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93-515: 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 Ukrainian girl who dies in childbirth. After Anna learns that the teen was forced into prostitution by the Russian Mafia in London ,

186-509: A paternity test of Tatiana's baby as evidence, which will also allow Nikolai to take over the mafia. When Anna confronts Nikolai, he tells her that Stepan is staying in Edinburgh for his own protection. Anna spots Kirill entering a lift and finds that Tatiana's baby is gone, replaced with a bouquet of roses. She and Nikolai then rush to the spot on the Thames where Nikolai had previously disposed of

279-444: A Cuban exile and ambitious newcomer to Miami who sees an opportunity to build his own drug empire. Abel Ferrara 's 1990 King of New York tells the story of Frank White, ( Christopher Walken ) and his return to New York City from prison. He navigates both the traditional Italian mafia authorities as well as the new cartels, as they are producing, smuggling and distributing cocaine in an uneasy business alliance. An early example of

372-528: A Grade I listed structure known as the Norman Shaw Buildings . The original building at 4 Whitehall Place still has a rear entrance on Great Scotland Yard. Stables for some of the mounted branch still stand at 7 Great Scotland Yard, across the street from the first headquarters. The headquarters of the Metropolitan Police were moved to 8–10 Broadway in 1967, in a new building constructed on

465-621: A Russian Mafia specialist, Gilly McKenzie (organised crime specialist for the UN) and also consulted a documentary on the subject called The Mark of Cain (2000). The tattoos that he wore, according to the New York Daily News , were so realistic that diners in a Russian restaurant in London fell silent out of fear, until Mortensen revealed his identity and admitted the tattoos were for a film. From that day on he washed off his tattoos whenever he went off

558-497: A Scotland Yard Detective, explores Hyde's loft in Soho and discovers evidence of his depraved life. Alfred Hitchcock 's 1929 thriller film Blackmail (widely considered the first British " talkie ") features a Scotland Yard Detective Frank Webber (played by John Longden ). Scotland Yard appears in the 1972 episode of Columbo , "Dagger of the Mind". Columbo visits Scotland Yard to study

651-485: A bigger headquarters. Further increases in the size and responsibilities of the force required even more administrators and space. Therefore, new buildings were constructed and completed in 1906 and 1940, so that New Scotland Yard became a three-building complex. ( 51°30′07″N 0°07′28″W  /  51.50183°N 0.12446°W  / 51.50183; -0.12446  ( Norman Shaw South Building (extension to New Scotland Yard) ) ). The first two buildings are now

744-455: A biographical mafia film distributed by Netflix , The Irishman , starring all three heavyweights in the genre, Robert De Niro as Frank "The Irishman" Sheeran , Al Pacino as Jimmy Hoffa and Joe Pesci as Russell Bufalino . In 2021, The Many Saints of Newark was released, as a prequel to David Chase 's HBO New Jersey Italian mafia series, The Sopranos . Directed by Alan Taylor and produced by David Chase and Lawrence Konner ,

837-627: A cinema vérité story of a young aspiring mobster and his problem-gambler friend, played by Robert De Niro . In 1974, Sam Peckinpah directed Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia , about the Mexican mob, family honor, and the opportunistic Bennie ( Warren Oates ), friend of the eponymous Alfredo Garcia, looking to make a big score when the chance drops in his lap. Bonnie and Clyde was one of 1967's biggest box office hits and garnered 2 Academy Awards and 8 other nominations, including best picture. It, along with

930-475: A full member, due in part to his protection of Kirill. The dead Chechen's brothers arrive in London seeking vengeance and kill Azim's mentally handicapped nephew, whom Azim had forced to kill the Chechen. Azim confesses his role in the hit to Semyon; he forgives him in exchange for participating in a plan to save Kirill. Azim lures Nikolai into a meeting at a public baths. The Chechens, who are deceived into believing he

1023-499: A gangster who balances "Kung Fu honor" and the materialistic goals of the Triads. It was the all-time biggest grossing Hong Kong film at the box office and was critically acclaimed. Woo followed with a string of successes, including The Killer , Bullet in the Head , and Hard Boiled . Soviet propaganda has always said that organized crime exists only in the West. With the dissolution of

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1116-462: A graphically violent fight scene in a steam bath where the combatants wield linoleum knives . When asked in an interview about the difference between " gun violence " and "knife violence," Cronenberg replied, "We have no guns in this movie. There were no guns in the script. The choice of those curved knives we use in the steam bath was mine. They're not some kind of exotic Turkish knives, they're linoleum knives. I felt that these guys could walk around in

1209-468: A hit. This movie about four friends was made in the road movie style. In 2006, Buslov released the sequel Bimmer 2  [ ru ] . In 2005, Aleksei Balabanov returned to the theme of gangster cinema and filmed a black comedy Dead Man's Bluff . In 2010, Balabanov returned to the theme of bandits in The Stoker . In 2010, The Alien Girl was released by Anton Bormatov. Russian television shows

1302-471: A lot of series about bandits, however, they are mostly of poor quality. A great success was the 2002 mini-series Brigada , which received cult status. Scotland Yard Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard ) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police , the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London 's 32 boroughs . Its name derives from the location of

1395-411: A much darker neo-noir tone, a more fatalistic story, and a more gritty and violent portrayal of gangster life. The early 2000s saw a resurgence of British gangster films, popularised by director Guy Ritchie 's black comedy ensemble caper films Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) and Snatch (2000), and by Jonathan Glazer 's Sexy Beast (2000). Notable British gangster films from

1488-546: A reference to the ongoing Writers Guild of America strike . On February 12, 2008, the strike ended, and he attended the ceremony, although he lost the award to Daniel Day-Lewis for There Will Be Blood . Eastern Promises received twelve nominations at the 28th Genie Awards , tying with the film Shake Hands with the Devil for most nominations, and won seven, Best Supporting Actor (Mueller-Stahl), Screenplay, Cinematography, Editing, Musical Score, Overall Sound, Sound Editing. It

1581-681: A remake of the 1932 original , by Brian De Palma , and 1990's Goodfellas by Martin Scorsese . The rise and fall of a mobster in a classic gangster film is often a thematic trope . In the 1970s, as genre theory came to the focus of academic study and the creation of a more specific taxonomy of genres was defined, gangster films started being distinguished from other subgenres, especially that of western. The genre has been predominantly defined by its historical, ideological, and sociocultural context. Three main categories of gangster films can be distinguished, according to Martha Nochimson: films that follow

1674-670: 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 rumours that Kirill is gay. Nikolai removes identifying evidence from the Chechen's body and dumps it in the Thames . When Stepan finishes translating the diary, Anna learns that Semyon raped Tatiana after Kirill failed to do so, explaining that he would show Kirill how to "break" her. The diary also states that Semyon gave her pills to induce an abortion , and Anna realizes that

1767-539: A sequel was in the works, which would reunite director Cronenberg, writer Knight, and actor Mortensen. The film was said to be made by Webster's new production company Shoebox Films in collaboration with Focus Features and was to begin production in early 2013. That August, however, Cronenberg stated that Eastern Promises 2 was "dead": "We were supposed to start shooting 'Eastern Promises 2' in October ... [But] It's done. If you don't like it talk to James Schamus at Focus. It

1860-689: A site that also bordered onto Victoria Street. In 2008, the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) bought the freehold of 10 Broadway for around £120 million. 10 Broadway was sold to the Abu Dhabi Financial Group in December 2014 for £370 million, and redevelopment plans for a six-building, mixed-use development were approved in February 2016. Ownership was officially passed from the MPA to

1953-559: A young Vito Corleone . The lesson of the films' successes was not wasted on Hollywood. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, the studios issued a steady flow of films about Italian American gangsters and the Mafia. Some of these were critically acclaimed. Scorsese's Goodfellas about Henry Hill 's life and relationship with the Lucchese and Gambino crime families, was nominated for six Academy Awards , including Best Picture and Best Director and won

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2046-425: Is ... like Ray Bradbury 's Illustrated Man ... only more dangerous" and "scarily enigmatic." Vognar wrote that Eastern Promises shares themes of "ambiguous identity and rage-soaked duality" with A History of Violence and said both films "have a lock-step precision and both take a sly kind of joy in subverting genre expectations." Vognar said Eastern Promises "is a little too mechanical for its own good ... but

2139-510: Is Kirill, ambush Nikolai. He manages to kill both hitmen, but is seriously wounded and taken to Anna's hospital. Yuri, a high-ranking Scotland Yard officer investigating the Russian mafia, meets Nikolai in the hospital. It is revealed that Nikolai is actually an undercover FSB agent working under license from the British government. Nikolai tells Yuri to have Semyon arrested on a charge of rape, with

2232-690: Is a stark portrayal of a young gang leader and the racketeers in Brighton. It has been recognized as one of the greatest UK films ever by the British Film Institute . The late 1960s to early 70s saw a brief boom in British gangster films, alongside spy films and heist films , mirroring similar trends in Hollywood, Italy and elsewhere. Some films from this era took a lighthearted comedic approach to crime stories, like The Italian Job (1969), while others like Villain and Get Carter (both 1971) had

2325-760: Is considered to have begun with Fukasaku's Battles Without Honor and Humanity (1972), a violent, realistic portrayal of post-war gangs in the ruins of Hiroshima . Prior to Battles , the films of Seijun Suzuki had departed from the ninkyo eiga formula, but had met with limited commercial success. Suzuki's Branded to Kill later inspired other directors in the gangster film genre, including John Woo , Chan-wook Park and Quentin Tarantino . Indian cinema has several genres of gangster films. Examples include: The Hong Kong gangster film genre began with 1986's A Better Tomorrow , directed by John Woo and starring Chow Yun Fat . Woo's tale of counterfeiters portrays

2418-503: Is no ordinary director", and said that "Cronenberg has moved film by film into the top rank of directors, and here he wisely reunites with Mortensen" who "digs so deeply into the role you may not recognize him at first." Ebert said the film has a fight scene that "sets the same kind of standard that The French Connection set for chases. Years from now, it will be referred to as a benchmark." J. Hoberman of The Village Voice said "I've said it before and hope to again: David Cronenberg

2511-504: Is the most provocative, original, and consistently excellent North American director of his generation." Hoberman said the film is "directed with considerable formal intelligence and brooding power" and continues the trend of "murderous family dramas" seen in Spider and A History of Violence . Hoberman called the film "graphic but never gratuitous in its violence", "garish yet restrained", "a masterful mood piece", "deceptively generic" and said

2604-409: Is violence — hideous, gruesome, over-the-top violence." Westbrook said "For Cronenberg, such cheap sensationalism is business as usual, and this far into his career, that business has slipped into artistic bankruptcy." Westbrook wrote the film "isn't about Russian gangs so much as Cronenberg's own dark passions not just for violence but excruciating carnage, which he brandishes mercilessly" and that

2697-553: The Academy Award for Best Picture . A 2018 biographical mafia film, Gotti , directed by Kevin Connolly , stars John Travolta as John Gotti, released in June. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes , the film holds an approval rating of 0% based on 38 reviews, and an average rating of 2.3/10. The website's critical consensus reads, " Fuhgeddaboudit ." In 2019, Martin Scorsese released

2790-577: The Bonanno crime family of New York City during the 1970s. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay . In 2006, Scorsese released The Departed , his adaptation of Infernal affairs , the Hong Kong film. The Departed was also loosely based on the Whitey Bulger story, and Boston's Winter Hill Gang , which Bulger led. It earned Scorsese an Academy Award for Best Director , and won

2883-575: The Chicago Outfit , that ran multiple casinos in Las Vegas during the 1970s and 1980s. The film was De Niro's third mob film of the 1990s, following Goodfellas (1990) and A Bronx Tale (1993). In 1996, Armand Assante starred in the television film Gotti as infamous New York mobster, John Gotti . In 1997's Donnie Brasco , Pacino starred alongside Johnny Depp in the true story of undercover FBI agent Joseph Pistone and his infiltration of

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2976-645: The City of London Police , and excluding also the London Underground and National Rail networks, which are the responsibility of the British Transport Police . The Metropolitan Police was formed by Robert Peel with the implementation of the Metropolitan Police Act , passed by Parliament in 1829. Peel, with the help of Eugène-François Vidocq , selected the original site on Whitehall Place for

