"Eastern Promises" - Trailer #2

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 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.

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• eastern
• promises
• david
• cronenberg
• viggo
• mortensen
• naomi
• watts
• focusfeatures
• focus
• features

[EdwardMerriman360]

These are real gangsters! Not 50 cent and his boyscout crew!

[cleverfeller]

@EdwardMerriman360

No these are actors for a BBC drama pretending to be real gangsters. Real gangsters are terrorists and psychopaths. Not glamourous, not cool, not heroes just scum.

[erghtrfgh]

@dfcmrf c'mon, it seems like you haven't seen "red heat". D

[viga1989]

@bsnider0031 with viggo??

[bcn533]

@EdwardMerriman360 Yeah man, gangsters are awesome. I've seen them on TV and I wanna be just like one.

[bsnider0031]

part 2 in the works!

[AWickedMind]

@Soophus They're terrorists in that they climb the hierarchy of their little gangs and gain "respect" by spreading terror. Cutting off people's parts, shooting people, beating people, raping people, threatening people. They're psychopaths in that they are even capable of these things and continue to do it. So I would argue that both labels are accurate. That's not to say that all terrorists and psychopaths are gangsters, but that gangsters can certainly embody both descriptions. Get it?

[heigei1]

I am so happy for Viggo - great actor - in a new movie playing Dr.Freud.

[cenotaphofmist]

@TwoNNsB that explains the hanging ending, eh?

[cenotaphofmist]

Viggo Mortensen is outstanding. I love his suave yet gritty, dark persona. Favorite Nikolai moment would be that when he dipped the still burning cigarette to his tongue.

Surprisingly, I was not able to focus on his flopping appendage in the bathhouse scene because the ongoing violence just keeps me distracted.

The ending left me hanging, though. Spoilers: I wish I had seen how Semyov ended (was he arrested?), whether Nikolai truly claimed Semyov's position, etc.

[Tembelizatorul]

@RevanDuvalcane you wouldnt have time to be scared, you would already be dead

[RevanDuvalcane]

1:50 Jesus... I'd be scared out of my skin if a Russian in a black suit did that at me...