 1 hour 40 minutes Genre Suspense, Drama, Crime Director David Cronenberg Writer Steve Knight Cast Viggo Mortensen, Naomi Watts, Vincent Cassel, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Sinead Cusack, Donald Studio Focus Features |
EASTERN PROMISES
SYNOPSIS
The new thriller reteaming acclaimed director David
Cronenberg with his A History of Violence leading
man Viggo Mortensen, Eastern Promises is written
by Steve Knight (Academy Award-nominated
screenwriter of Dirty Pretty Things). As in the earlier
film, director and star together explore the psyche,
physicality, and fortunes of a man whose true nature
may never be wholly revealed. The mysterious and
charismatic Russian-born Nikolai Luzhin (Mr.
Mortensen) is a driver for one of London’s most
notorious organized crime families of Eastern
European origin. The family itself is part of the Vory
V Zakone criminal brotherhood. Headed by Semyon
(Academy Award nominee Armin Mueller-Stahl),
whose courtly charm as the welcoming proprietor of
the plush Trans-Siberian restaurant impeccably
masks a cold and brutal core, the family’s fortunes
are tested by Semyon’s volatile son and enforcer,
Kirill (Vincent Cassel), who is more tightly bound to
Nikolai than to his own father. But Nikolai’s carefully
maintained existence is jarred once he crosses
paths at Christmastime with Anna Khitrova
(Academy Award nominee Naomi Watts), a midwife
at a North London hospital. Anna is deeply affected
by the desperate situation of a young teenager who
dies while giving birth to a baby. Anna resolves to try
to trace the baby’s lineage and relatives. The girl’s
personal diary also survives her; it is written in
The new thriller reteaming acclaimed director David
Cronenberg with his A History of Violence leading
man Viggo Mortensen, Eastern Promises is written
by Steve Knight (Academy Award-nominated
screenwriter of Dirty Pretty Things). As in the earlier
film, director and star together explore the psyche,
physicality, and fortunes of a man whose true nature
may never be wholly revealed. The mysterious and
charismatic Russian-born Nikolai Luzhin (Mr.
Mortensen) is a driver for one of London’s most
notorious organized crime families of Eastern
European origin. The family itself is part of the Vory
V Zakone criminal brotherhood. Headed by Semyon
(Academy Award nominee Armin Mueller-Stahl),
whose courtly charm as the welcoming proprietor of
the plush Trans-Siberian restaurant impeccably
masks a cold and brutal core, the family’s fortunes
are tested by Semyon’s volatile son and enforcer,
Kirill (Vincent Cassel), who is more tightly bound to
Nikolai than to his own father. But Nikolai’s carefully
maintained existence is jarred once he crosses
paths at Christmastime with Anna Khitrova
(Academy Award nominee Naomi Watts), a midwife
at a North London hospital. Anna is deeply affected
by the desperate situation of a young teenager who
dies while giving birth to a baby. Anna resolves to try
to trace the baby’s lineage and relatives. The girl’s
personal diary also survives her; it is written in
© 2003 St. Louis Movie Review Weekly. All rights reserved, except where indicated.
All movie titles, pictures, etc...are the property of their respective studios.
All movie titles, pictures, etc...are the property of their respective studios.
| ST. LOUIS MOVIE REVIEW WEEKLY |
Russian, and Anna seeks answers in it. Anna’s mother Helen (Sinéad Cusack) does not discourage her,
but Anna’s irascible Russian-born uncle Stepan (Jerzy Skolimowski) urges caution. He is right to do so;
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 unexpectedly finds his loyalties divided. The family
tightens its grip on him; who can, or should, he trust? Several lives – including his own – hang in the
balance as a harrowing chain of murder, deceit, and retribution reverberates through the darkest
corners of both the family and London itself. -- © Focus Features
but Anna’s irascible Russian-born uncle Stepan (Jerzy Skolimowski) urges caution. He is right to do so;
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 unexpectedly finds his loyalties divided. The family
tightens its grip on him; who can, or should, he trust? Several lives – including his own – hang in the
balance as a harrowing chain of murder, deceit, and retribution reverberates through the darkest
corners of both the family and London itself. -- © Focus Features