Eastern Promises

Eastern Promises is a 2007 British-Canadian gangster film directed by David Cronenberg from a screenplay by Steven Knight. The film tells the story of Anna (Naomi Watts), a Russian-British midwife who delivers the baby of a drug-addicted 14-year old trafficked Russian girl who dies in childbirth. After Anna learns that the teen was forced into prostitution by the Russian Mafia in London, the leader of the Russian gangsters (Armin Mueller-Stahl) threatens the baby's life, and Anna is warned off by his menacing henchman (Viggo Mortensen). Principal photography began in November 2006, in locations in and around London. The film has been noted for its treatment of the subject of sex trafficking, and for its violence and realistic depiction of Russian career criminals, which includes detailed portrayal of the tattoos which indicate their crimes and criminal status. Eastern Promises received critical acclaim, appearing on several critics' "top 10 films" lists for 2007 and has since become a cult film. The film has won several awards, including the Audience Prize for best film at the Toronto International Film Festival and the Best Actor award for Mortensen at the British Independent Film Awards. The film received twelve Genie Award nominations and three Golden Globe Award nominations. Mortensen was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor. Plot Anna Khitrova, a Russian-British midwife at a London hospital, finds a Russian-language diary on the body of Tatiana, a teenage girl who dies in childbirth, and a calling card for the Trans-Siberian Restaurant owned by Semyon, an old vor in the Russian mafia. Anna sets out to track down Tatiana's family so that she can find a home for the baby and meets with Semyon, who offers to help. Though Anna's mother, Helen, is open to the idea, Anna's Russian uncle, Stepan, a former KGB officer, urges caution, saying that Tatiana was a prostitute. Anna also gives Semyon a photocopy of the diary. Semyon's driver, Nikolai Luzhin, serves as the family "cleaner" and bodyguard of Kirill, Semyon's son. Kirill, a drunk who repeatedly disappoints Semyon, authorizes an ill-advised hit on a rival Chechen leader with the help of a Kurdish associate, Azim, and without Semyon's approval. Kirill spits on the dead Chechen's body, calling him a pederast, but Nikolai later tells Semyon that the Chechen had been spreading rumors that Kirill is gay. Nikolai removes identifying evidence from the Chechen's body and dumps it in the Thames.