Eastern Promises

[EightMilesHigh]

Haven't seen a thread about this yet.

Saw this last night, amazing. A must-see.

Any thoughts?

[Meatplow]

Sounds good.... I am becoming something of a Cronenberg fan myself so might have to rope this one in.

[Kage]

--Possible minor spoilers herein--

On the second watch-through, I really paid attention to the sound and intonations of the Russian language...it's beautiful in a harsh way. That aspect really made me appreciate the film's depth that much more.

What we have here is a story that examines the Russian mob starting from the outside and moving in, becoming ensconced in world where we don't know which characters to love or hate, which to empathize with and which to loathe. The twists in plot are not predictable or sensationalized to the point of cliche, but instead believable and realistic. I love how they turn the tables on the characters at the end--when the respectable fall underneath the grim truth, and the seemingly un-respectable show some true heart. Is family truly the most important thing in this world, or are we moving into a generation where values change dramatically?

Also, Viggo is a total badass as a Russian gangster.

[Luc214]

I liked History Of Violence a lot, and I want see this one.

Haven't seen any other Cronenberg films though.

[planewreck]

--Possible minor spoilers herein--

On the second watch-through, I really paid attention to the sound and intonations of the Russian language...it's beautiful in a harsh way. That aspect really made me appreciate the film's depth that much more.

What we have here is a story that examines the Russian mob starting from the outside and moving in, becoming ensconced in world where we don't know which characters to love or hate, which to empathize with and which to loathe. The twists in plot are not predictable or sensationalized to the point of cliche, but instead believable and realistic. I love how they turn the tables on the characters at the end--when the respectable fall underneath the grim truth, and the seemingly un-respectable show some true heart. Is family truly the most important thing in this world, or are we moving into a generation where values change dramatically?

Also, Viggo is a total badass as a Russian gangster.
-possible spoilers-

Really? There was never a point in the story where I was surprised; the plot twists weren't "cliché," but they were pretty predictable. They worked in context and were well-handled like you said, but there are points within the story when you can call out what Mortensen's true intentions are.

What I came out of the film thinking about was how, with a business so centered around family and being a part of the family, which becomes more important: the family or the family's business? Sometimes the business tarnishes the good name of the family, and sometimes the family tarnishes the good name of the business, so which is worse? Which should be acted upon? These questions never actually seemed to be asked from the film. Cronenberg has a way of never actually underlining his thesis statements, the "message" thrown askew by the natural progression of a story that may end in a predictable fashion that isn't surprising but because we are so used to Hollywood conventions, we didn't think that the route he took was the route he would take.

-end possible spoilers-

As far as the film goes, definitely in my top 10 of the year, which isn't hard considering I haven't see a lot of films, but it would have been anyway. It's just a great film that works under the skin long after it's over.

[A Dead Modernist]

I didnt like History of Violence, but I'll be watching this one on Friday.

[EightMilesHigh]

--Possible minor spoilers herein--

On the second watch-through, I really paid attention to the sound and intonations of the Russian language...it's beautiful in a harsh way. That aspect really made me appreciate the film's depth that much more.

Yess, very much so, the bits in Russian were beautiful. The part in the beginning where the old man picks up the girl's violin reminded me of The Godfather.