Eastern Promises is an Academy Award nominated 2007 Canadian crime drama film directed by David Cronenberg. The screenplay was by Dirty Pretty Things writer Steven Knight. The film tells of a British midwife’s interactions with the Russian mafia in London and stars Viggo Mortensen and Naomi Watts. Principal photography began November 2006, in locations in and around London. The film has been noted for its unexpected plot twist and for its violence and realistic depiction of the Russian criminal underworld, including its use of tattoos.
The film premiered September 8, 2007 at the Toronto International Film Festival and went on general release in North America on September 21, 2007. The film was released in the United Kingdom on October 26, 2007. As of January 31, 2008, the film has grossed $51,202,291 worldwide and has received a positive critical reception, appearing on several U.S. critics’ “top ten films” lists for 2007. Eastern Promises has won several awards, including the Audience Prize for best film at the Toronto International Film Festival and the Best Actor award for Mortensen at the 2007 British Independent Film Awards. The film received twelve Genie Award nominations, three Golden Globe Award nominations, and Mortensen was nominated for Best Actor at the 80th Academy Awards, losing to Daniel Day Lewis.
Plot:
Anna Khitrova (Naomi Watts), a midwife at a London hospital, finds a Russian-language diary on the body of Tatiana, a fourteen-year-old girl who dies in childbirth. She also finds a card for the Trans-Siberian restaurant, which is owned by Semyon (Armin Mueller-Stahl), a boss in the Russian Mafia or vory v zakone (”thieves in law”). Anna sets out to track down the girl’s family so that she can find a home for the dead mother’s baby girl. Anna’s mother Helen (Sinéad Cusack) does not discourage her, but Anna’s Kiev-born uncle Stepan (Jerzy Skolimowski), whom Anna asks for help with translation of the diary, urges caution. Through Semyon and her uncle, Anna comes to learn that Semyon and his bumbling and unstable son, Kirill (Vincent Cassel), had abused Tatiana and forced her into prostitution, and that Semyon had raped the girl.
Kirill’s driver is the Russian-born Nikolai Luzhin (Viggo Mortensen), who also serves as the family’s “cleaner”, dumping dead bodies in the River Thames. Nikolai’s star rises within the vory, due in part to Nikolai’s protection of Kirill, who has authorized a hit on a rival Chechen vory leader. The hit was not approved by Semyon and was ill-advised, with the Chechen’s brothers coming to London to seek vengeance. Semyon, afraid for his son’s safety, hatches a plan. Semyon arranges to give “Kirill” up to the Chechens, which involves making Nikolai a full member of the vory, so he gets the same distinctive tattoos. A meeting is arranged at the Russian baths, and the Chechens are told that the tattooed Nikolai is actually Kirill. The Chechens attack Nikolai with knives, but Nikolai is able to kill them both. Nikolai is seriously wounded and is admitted to a hospital.
It is revealed near the end of the film that Nikolai is actually a member of the Russian Security Services (FSB) and a Scotland Yard informer on the Russian mafia. As part of his undercover duties, Nikolai was able to read Tatiana’s diary before Semyon destroyed it, and he has a plan to bring Semyon down for Tatiana’s rape, making Kirill the most powerful member of the London branch of the mob, but with Nikolai as the one who is really in charge. The plan works, with Anna gaining custody of the baby and Nikolai becoming the crime boss. Tattoos done in a Russian prison have a distinct blueish color and usually appear somewhat blurred because of the lack of instruments to draw fine lines