Eastern Promises (Widescreen Edition) | 
| Director: David Cronenberg
Actors: Naomi Watts, Viggo Mortensen, Vincent Cassel, Armin Mueller-stahl, Sinead Cusack
Studio: Universal Studios
Category: DVD
List Price: $12.98
Buy Used: $0.07
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Rating:  199 reviews
Sales Rank: 2283
Format: Ac-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Dvd, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Dubbed)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 100 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.6
MPN: MCAD62033300D
UPC: 025193330024
EAN: 0025193330024
ASIN: B000YENUI6
Theatrical Release Date: 2007
Release Date: December 23, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 01/27/2009 Run time: 101 minutes Rating: R
Amazon.com
David Cronenberg's signature obsessions flower in Eastern Promises, a stunning look at violence, responsibility, and skin. Near Christmastime 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 humor, 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 Stills from Eastern Promises (click for larger image). Photos by Peter Mountain. 
Vincent Cassel (left) and Viggo Mortensen (right) star in David Cronenberg's EASTERN PROMISES, a Focus Features release. | 
Armin Mueller-Stahl (center) stars in David Cronenberg's EASTERN PROMISES, a Focus Features release. | 
Viggo Mortensen (left) and Naomi Watts (right) star in David Cronenberg's EASTERN PROMISES, a Focus Features release. | 
Viggo Mortensen (left) and Naomi Watts (right) star in David Cronenberg's EASTERN PROMISES, a Focus Features release. | 
Naomi Watts stars in David Cronenberg's new thriller EASTERN PROMISES, a Focus Features release. | 
Armin Mueller-Stahl (left) and Naomi Watt (right) star in David Cronenberg's EASTERN PROMISES, a Focus Features release. | 
Mina E. Mina (left), Vincent Cassel (center) and Viggo Mortensen (right) star in David Cronenberg's EASTERN PROMISES, a Focus Features release. | 
Vincent Cassel stars in David Cronenberg's EASTERN PROMISES, a Focus Features release. | 
Viggo Mortensen stars in David Cronenberg's EASTERN PROMISES, a Focus Features release. |
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| Customer Reviews: Read 194 more reviews...
Quite Dark and a bit Vague! June 23, 2009
Khaled Altaher (Riyadh, NA Saudi Arabia)
Anna, a nurse at a hospital, gives birth to a russian baby whose mother had died delivering it. The mother had a diary with her that explains all her horrible experiences with a mob in London. Anna hoping to trace back the address of the mother's family so they would take care of the baby, gives the diary to a russian restauarant owner for translation hoping he could help finally help her get the address. Later on she realizes he is the mob head and she risks her life, her family's and the baby's lives too onward.
I did not like the movie much. I just learned today from an online review that Nikolai, the mob's driver, was actually an undercover agent. It was not clear at all in the film.
 Once again, HANDSOME replaces acting... June 16, 2009
JoEllen Hamilton (Barnhart, Missouri United States)
Am I the only person on the planet who thinks Mr. Mortensen passes his good looks off for acting and Cronenberg has his name stamped on Mortensens' bare bottom? Oh, and that most of the fans swallow all of it hook, line and sinker? In this country, fans seem to think the better looking you are, the more you can act.
Ok, Mortensen does great accents. This is a case of can't see the forest for the trees. Shouldn't you worry a little more about your performance and where the movie is going than getting that accent just exactly so? A lot of background errors have been forgiven when the acting is fantastic.
This man displays no emotion in any of his movies. You get so much from a Travolta, a Downey Jr., a D. Washington, a Cruise, a Hoffman that you don't get from this man. Just a flat nasal voice with a really good accent. Or no accent and a flat nasal voice. He says he likes to portray his feelings in his face with no words. He needs to watch Gary Cooper - that man knew how. VM doesn't yet.
Eddie Murphy as The Nutty Prof. - when he's sitting there in the club taking it from Chappelle, you almost can't watch the scene because you feel so badly for him. Now THAT'S what I want to see from VM - give me some idea you are actually FEELING what's happening to you and not some slightly interested by-stander. And stop with the soul-searching angst already - is that all a handsome man is allowed to feel in a movie now? Does he never get embarrassed or humiliated or ashamed???
Don't try to tell me that shower scene was NOT a gratuitous gig. Cronenberg manages a scene like that every time he hires VM for a movie. At first, I didn't think VM got it but now I wonder. He's supposed to be fairly intelligent and I can't imagine his admiration of Cronenberg would cancel out ALL his I.Q. points. Read any comments under the review of this movie and all you read about seeing VM's picnic basket swinging through the steam. And gee mom! This seems to happen in EVERY Cronenberg movie VM appears in...some naked body part shows up in all it's shining glory. Hey, I DARE you two guys to make a movie where VM keeps all his clothes ON.
YES, I know VM is extremely handsome.
YES, I know he's a nice guy.
