Eastern Promises

 

Jan 27 – After an unsatisfying date with “Cloverfield”, we decided to check out another highly rated movie “Eastern Promises”.

The movie kicked off with a midwife named Anna Khitrova who found a Russian-language diary of a Tatiana, a fourteen-year-old girl who died during childbirth with a card for the Trans-Siberian restaurant, which is owned by Semyon. Anna went and look for Semyon to try and track down Tatiana’s family so that she can find a home for the dead mother’s baby girl. Anna found out that Semyon and his unstable son, Kirill, had abused, raped and forced Tatiana into prostitution.

Russian-born Nikolai Luzhin who served as the family’s driver helped Kirill to dispose the body of a rival Chechen vory leader. The hit had not approved by Semyon and when he found out that the Chechen gang was coming to London to seek vengeance on Kirill who had ordered the hit, Semyon decided to set Nikolai up since the rival gang have not see Kirill before.

 

Semyon elevated Nikolai to a be full member of the Vory V Zakone (Russian Mafia) and sent him to meet the Chechen gang members in a public bath. The Chechens attacked Nikolai thinking he was Kirill. Nikolai was severely injured but he survived the attack.

It was then revealed that Nikolai was actually a FSB (the agency formerly known as KGB) mole in the gang and working together with the British Government.

From the contents of Tatiana’s dairy, Nikolai was able to implicate Semyon for the rape and leaving him to be the most powerful member of the London branch of the Russian mob.

The show ends with Anna raising the baby and Nikolai becoming the crime boss.

A star studded Canadian production starring Viggo Mortensen (of Lord of the Rings) as Nikolai, Naomi Watts (of King Kong) as Anna and Vincent Cassel (of Ocean Twelve and Ocean’s Thirteen) as Kirill. Semyon was played by Armin Mueller-Stahl.

Interesting storyline and Viggo Mortensen looked truly good in the show. Overall, an entertaining show but with a rather abrupt ending. Will not make much of an impact in the box office.