Viggo Mortensen - Eastern Promises - Viggo's New Movie! - Page 3

**Jazz** · 06-07-2007, 07:12 AM

Oh, it seems the guy in the pictures is an actor by the last name of Cassel.

Cronenberg, Mortensen, Cassel and Watts all in one place? Yes, please. Cronenberg wisely opted to continue working with Viggo Mortensen following their hugely successful collaboration in A History of Violence and the director's found one hell of a foil for his star in French icon Vincent Cassel. If this is anything less than stellar I will be hugely disappointed.

In his latest thriller, master filmmaker David Cronenberg brings us deep into London's underworld of organized crime, where survival rules and human lives are mere currency.

Anna is an idealistic young midwife who will stop at nothing to find the truth about a Russian girl who dies in her arms during childbirth. The only clues Anna has are the contents of the young mother's purse - a diary and book of matches - which inevitably lead Anna into the heart of the Russian mafia where she is introduced to its newest member - Nikolai, played by Viggo Mortensen. Unbeknownst to Anna, Nikolai takes care of "disposal" - the guy who makes sure that bodies are unrecognizable and their killers untraceable. To make matters worse, the diary that Anna possesses holds key evidence against Nikolai's boss. But it may also be the key to saving many more lives.

**Jazz** · 06-09-2007, 07:59 AM

More reviews for the screening of Eastern Promises. This one from Ain't It Cool News. It have some spoilers in it:

Hey Harry and AICN, Fabfunk here...

So last night, I’m pretty sure I was a part of a very special audience, the first ever to see “Eastern Promises”. It’s the latest from David Cronenberg, and I hope I wasn’t biased enough about the film being that Cronenberg might be my favorite director, but he’s been on fire for a couple of decades now- why isn’t he your fave too?

Anyway, it was clear that his decision making would take a more commercial tone after “A History Of Violence” mixed arthouse ponderance and DTV action while dialing down the body horror and elaborating on Cronenberg’s still-evolving visual sense, and “Eastern Promises” is a very handsome, expensive-looking picture. Needless to say, he moves even farther away from the body horror stuff to craft what is a pretty immersive, low key story that will probably be ill-received by critics expecting an Auteur’s Spectacular. I would say it’s one of his weaker films, but even his least charitable critics have to admit that this one has a strong hold.

I’m not sure how much it will evolve after this screening, but the film seems to tell dual stories. One tale involves Naomi Watts as a young nurse who ends up caring for the baby of as fourteen year old after the mother dies during birth. Finding the dead woman’s journal prompts her to try to retrace the dead girl’s steps, which lead her to the doorstep of a shady restaurant managed by Armin Mueller-Stahl from “Shine”. He’s a kindly old man who seems to operate a friendly business, but why is he dead-set on personally translating the journal himself? And who are the two hoods constantly walking in and out of his restaurant?

Silly, those two men are internationally famous Viggo Mortensen and Vincent Cassel. Cassel is the right hand man of what seems to be a sinister Russian mafia organization headed up in London (the film’s location), a loose cannon with no scruples about getting wasted or doing some wasting of his own in the middle of the street. Mortensen is more tightly wound, and as such is the main character of this divergent storyline, where he is an outsider, the “driver” looking to enter what appears to be a sinister criminal family of Russian criminals. He learns of the missing girl and soon realizes he may be in way more than he bargained for. These two storylines weave into each other in pretty complex, unpredictable ways, and what’s most interesting is that the story doesn’t hew to any conventions, particularly not that of past Cronenberg films. One of the questions on the post-questionnaire was whether it reminded me of other films, and I could not think of a single one.

Like “A History Of Violence”, Cronenberg is exploring genre tropes and ideas that have long become clichéd. He digests the concept of near-incestual surrogate familial relationships between criminals, as he penetrates the criminal world through Mortensen’s tired eyes. Mortensen is scary intense in this, and while the film begins with Watts’ character, it ends with him as the primary protagonist, as he completes a fairly surprising journey. It’s disappointing that Watts’ story seems to be on the back-burner, as it’s never as interesting and it involves her being inquisitive but passive, but maybe there’s another cut somewhere that elaborates on her role.