YES, I know he's intelligent and speak a zillion languages.
YES, I know he's a writer and artist.
Can he act? Four outta five ain't bad...
Three points for the rest of the actors.
 A Perfict movie June 12, 2009
M. Alkhulaifi (Doha,Qatar)
Eastern Promises (Full Screen Edition)
heart touching story ,, superb acting ,, great cinematography ,, amazing music ,, directed by the always brilliant David Cronenberg ,,& much much more ,, even tough all the actors play Russians i discovered that most of them where European & not Russian (they where extremely convincing) .. Viggo Mortensen is brilliant here , not once did he remind me of his carecter in lord of the rings "its such a shame he didn't get the Oscar for this part" i love this movie I've seen it like 20 times & I still want to see it again,, all i can say is "You have to see it"
Powerful, Yet Disturbing June 10, 2009
D. Mikels (Skunk Holler)
I figure Aragorn would come storming down out of the pinnacle of Minas Tirith if he knew Viggo Mortensen made a movie like EASTERN PROMISES. Tolkienesque this dark film definitely is not. Yet Mortensen definitely impressed me playing a "driver" for a Russian mob family in urban London. From his stoic, almost inhumane demeanor, to his extremely convincing Russian accent, this actor shows some serious range.
Translating the Russian diary of a dead young mother who just gave birth to an infant girl is the catalyst to this powerful, yet disturbing, story. The midwife caring for the baby (Naomi Watts) is looking for answers to the mother's past; her search brings her inside the Russian mob, to a family led by a soft-spoken, yet very calculating, patriarch (Armin Mueller-Stahl). Mortensen is one of the family's enforcers, a man whose tattooed body tells the story of his life in Russian prisons--a man who must keep tabs on the patriarch's hot-tempered, hard-drinking son (Vincent Cassel is fabulous); yet as the story progresses, a special bond develops between the midwife and the enforcer. The movie builds to a rigorous climax, and when it arrives, the gratuitous violence takes over. (The bath house scene, where we get to see more of Viggo than we ever wanted, while grisly and brutal was still over the top.)
EASTERN PROMISES shows us Russian culture as well as the ugliness of the mob with its cold and stark inhumanity (the young working girls are treated like chattel). It's brutal, dark, often terrifying, yet all of it is thoroughly believable. Not a feel-good movie by any stretch, but very entertaining and informative. Aragorn might not approve, but I do.
--D. Mikels, Author, The Reckoning
Two stars for a character, five stars for the movie June 10, 2009
Jason (Backwater, Alabama)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Not for the squeamish, Eastern Promises paints a bleak picture of the grungy underworld of London, where Russian gangsters are involved in the most heinous acts, and even the most innocent eventually become pawns in the most dangerous game.
When a baby is born to a very young woman Tatiana, the childbirth is too much for the mother. After delivering the baby, midwife Anna (Naomi Watts) finds a diary written in Russian among Tatiana's possessions. Opening the diary is tantamount to the dangers within Pandora's Box; and in Anna's case, that initial curiosity involves her in the seedy underbelly of a crime family living by the brutal code of Vory V Zakone (Translation: Thieves in law).
Among the criminals is Nikolai Luzhin (Viggo Mortenson), a lowly, yet influential driver, whose position has allowed him the constant close proximity to both the gang's patriarch,
Semyon (Armin Mueller-Stahl), and his tempermental son Kirill (Vincent Cassell). Investigating the diary and the baby's lineage further immerses Anna into the gang's world, its crimes, and its secrets, until the movie reaches its gripping conclusion.
Regarding the performances in this film, Viggo Mortenson is as powerful as any of his other roles. He's as stoic as can be, and regardless of the outcome he manages to appear dangerous and sympathetic at the same time. Speaking in Russian he's convincing and even his accent when delivering lines in English is impressive. From top to bottom, the slicked hair, the rigid emotion, the facial structure, and the tattoos, he is a gangster. Speaking of the tattoos, I quite enjoyed the subplot which incorporated the rich meanings and symbolism behind the Russian criminal tattoos. Without previous knowledge, this is the type of "tour guide" information that provides enjoyable depth and intrigue, and otherwise would be easily looked over. Each of the other characters is fully involved, and they deliver competent performances. Watts is sympathetic, and the combination of anguish and determination on her face reflects her character's passion for newborns. Similarly, Stahl is perfect as the crime syndicate leader. He's one of those calm yet calculating figures who doesn't often get his hands dirty, but when he does he may as well have red skin, horns, and a pitchfork.
My hat goes off to Director David Cronenberg for delivering one of the best films I've seen in a while. It's truly captivating, with each character, line, and setting truly serving a purpose. With only one underdeveloped angle - Nikolai Luzhin's secret background - there is nearly nothing superfluous. For a script that already upped the malevolent ante, the bathhouse knife fight is a perfectly heinous coup de grace to drive the point home. This is a great film, and comes highly recommended.
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