A teenager who dies during childbirth leaves clues in her journal that could tie her child to a rape involving a violent Russian mob family.A teenager who dies during childbirth leaves clues in her journal that could tie her child to a rape involving a violent Russian mob family.A teenager who dies during childbirth leaves clues in her journal that could tie her child to a rape involving a violent Russian mob family.
- Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 28 wins & 74 nominations total
Aleksandar Mikic
- Soyka
- (as Aleksander Mikic)
Sarah-Jeanne Labrosse
- Tatiana
- (as Sarah Jeanne Labrosse)
Doña Croll
- Nurse
- (as Dona Croll)
Sinéad Cusack
- Helen
- (as Sinead Cusack)
Tatiana Maslany
- Tatiana
- (voice)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe tattoos around Nikolai's - Viggo Mortensen's character - ankles read "Where are you going?" and "What the fuck do you care?" in Russian. Mortensen thought that they were hilarious, that 'one foot doesn't respect the other.'
- GoofsAfter Nikolai was accepted by the mafia bosses, he gets his stars tattooed. When he is in the public bath, the tattoos seem to be completely healed. However, when they are entering the baths, a slight redness is perceivable around the stars. There was one day between these scenes. While the usual for a tattoo is to be brighter at first, it can be assumed that between the particular individual's skin, the lighting and the humidity of the baths, a normal tattoo could seem to be more healed than it actually is.
- Quotes
Anna: Why are you doing this, why are you helping us?
Nikolai Luzhin: I can't become king if someone else already sits on the throne.
- SoundtracksJust a Little
Written by Michelle Escottery, John Hammond-Hagan and George Hammond-Hagan
Performed by Liberty X
Courtesy of V2 Music Ltd.
Featured review
"Eastern promises" is the first film for David Cronenberg that was shot entirely outside his native Canada and it is the second film of Cronenberg and Viggo Mortensen - after "The History of Violence" (2005). It should be mentioned that Viggo Mortensen had done a very impressive research for his Oscar-nominated role of Nikolai Luzhin, a modest driver and also an "undertaker" and a hit-man for the Russian mafia boss in London. Mortensen alone, without a translator, had traveled across Russia, visiting the Urals Mountains where his character came from, and also stopped in Moscow and St.-Petersburg. Mortensen diligently learned Russian to make the Russian phrases of Siberian Nikolai sound more naturally. He also studied the literature on Russian prisons and their unofficial kings, "vory v zakone" or thieves in the law, the most respected and feared criminals. The script was written by Stephen Knight whose previous film on the subject of the emigrants in modern London, "Dirty Pretty Things" (2002), proves that he is a talented writer. Sadly, the script is the weakest part of "Eastern Promises" and while watching the movie I thought that it had deserved the better writing. The story is predictable from the very beginning and it lacks subtlety. All twists and turns are clearly seen a mile away. Even with the obvious problems in the script, "Eastern promises" is an interesting film - intense, gloomy, dark, and violent. David Cronenberg's directing is laconic, non sentimental, almost clinical and always virtuoso. The gruesome fight scene in the Turkish Baths is a masterpiece, the way it was choreographed and shot. Cronenberg must have used the knowledgeable Russian consultants on the set and I was pleasantly surprised that the Russian phrases sound naturally, and pronunciation and intonations of the non-Russian actors were believable. Besides Mortinsen, Armin Mueller-Stahl and Vincent Casselas as Nikolai's horrifying boss and his creepy son, are especially memorable. Surprisingly, Naomi Watts whom I adore in every movie I've seen her, plays the least interesting character and I attribute it to the weaknesses of the script.
- Galina_movie_fan
- Feb 13, 2008
- Permalink
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Official site
- Languages
- Also known as
- Promesas peligrosas
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- £25,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $17,266,000
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $547,092
- Sep 16, 2007
- Gross worldwide
- $56,107,312
- Runtime1 hour 40 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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