I don’t want to spoil any more than I have (there are several twists, but it’s fun to just watch the plot evolve) but I have to say, the movie’s got the scene of the year. This will be a quasi-Spoiler- Viggo is in a bathhouse when two thugs come after him, and suddenly this barely R-rated movie becomes something that will make the MPAA sweat. Not only is it a totally brutal one-on-one fight with Viggo’s fists versus two guys with knives, but ol’ Viggo takes them down through about five to ten minutes of bare-knuckled brawling while COMPLETELY NUDE. And there’s no dodgy photography or editing in this- Viggo’s balls are flying ALL over the place. There’s one moment where he lifts his leg to deliver a roundhouse kick, and I could swear Aragorn’s scrote smacked me in the face about six times. If anybody remembers that totally rough naked shower fight in “Get Rich Or Die Trying”, this one is about twelve times more brutal. Van Damme would never agree to that sort of ball exposure, and he’d never deliver the kind of ass-kicking that results from it.

Anyway, those who are expecting THE BEST MOVIE OF ALL TIME from Cronenberg will have to settle for what amounts to an interesting experiment of sorts, and a further evolution of his shooting and editing style. There are several crane shots here, and he retains the same interest in the cold, exterior surfaces of personality-less cities, in addition to an engrossing, unusual story. Also, Viggo’s massive, hairy balls.

If you use this, I am Fabfunk.

**Jazz** · 06-09-2007, 08:00 AM

Summer Movie Preview: "Eastern Promises"
By Chris Mertan
Associate Hiatus Editor

June 07, 2007 — Early autumn starts feeding us with what critics ostensibly know as "Oscar season," when studios start pulling out the big guns and tearjerker screenplays in hopes of winning the coveted gold bar.

So it makes sense for indie mogul Focus Features (part of Universal) to unleash Oscar-fave David Cronenberg's newest tale of introspection, "Eastern Promises," right as the leaves begin to change color. Three years after his heavily nominated "A History of Violence," Cronenberg regroups with Viggo Mortensen, Naomi Watts, Monica Belluci and Vincent Cassell, with Mortensen as a crime lord and Watts a midwife with a conflicted big-wig gangster relationship. Of course there's violence, but Cronenberg is an expert in this field, and he makes it cool without overglorification - his characters are vicious but always human. Little has been revealed about the final product, save for the cast list and a vague plot skeleton, but knowing Cronenberg, he'll send something out that summer blockbuster-snubbing cinephiles can salivate over. Sept. 14.

**Jazz** · 06-27-2007, 06:34 PM

My god. The trailer looks good

Eastern Promises trailers and video clips on Yahoo! Movies

**Jazz** · 06-29-2007, 06:29 AM

Focus Features has released the first trailer for their troubling thriller, Eastern Promises, starring Viggo Mortensen, Naomi Watts and Vincent Cassell.

Movie Trailer: Eastern Promises
The new thriller from director David Cronenberg reteams him with his A History of Violence leading man Viggo Mortensen. The film follows the mysterious and ruthless Nikolai (Mr. Mortensen), who is tied to one of London's most notorious organized crime families. His carefully maintained existence is jarred when he crosses paths with Anna (Academy Award nominee Naomi Watts), an innocent midwife trying to right a wrong, who accidentally uncovers potential evidence against the family. Now Nikolai must put into motion a harrowing chain of murder, deceit, and retribution.

**Jazz** · 06-29-2007, 06:30 AM

Eastern Promises Going Wide on September 14
Source: Focus Features June 28, 2007

ComingSoon.net has learned that David Cronenberg's Eastern Promises, starring Viggo Mortensen, Naomi Watts, Vincent Cassel and Armin Mueller-Stahl, will be getting a wide release from Focus Features on September 14. The studio was previously looking to rollout the movie starting with a limited release.

The film follows the mysterious and ruthless Nikolai (Mortensen), who is tied to one of London's most notorious organized crime families. His carefully maintained existence is jarred when he crosses paths with Anna (Watts), an innocent midwife trying to right a wrong, who accidentally uncovers potential evidence against the family. Now Nikolai must put into motion a harrowing chain of murder, deceit, and retribution.

**Bella Cullen** · 06-29-2007, 07:20 AM

Ohh he looks serious, lol. And hot!

**Shnicky** · 06-30-2007, 07:43 PM

Jeez! I got so excited with the film after watching the trailer. These are the movies I'd love to watch in cinemas. Thanks Jazz for everything.

**Jazz** · 07-01-2007, 05:38 PM

Oh yeah me too! I have no doubts David C has done a fabulous job in turning this into a masterpiece and how could he not with a great leading man?

