Eastern Promises

Eastern Promises is a crime thriller directed by David Cronenberg and starring Viggo Mortensen. http://www.wildaboutmovies.com/movies/DavidCronenbergsEasternPromisesMovie-EasternPromisesTrailer-ViggoMortensen-NaomiWatts.php In 2008, Mortensen was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar and a Golden Globe for the film, but lost both to Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0765443/awards

London hospital midwife Anna Khitrova discovers the diary of a dead Russian 14 year old teenager , Tatania, who had been brought into the hospital badly bleeding. The doctors had tried to save her life but were only able to save the life of her baby. Anna also finds a card for the Trans-siberian restaurant which is owned by Semyon who is also the boss of the Russian Mafia or vory v zakone in London. As she explores the girl's history and cares for the newborn girl. Her desire to translate the diary from Russian brings her into contact with mafia driver Nikolai, who takes a keen interest in Anna. Through all of this she learns that Semyon and his son Kirill, who is unstable, were responsible for raping the girl and forcing her into a life of prostitution. As the film progresses it is discovered that Nikolai is an undercover operative for the FSB, formerly known as the KGB, and is in London by license of the British Government. Nikolai, having read the diary before Semyon had it destroyed, comes up with a plan that sets Semyon up to be taken down for the rape of Tatiana. When this has been accomplished Nikolai becomes the most powerful member of the London branch of the mob which allows him to become the crime boss and Anna ends up raising the baby. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0765443/synopsis

Eastern Promises appeared on several top ten lists of the Best Films of 2007. Film critic Roger Ebert gave the film four stars and describes the film's climactic fight scene as a benchmark that sets the same standard for fights as The French Connection did for car chases. The film retains an 89% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/eastern_promises/