Eastern Promises
1 Oscar Nominations
Rent/Purchase
A Russian teenager living in London dies during childbirth but leaves clues in her diary that could tie her child to a rape involving a violent Russian mob family.
What critics thought
Cronenberg's Russian mob thriller landed as one of his strongest films, with Viggo Mortensen's coiled, largely wordless performance as a gang enforcer earning particular admiration. The film's set pieces — especially a prolonged bathhouse fight — were singled out as technically ferocious. Where critics diverged was over whether the extreme violence served a serious purpose or was simply Cronenberg indulging his worst instincts: most were convinced by the former, but a vocal minority saw the whole enterprise as shock-value dressed up in prestige trappings.
“Eastern Promises is no ordinary crime thriller, just as Cronenberg is no ordinary director”
Roger Ebert·Chicago Sun-Times
“directed with considerable formal intelligence and brooding power”
J. Hoberman·The Village Voice
“Eastern Promises is a little too mechanical for its own good ... but the mechanics also produce an admirable crispness and sense of purpose, a sense that the man behind the camera knows exactly what he's doing at all times.”
Chris Vognar·The Dallas Morning News
“For Cronenberg, such cheap sensationalism is business as usual, and this far into his career, that business has slipped into artistic bankruptcy.”
Bruce Westbrook·Houston Chronicle
Genres
Crime, Drama, Thriller
Cast & Crew
DirectorDavid Cronenberg
StarringViggo Mortensen, Naomi Watts, Vincent Cassel, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Sinéad Cusack
ComposerHoward Shore
Eastern Promises
1 Oscar Nominations
A Russian teenager living in London dies during childbirth but leaves clues in her diary that could tie her child to a rape involving a violent Russian mob family.
What critics thought
Cronenberg's Russian mob thriller landed as one of his strongest films, with Viggo Mortensen's coiled, largely wordless performance as a gang enforcer earning particular admiration. The film's set pieces — especially a prolonged bathhouse fight — were singled out as technically ferocious. Where critics diverged was over whether the extreme violence served a serious purpose or was simply Cronenberg indulging his worst instincts: most were convinced by the former, but a vocal minority saw the whole enterprise as shock-value dressed up in prestige trappings.
“Eastern Promises is no ordinary crime thriller, just as Cronenberg is no ordinary director”
Roger Ebert·Chicago Sun-Times
“directed with considerable formal intelligence and brooding power”
J. Hoberman·The Village Voice
“Eastern Promises is a little too mechanical for its own good ... but the mechanics also produce an admirable crispness and sense of purpose, a sense that the man behind the camera knows exactly what he's doing at all times.”
Chris Vognar·The Dallas Morning News
“For Cronenberg, such cheap sensationalism is business as usual, and this far into his career, that business has slipped into artistic bankruptcy.”
Bruce Westbrook·Houston Chronicle
Genres
Crime, Drama, Thriller
Cast & Crew
DirectorDavid Cronenberg
StarringViggo Mortensen, Naomi Watts, Vincent Cassel, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Sinéad Cusack
ComposerHoward Shore
Rent/Purchase