Eastern Promises, by Steven Knight - 8.4 out of 10

Eastern Promises, by Steven Knight
8.4 out of 10


The critics, Academy Members, the Hollywood Foreign Press have all loved this film...

With an amazing Metascore of 82 out of 100, Variety gave it 90, Rolling Stone 88, Entertainment Weekly 75 and The New Yorker 70.
Viggo Mortensen is one of the best actors alive and he was nominated for the Oscar, Golden Globe and many other trophies for his role as Nikolai.

Equally impressive is Naomi Watts as Anna, the midwife who finds herself placed by fate against the Russian Mafia.
A teenager enters a pharmacy looking for help.

The first impression is that she may be on drugs - in fact, the mobsters forced them on her - but then she collapses on the floor, in a pool of blood.
Taken to the hospital, she falls into the hands of Anna, who tries with the other medical personnel to save her, without success.

Nevertheless, the baby born to that teenager survives and the compassionate midwife decides to try and locate her relatives, before she falls into the social services network, form which she would never escape, as she tells her mother.
The very young, fourteen going on fifteen, mother has had a diary that the Russian uncle would now translate.

The stories within are terrible.
Hoping for a better chance in the West and believing the Eastern Promises made, the girl arrives in London, only to be taken in what is ultimately slavery, controlled by Russian monsters.
First the son of the ring leader tries to rape her, but he cannot - we would learn that he has a bad reputation among the homophobic gangsters, who think he is a 'fairy' - and then the head of the mob would impregnate her, and ultimately cause her death.

This is not the only victim of these monsters, who keep many other girls in captivity, making them take drugs and abusing them, forcing them into prostitution.
Anna is following the lead and arrives at the restaurant owned by Semyon aka the outstanding Armin Mueller-Stahl, who seems a gentle, kind old man.

He takes his visitor around, talking about traditional Russian cuisine, borscht, offers the young woman various dishes to taste and acts like the most pleasant host.
Only he is the Absolute Villain of the narrative!

He is Don Corleone, the Eastern version.
Not unlike the generous Italian Godfather, who gives support, helps the undertaker take revenge on the day of his daughter's wedding, sends his adoptive son and lawyer to get a new role for the character who seems to have been based on Frank Sinatra, Semyon has constructed an image of affability and serenity.

Putin insists that he has had nothing to do with the horrific death of Litvinenko, the attempt to use radioactive material in Salsbury on another former agent and any other death of opponents, leader of the opposition killed at the gates of the Kremlin.
Demons pretend to be Angels.

Semyon has a son, Kirill aka the wonderful Vincent Cassel.
Working for them is Nikolai as interpreted by Viggo Mortensen.

A complicated web of relationships is formed between people who have two personalities, except for Anna and Kirill, the former is the quintessential positive protagonist and the latter a vicious villain, who may still find some redemption, if he saves an innocent from death.
Revenge, romantic side stories, fights, intrigue, detective work all combine to make this one of the best films of 2007 and a worthwhile 100 minutes of your time.y