Addict (drugaddict) wrote,
Addict
drugaddict

Eastern Promises

Eastern Promises

http://www.focusfeatures.com/easternpromises/?gclid=COCG3J34yo4CFRBigQod4W62Bw

Cronenberg's "Eastern Promises" wins top prize at Toronto film fest

 

By Moira Macdonald
Seattle Times movie critic

You won't have to wait to see the winner of the prestigious audience award at the Toronto International Film Festival. Attendees of the 10-day festival, which ended Saturday, voted David Cronenberg's thriller "Eastern Promises" as the best of the fest. The film, which stars Viggo Mortensen as an ambitious driver for London's Russian mob, is already in limited release nationwide; in Seattle, you can see it downtown at the Meridian.

From: --> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0765443/


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.

Subscribe
  • Post a new comment

    Error

    default userpic

    Your reply will be screened

    Your IP address will be recorded 

    When you submit the form an invisible reCAPTCHA check will be performed.
    You must follow the Privacy Policy and Google Terms of use.
  • 0 comments