Eastern Promises (DVD)

Make no mistake, this is a great film, vastly underrated by the critics...good performances all round, especially from Viggo. A violent film certainly, but one with a strong story-line. Well worth watching!

I love this movie/drama set in modern day London. Story centres around the Russian Mafia and British undercover spy. I find it is deep and interesting. The narrative at the beginning and the end of the movie is both moving and chilling. Best fight scene in a movie, for a long time. The characters are played out excellently. Lots of actors you may have seen before. Story is dark and at times terrifying. Must see movie for film lovers everywhere!
Excellent example of British film.

This is an absolutely fantastic film. David cronenberg at his best. I highly recommend this film for every one to watch. What can i say apart from watch it and enjoy.

An excellent British thriller that tells the tale of a young midwife’s involvement in trying to trace the relatives of a teenage girl who dies in childbirth. This quest leads her into the world of London’s East European crime families.
This is the film for you if you like your thrillers with conviction and realism.
The film is very fast paced without being too frantic and holds the attention from start to finish. A great cast take their roles well and are believable in their characterisation.
All in all a great film and an excellent evenings entertainment.

A decent David Cronenberg film about a young midwife (Naomi Watts) finding herself lost in a world of Russian mobsters while working in London.

Nikolai (Viggo Mortensen) works as a chauffeur for a restaurant owner and powerful kingpin, Semyon, and his out-of-control son Kirill (Vincent Cassell).

Midwife 'Anna' comes crashing into Nikolai's life after treating a young Russian woman who dies while giving birth, and a subsequent translation of her diary, provides some horrific discoveries of forced prostitution and heroin addiction.

From the start, this is a brutal and violent film, featuring some disturbingly realistic throat cutting. Knives seem to be the weapon of choice.

A 'full-on' sauna scene sees a completely naked Nikolai having to defend himself against two determined assailants. (I'm surprised Viggo Mortensen did this scene, as he reveals everything, during all kinds of humiliating twists and turns).

Not being one to shy away from being a little 'graphic', Cronenberg does see the film through in his unique, unremitting style.

Some of the acting is extremely good, notably by the French actor Vincent Cassell (La Haine, Irreversible etc.)

Worth a watch, but not exactly 'Goodfellas'. (3 out of 5)

The story is riveting, increasing its grip on us as it deepens and progresses. The characters are vivid, complex and intriguing, constantly revealing secrets and giving us hints about revelations to come. These are meaty roles, and the actors really run with them. Cronenberg directs the cast to his usual slightly heightened reality, which invests every line and action with subtext and refuses to spoon-feed the answers.

This rather creepy approach works especially well with the Russians; Mortensen, Cassel and Mueller-Stahl all deliver strikingly provocative turns as men with deep moral issues. While Kirill operates at full-pitch, Nikolai matter-of-factly goes about his gruesome business. And Mortensen deserves additional credit for a viciously unnerving fight in which he takes on two Chechen thugs while wearing only his elaborate tattoos. By contrast, Watts is naturalistic and textured as the innocent who wanders into the lion's den.

Cronenberg expertly establishes a quietly menacing tone from the start, mixing hideous grisliness with dark humour and even some surprising emotion. Rumours and innuendo continually complicate the plot, which has several sharp turns along the way that are beautifully played as slowly revealed truth rather than movie surprises. And with such expert filmmaking, the issue of human trafficking actually emerges much more strongly than if it descended into Hollywood-style preachiness. Like those elaborate mob tattoos, this film gets under your skin and stays there.

BRILLIANT FIGHT SCENE TOWARDS END.. NEEDED TO GO A LITTLE LONGER THE FILM... GOOD STORY,FILMED IN LONDON AND USED BBC.. SO NOT MANY SPECIAL EFFECTS.. WORTH A WATCH.. BUT DONT GET TOO EXCITED.

Good quality dvd enjoyed the film a bit gruesome though. Decided to buy as it was cheaper than buying from the shops.

was really good when i watched it in the the cinema, vigo mortenssen, lord of the rings arragon) carries the lead so well!!!

Just go to my review on imdb.com, where I voted a 10 out of 10. This is truly a masterpiece, and the Oscar should have gone to Viggo Mortensen.

a superb film with a haunting atmosphire - one you will think about for days - nothing to dislike - the main american actor from with a history of violance playing a convincing russian mafia member

if you liked A History Of Violence you'll like this, but both movies leave me asking a bit more from Cronenberg, who's usually fantastic.

This is a gritty, entertaining film with twists and turns, clever plot lines and some supurb acting. A must see if you like mafia based films or even just a good thriller!!

GOOD STORY AND NOT MUCH SWEARING WHICH MAKES A CHANGE. BUT COULD NOT TAKE THE CHARACTERS VOICES SERIOUSLY.

good story a bit slow getting going but worth sticking with. Quite a bit of the dialect is in a foreign language which spoils it in places

Great 'gripping' Drama with a great performance by Viggo, In modern day London. with Russian Mafia.. dark gripping and moody but very well made, Not a 'shoot-em up' but violent in the right bits

An uncomfortable glimpse into the underworld of the Russian Mafia made more shocking by being set in London and starkly contrasting with the safe, normal day to day life of the female lead who unwittingly gets drawn into confrontation with the bad guys. Viggo Mortensen plays an excellent lead role giving his inimical intellectual and sensitive interpretation of his screen character. Nice twist at the end, though I did see something was not as it seemed. Not too keen on the rather dark, moody lighting of most of the film which seems to the par currently for films of this genre. Bought it because I know Viggo always gives value for money in his roles.