Eastern Promises DVD

Advantages: Good acting, good storyline
Disadvantages: A couple of bits that aren't for the squeamish

...20th of December, a young Eastern European girl walks into a chemists begging for help in a small, weak voice. Having collapsed on the floor in a pool of blood she is rushed to hospital, where she dies, but the baby she was carrying is saved. Anna (Naomi Watts), a midwife involved in the episode, pockets a diary from the unknown girl's bag and sets out to get it translated (from Russian) and thus find out who the girl was. In her search for the truth, ...
...imdb.com, is the number of Eastern European names in evidence. For me, that's a great bonus because the look and the accents of the cast is spot on, in a situation where the ham potential was pretty high! The core cast members do a great job. Naomi Watts is very good as the gutsy, caring midwife, Cusack is eminently believable as her concerned mother and Skolimovski is brilliant as the grizzled, aging, 'old-school' (read: tactless and un-PC) uncle. ... Read review

Advantages: Unusual view of a London we don't see
Disadvantages: Hollow inside

...in this once exclusive district. Eastern Promises follows the story of Anna a Midwife in Trafalgar Hospital, whom one day delivers the child of a young Russian girl, while the baby survives the mother dies. With no way of identifying the mother other than her Christian name Tatiana, Anna decides to get her only possession a diary written in Russian translated. With Russian blood in her family Anna initially tries to get her uncle Stepan to translate ...
...outcome for his opponents. Eastern Promises is not a bad film, in fact it colourfully shows aspects of life that the average Joe on the street is shamefully unaware of. The movie offers its viewer a good education, and by the end you're familiar with a few words of Russian, and an insight into Russian festivities and lifestyles. But the reality is that it's a very hollow movie filled with a delicious exterior and nothing inside, and I guess this ... Read review

Advantages: Interesting crime thriller, with a great twist in the tail.
Disadvantages: Violence is very graphic.

...little light on how many Eastern European girls end up finding themselves on the streets and in the brothels of Western Europe, when they are conned by these gangsters. This is a topic that is very close to the bone here in the Republic of Ireland, where many Eastern European girls have recently been released from forced prostitution by the actions of the police. Recommended to those of you who like your crime thrillers with a "twist in the tail", ... Read review

Advantages: Excellent performances from everybody involved.
Disadvantages: Ends too soon.

When i watched Eastern Promises i hadn't read any reviews of it, and simply didn't know even what it was about. Don't make the same mistake as me and for some reason i can't think why, i assumed it was a martial arts film. Eastern promises is actually a film about the russian mafia. Although i have watched many movies about the italian mafia, i cannot remember watching a film about russians. The film is directed by David Cronenberg ( a history ...
...Another thing i enjoyed about Eastern Promises was that it is all filmed in London, so it was a change from watching american films that are mainly filmed around New York. I did enjoy the film, although it is hardly a blockbuster and the ending left me wanting more, it is definetely worth a watch. ... Read review

Advantages: masterpiece from the Baron of Horror
Disadvantages: can be vicious in places

...Eastern Promises Director ; David Cronenberg (AKA The King of Venereal Horror - also directed & wrote Shivers, Rabid, Scanners, The Brood - more recently Crash and Director of A History of Violence,) starring Viggo Mortensen Writer: Steven Knight Release Date: 26 October 2007 (UK) Genre: Crime, drame, mystery and thriller Plot: A Russian teenager living in London collapses and dies during childbirth. She leaves clues to a midwife in her journal that could tie her child to a rape involving a violent Russian mob family. This film has received many awards ranging from; Nominated for Oscar. Another 18 wins & 33 nominations BBC FILMS - DVD Kudos Pictures. RATED 18 yrs (and then they need a strong stomach ! Have hit 40 and struggled to watch some scenes) Cast Armin Mueller-Stahl - Semyon ( also in - Leningrad... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Exceptional performances from lead cast, Well constructed, Tension maintained throughout
Disadvantages: None

...Having always had a bit of an admiration of a lot of the work of David Cronenberg, I felt that I needed to see this film. I missed out on an opportunity to see it at the cinema so wanted to make sure that when I got a Gift Voucher for HMV from some delightful surveying, that I spent some on this film. I got it as part of the present 3 for £20 deal. This film reunites Cronenberg with Viggo Mortensen (of Lord of the Rings trilogy fame), who worked well together on 'A History of Violence'. 'Eastern Promises' initially places its focus on London midwife Anna (Naomi Watts) and her desire to find the whereabouts of the family of a girl that died in her hospital. The reason that she wishes to find the family is because the girl had died whilst pregnant and having managed to save the baby, they need a family to look after the baby or else... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful