Eastern Promises

[U2democrat]

I really want to see this movie, though none of my friends around ehre have any interest in seeing a movie that deals with an underground slave trade


I've been reading good things about it too, so I may go see it on my own tonight.

Anybody else intrigued?

 

[Dalton]

Rarely have i hated a movie as much as I hated A History of Violence, so I doubt I will see this one.

 

[U2democrat]

I never saw that though I wanted to. The plot of this one is more interesting to me though.

 

[U2democrat]

OK nevermind I won't be seeing it tonight, none of the theaters in the area are playing it...

 

[deep]

Rarely have i hated a movie as much as I hated A History of Violence, so I doubt I will see this one.

well. I just heard a review on NPR

and they say it is not as good as HoV

I would have given HoV 4/5 stars

they say there is even more violence in this, i don't like extreme violence, but will still watch if I find the film worth while over all
I look away at those times,




It is opening only in a few theaters this week end

in a couple of weeks it will go wide

So U2dem, we can go then, you drive.

 

[U2democrat]

So U2dem, we can go then, you drive.

As long as you buy the tickets, popcorn and drinks


Yeah I just saw it's being widely released next weekend here, so I can see it then

 

[corianderstem]

I really liked History of Violence and have seen trailers for this one, but haven't heard much about it, like what it's about.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

I think it has to do with the Russian mafia. And Viggo's dick is not in a box

 

[Lancemc]

I've heard wildly mixed reviews about this one, but that's the case with any Cronenberg film. I disliked A History of Violence when I first saw it, but it's grown on a lot on me every time I've seen it since.

There's a chance I'll be seeing this one some time this weekend, hopefully tonight, so I'll be sure to post a review if I do so. Reviews I've seen say it's either one of the best things Cronenberg's done, that it was slightly better than AHOV, worse than AHOV, and I've ever seen it compared to The Godfather.

Only way to know is to see it.

 

[Lancemc]

9:10 showing tonight am confirmed. Huzzah!

 

[lazarus]

Where's your review, pal?

 

[Lancemc]

You mean where's my movie... My friend are fucking terrible with keeping commitments. They want to go see the sneak preview of The Kingdom today now, which I might just do instead. Probably see Eastern Promises Sunday now or sometime next weekend.

 

[Dalton]

So because your friends broke a commitment to you, you felt it was ok to break your commitment to us?

Kids...

 

[Lancemc]

*ashamed*

 

[Dalton]

Fear not. There is forgiveness and grace here.

(The kind that I would bet good money is evident at the end of Eastern Promises - and that folks is what we call a professional segue.)

 

[powerhour24]

If I wasn't so busy this weekend I'd go to it in Boston, but unlike most Septembers there's so many movies ot see and I only have time to check in on Jodie and Terrence kicking ass instead, I'll play catch up next weekend with this, the Hunting Party and Into the Wild.

But this is hardly getting mixed reviews (not that critics normally know what they're doing with a Cronenberg movie) RT has it at 85% and Metacritic at an 83.

Then again they could have panned it and it wouldn't matter to me, been looking forward to this for a long time.

 

[Pearl]

On IMDB, it has a 8.1 out of 10, from 310 voters

Definitely looking forward to seeing it.

 

[powerhour24]

How can you argue with Viggo and Watts together, and a new collaboration from the director/star of AHOV, and the writer of Dirty Pretty Things another excellent crime drama set in London, with the added bonus of vincent Cassell.

 

[ladywithspinninghead]

It won People's Choice Awards at the Toronto Film Festival today

 

[trevster2k]

It won People's Choice Awards at the Toronto Film Festival today

Yeah, but we are a bunch of suckups to our countrymen.

It looks awesome though,

 

[Doozer61]

We're thinking about seeing it this weekend.

 

[lazarus]

Saw it this morning. Viggo was amazing. I don't know that he's ever going to get awards recognition for his acting because he never overplays his characters. You look at Aragorn, Tom Stall in AHOV, or Nikolai, and they're very internalized. You can tell there's a struggle going on in each character, but Viggo doesn't resort to histrionics or a big Acting scene to sell it. Which is refreshing.

I felt that the story seemed to shift to Nikolai and left Anna a bit out in the cold. What's her story? You can chalk this up to a Cronenberg diversion or sloppy screenwriting, I don't know. But while we learned so much about Nikolai, all we know about Anna is that she lost a baby, and that just wasn't enough.

A minor quibble though, I still thought the film was amazing. Of course there's that big fight scene, but it's certainly not the focal point of the film, or even the climax, really. Just a very intriguing piece of work, par for the course with Mr. Cronenberg. Still not sure if I prefer it to AHOV. That one had a perfect, perfect ending and perhaps resonated a bit more.

 

[Lancemc]

Glad to see you liked it so much. Since my plans with friends fell through today (like every other day it seems. ) I think I'm just going to grab my ipod and do a solo run to the 5:00 showing in chinatown.

 

[joyfulgirl]

I saw it last night and hated it. My friend with me loved it. I was at first bored, then disturbed by the violence, then bored again. The ending was dumb and abrupt. I thought it was a mess. I'm surprised by the good reviews. Viggo did have some incredible moments and he's such an amazing actor that I always enjoy watching him, and Naomi Watts is wonderful, too, but overall the film failed for me.

 

[Dalton]

I saw it last night and hated it. My friend with me loved it. I was at first bored, then disturbed by the violence, then bored again. The ending was dumb and abrupt. I thought it was a mess. I'm surprised by the good reviews. Viggo did have some incredible moments and he's such an amazing actor that I always enjoy watching him, and Naomi Watts is wonderful, too, but overall the film failed for me.

That reads like my review of a history of violence.

So its the same movie?

 

[joyfulgirl]

That reads like my review of a history of violence.

So its the same movie?

I actually really liked The History of Violence the first time I saw it, and so when I saw the DVD for cheap I picked it up. When I watched it again, I didn't like it so much. What I liked about HOV when I first saw it was the relationship between the husband and wife (Viggo and Maria Bello), the mystery around his character, the love between them that was real despite the fact that the relationship was revealed to be based on deception, and how the wife was so tortured by these confusing feelings. She loved this man who wasn't who she thought she was, how could she still love him with this devastating new information, how could she change her heart. The second time I saw it, I saw bad guys who were like cartoon characters and it overpowered what was good about the film for me. I didn't buy that Viggo's character could even know how to recreate himself into a warm, loving husband and father, let alone actually become that.

In Eastern Promises, there are more cartoonish bad guys with fake Russian accents but there isn't enough background on anyone to have empathy for them. I wasn't interested in Nikolai. The mystery surrounding him was irritating rather than intriguing. I agree with lazarus about Naomi Watts' character Anna being undeveloped as well. I wanted to care for her and to be on her side but who was she? Who were any of them and why should I care? I thought the wonderful performances by Viggo and Naomi Watts were wasted on a bad script. I couldn't believe it when my friend thought the film was "incredible!" Maybe men like it better?

 

[Lancemc]

I'm not going to do a full review right away, I'll save that for later in the review thread. I just got back.

Incredible film. The script was far from bad, give me a break. I was surprised how concise and deliberate the film's narritive was. I did feel similar to A History of Violence, as this film is very much something I would call a "spiritual successor" to that first film. Having seen AHOV several times since my initial viewing a couple years ago it's definitely grown on me. I still feel the exposition in that film was a little unbalanced, and that the quick changes in narritive were a bit jarring, but that film has definitely grown on me.

Eastern Promises felt like the same film in a way, only shot from a different perspective and all the narritive pieces coalesced more acutely. Outside of that, every scene had its own weight and presence, and the film exhibited a more, as I said, deliberate exposition throughout. This is the clear work of a master filmmaker. Cronenberg excells at telling the story through offering his audience a chance to observe instead of simply be told. Again, hardly a poor script.

Still, I haven't gotten into all the themes of the film, and the Oscar-worthy performances all around, or the scene after scene that held me in awe. I'll get into that at a later time.

At this point though, I think it's safe to say this is my favorite film of the year thus far. An easy 9/10.

On a side note, I got to see the Lust, Caution trailer on the big screen finally, and god damn am I excited for that film.

 

[U2democrat]

I just got back from seeing it, great film

Very heavy, very graphic, but well done. The ending left me wanting more, but I guess that's what it's supposed to do.


Makes me want to go get tattoos


Viggo Mortensen, as usual, does an outstanding job, and he'll probably be overlooked for any award nominations.

I'd also give it 9/10.

 

[Doozer61]

I saw it last night and hated it. My friend with me loved it. I was at first bored, then disturbed by the violence, then bored again. The ending was dumb and abrupt. I thought it was a mess. I'm surprised by the good reviews. Viggo did have some incredible moments and he's such an amazing actor that I always enjoy watching him, and Naomi Watts is wonderful, too, but overall the film failed for me.

I think I might have to agree with you. I felt like the film was hyped up more than it was worth. Although I don't mind the graphic violence, there was something missing for me. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Muldfeld]

I saw this and I was extremely disappointed, after all the praise. I don't think I'll EVER watch another David Cronenberg film again. They're too wierd and violent and sensationalistic -- at least the ones I've seen. I remember wanting to see "Spyder" because it starred Ralph Fiennes and especially John Neville because he had been on The X-Files (Not the best reason; I know.) all through undergrad because I couldn't see it in the cinema because no one would go with me (I now go alone if I have to) or I didn't have time, and then found it impossible to find at many video stores. I finally saw it and didn't find it anything special. It was just a thriller. Same with "History of Violence" and its cliche TV movie plot, and now with this film.

None of the characters feel very real. It felt like a typically low-budget Canadian film (and I guess it was in part) that tried to make up for its unAmericanness with sensationalism and melodrama; Atom Egoyan films and Sarah Polley's directorial debut "Away from Her" do this, too, though they're far more pretentious. I just didn't really like the characters. Some of the dialogue and especially the way characters related to each other and moved was very stiff. Maybe he meant it that way or thought it was cool. All I know is that it so full of its own heavy self-seriousness and thought it was much more moving than it was, ......

SPOILER


..... from Naomi Watts' connection to a child because she'd had a miscarriage to especially the stereotypical Eastern European mother who died's monologue. The prostitute scene was unnecessarily sensationalistic, too, and the generosity Viggo showed her after the emotionless screw was something I'd already read almost a decade ago with more believability from a piece of X-Files fan fiction, in which a horny Mulder has sex with a prostitute that looks like Scully (even calling her Scully) before coldly giving her the plentiful amount of money he had in his wallet which would allow her to not work for a month.

These elements could have worked better if given more subtlety, but they were handled so poorly I just found their use contrived, convoluted, and silly. The way the Russian mobster cried over having to kill the baby instead of killing it wasn't terribly believable, and him turning out gay and not "evil" wasn't exactly a mind-blowing moment, though you could tell it was meant to be.

The fight scene was good for a Canadian film but predictable. You could tell they weren't going to stab him as the "bad guys" actions slowed when approaching Viggo's body with a blade; it must have been very hard for him to do stunt work around even a fake blade for fear of being cut, though.



END SPOILER


I don't care what future critics say, I'm done with David Cronenberg.

Anyway, if the rest of you like it, good and I don't mean to hurt the feelings of anyone who loved it; at least you didn't feel you wasted your time or money. I DID think it was better than history of violence and a few twists were entertaining.