**Jazz** · 07-03-2007, 06:58 AM

Cronenberg's 'Eastern Promises' Gets a Trailer
by Monika Bartyzel

Just the other day I gave a heads up to the Focus Features preview that included all of their big, upcoming releases -- one of which was David Cronenberg's Eastern Promises, which began filming in November of last year. Now there's a trailer up for the film, which is going into wide release on September 14, instead of the previously-planned limited release. Using the Viggo yet again, Cronenberg's film is about a super-creepy Russian named Nikolai (Mortensen), who is a part of one of London's crime families. Life gets sticky when a midwife named Anna (Naomi Watts), uncovers some potential evidence against the family. The screenplay was written by Stephen Knight, writer of the wonderful Dirty Pretty Things, which got him an Oscar nomination for Best Writing, Original Screenplay in 2002.

The trailer is all kinds of Russian mobster goodness and uber creepiness that starts with a dead body on a wet beach. After a little topless Viggo, the trailer gets into the meat of the story. Anna is dealing with a young girl who has died, and the girl's newborn baby. She finds a journal in the dead girl's handbag, which leads her down a risque Russian path. As per usual movie logic, she decides to get the journal translated and start her own investigation. It looks like Armin Mueller-Stahl is a head mob-guy, Vincent Cassel is a crazy mobster or henchman of some sort and Nickolai is the creepy-looking, but maybe honorable, henchman who gets tangled up with Anna. It's a good trailer, free of any of the typical gimmicks, and just a lot of mysterious shots and creepy music. I'm not the biggest Viggo fan, but this looks like a solid film and a great role for the actor.

**Jazz** · 07-03-2007, 07:04 AM

Last week, within roughly 24 hours of one another, Yahoo! posted new trailers for two separate works about crime. First up was "Eastern Promises," David Cronenberg's first film since his acclaimed "A History of Violence." The second was for Grand Theft Auto IV, the eagerly awaited next generation debut of the Rockstar Games hit franchise. We couldn't help but notice a few similarities between the two trailers, most notably the similarly named protagonists Niko Bellic (Grand Theft Auto IV) and Nikolai Luzhin ("Eastern Promises"); their shared Russian origins; and the two immigrants' shared penchant for violence in their adopted metropolises of Liberty City and London, respectively. The two trailers even have a similar visual tic, saturating the screen with light at key moments. Follow the links below, take a look at the two trailers and see. And if the Housers should ever hire Cronenberg to direct the inevitable Grand Theft Auto movie, we hope they'll consider throwing a finder's fee our way.

**Jazz** · 07-03-2007, 07:05 AM

More violence ahead for Mortensen
Submitted by Jorge Sosa on June 29, 2007 - 11:46am.

Viggo Mortensen is re-teaming with his "A History of Violence" director for another dark crime thriller.

Filmmaker David Cronenberg's latest film, "Eastern Promises," casts Mortenson as a Russian criminal with mob ties.

Naomi Watts ("King Kong," "21 Grams") stars as a London nurse who tries to discover more about a teenager who died under her care while giving birth. Watts uncovers a prostitution ring and crosses paths with Mortensen.

Mortensen's character looks even tougher than the one he played in "A History of Violence." The trailer shows him putting a cigarette out on his own tongue.

"Eastern Promises" opens on Sept. 14.

**Jazz** · 07-03-2007, 07:08 AM

So much buzz for this movie! Just from one trailer, now it's so popular that they are releasing worldwide instead of limited!!!

Eastern Promises Trailer

A couple of days ago we posted a clip from David Cronenberg’s next film Eastern Promises that had managed to find its way on to YouTube. At the time, little was known about the movie despite its September 14th limited release date. Suddenly it’s as if the floodgates have opened on Eastern Promises and a lot more information is suddenly available.

First of all, Focus Features has just changed that September 14th release date from limited to wide. That means Eastern Promises will be playing in most areas. As for the film’s story, it reunites Cronenberg with his History of Violence star Viggo Mortensen as the mysterious Nikolai. Nikolai is a member of Russian organized crime in London, but his life is jarred when he meets Anna (Naomi Watts), who is just an innocent midwife trying to discover the truth behind a death. As she uncovers the truth, she discovers evidence against Nikolai’s family, forcing him into action to protect what he has known but also causing a moral dilemma for the killer between right and wrong.

I get the feeling this is one of those cases where words just don’t do the story justice. Luckily, Yahoo has also released their Exclusive first trailer for the movie. If you want to see what Cronenberg is up to, click here to check it out.

On top of that, we’ve also been given a couple of stills from the upcoming film.

**teena1013** · 07-04-2007, 11:05 PM

it's wonderful that the film is gonna be released worldwide!

we'll have a greater chance to see it here in manila. thanks for the news, jazz.

**Jazz** · 07-05-2007, 06:03 AM

No problem. There is quite the buzz about this movie. I simply cannot wait till it's released so we can get some Oscar buzz too.

I love your icon Teena, loved Princess Diana.