Eastern Promises by Patrick ??? ???

Eastern Promises (2007) – Trivia

To prepare for his role, Viggo Mortensen traveled alone to Moscow, St. Petersburg and the Ural Mountain region of Siberia, where he spent five days driving around without a translator. He read books on the gangs of the vory v zakone (thieves in law), Russian prison culture and the importance of prison tattoos as criminal résumés, and perfected his character’s Siberian accent and learned lines in Russian, Ukrainian and English. During filming, he used worry beads made in prison from melted-down plastic cigarette lighters and decorated his trailer with copies of Russian icons.

It’s a great film.  And though I think it is unrealistic that a midwife would not immediately give the diary of a murdered girl to the police, it works because Naomi Watts is so believably naive. Also, having a foreign father myself, I can see why she would think it perfectly acceptable to arrive unannounced, reveal that she had a Russian father and seek assistance with translation.  I would personally seek help at a church, rather than a restaurant.  But that would not be much of a story.

[Naomi Watts and Vincent Cassell]

Viggo Mortensen and Armin Mueller-Stahl are convincing Russian criminals.  It makes sense for these European faces, Mortensen being half Dutch, and Mueller-Stahl born in Prussia.  Being fascinated by that kind of trivia, I immediately had to see where each person was born, raised, and the ethnicity of their parents.  But that does not speak of their acting ability, which is amazing.  Mueller-Stahl is chilling, and Mortensen disturbing.

[Viggo Mortensen]

Vincent Cassel also does a fine job of looking like a foolish young thug.  Not long into the the file I wanted to smack him around myself.

Related posts:

• Van Damme Movie

Now, spoiler alert.

Houses case raises an interesting social question:  Does it damage us to hide our identity, origin or ethnicity?

The person he and the team attempt to cure turn out to have an illness unique to certain races.  So that would lead the viewer to believe that if they had correctly identified themselves, they might have escaped some of the medical testing that they endured to reach a diagnosis.

I am not suggesting that a television program holds the answer to what ails humanity with a subtle social message.  I just find it a very interesting approach to the topic.  Could hiding ones true self be life or death?

I leave you with a much lighter House quote.

House – Fox Network

HOUSE-ISMS
“World’s full of teenage boys riding bareback.”