3069-519: The London Borough of Kensington & Chelsea . The "Trans-Siberian Restaurant" is located in The Farmiloe Building , 34 St John Street , next to Smithfield Market . This is the 6th most popular film and TV location in London, having also been used for Spooks , Penelope and Batman Begins . When Anna, her mother Helen, and her uncle Stepan meet Nikolai at a fast food restaurant, this

3162-436: The Lucchese crime family Henry Hill . It was one of the most notable gangster films of the 1990s. Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci also starred in the film, with Pesci earning an Academy Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. The film was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, making Goodfellas one of the most critically acclaimed crime films of all time. In 1990, The Godfather Part III

3255-460: The Oscar for Best Picture , as well as the award for Best Actor for Marlon Brando and is widely considered one of the greatest American films of all time . In 1974, The Godfather Part II became the fifth-highest-grossing film of the year and garnered 11 Academy Award nominations . It again won Best Picture. Coppola won Best Director and Robert De Niro won best supporting actor for his portrayal of

3348-601: The 1960s onward include: Films about the Kray Twins (active in the 1950s and 60s) include: Richard Burton 's character in Villain (1971) was also loosely based on Ronnie Kray . The ninkyo eiga (chivalry films) were replaced in the late 1960s and early 1970s by a new style, pioneered by Kinji Fukasaku and inspired by the French New Wave and American Film noir called Jitsuroku eiga (true record films). The new style

3441-789: The 20th century. It took African American producers and directors of the 1990s like John Singleton , Spike Lee and the Hughes Brothers to begin exploring the criminal lifestyle in American urban communities, telling stories of drugs, gang culture, gang violence, racism and poverty in African American communities. Examples of films from the 1990s fitting the African-American gangster genre include Boyz N The Hood , Menace II Society and New Jack City . Brian De Palma 's 1983 remake of Scarface stars Al Pacino as Tony Montana ,

3534-658: The Abu Dhabi Financial Group when the relocation was completed on 31 October 2016; the building began demolition later that year. In May 2013 the Metropolitan Police confirmed that the New Scotland Yard building on Broadway would be sold and the force's headquarters would be moved back to the Curtis Green Building on the Victoria Embankment. A competition was announced for architects to redesign

3627-599: The Audience Prize for best film on September 15, 2007. Eastern Promises opened in limited release in Russia on September 13, 2007. In the United States and Canada, the film opened in limited release in 15 theatres on September 14, 2007, and grossed $ 547,092 — averaging $ 36,472 per theater. The film opened in wide release in the United States and Canada on September 21, 2007, (expanding to 1,404 theaters) and ranked #5 at

3720-641: The Casbah . Its distribution in America was blocked by the US-makers of its 1938 remake Algiers . French gangster films appeared again in the mid-1950s, most notably Jacques Becker 's Touchez pas au grisbi , American blacklisted filmmaker Jules Dassin 's Rififi and Jean-Pierre Melville 's Bob le flambeur . Melville would directed 1967's Le Samouraï starring Alain Delon as mob hitman Jef Costello. 1969 and 1970 saw

3813-821: The Chechen's body and find Kirill sitting by the river, working up the courage to throw in his baby sister. Nikolai and Anna persuade him to give the baby back and Nikolai embraces Kirill, telling him that Semyon is finished, and that they will now be bosses together. Soon after, Nikolai succeeds Semyon as head of the organization, and Anna gains custody of Tatiana's baby, whom she names Christine. Shooting began in November 2006, and various scenes were filmed in St John Street, Farringdon , London . Filming also took place in Broadway Market , Hackney and in Brompton Cemetery in

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3906-505: The Gallic gangster film is Maurice Tourneur ’s 1935 film Justin de Marseille set in Marseille . Tourneur's gangster-hero differentiates from his American equivalent by valuing honour, artisanship, community and solidarity. Four years before of the rise of film noir , in 1937, Julien Duvivier created Pépé le Moko , a French gangster film in the style of poetic realism that takes place in

3999-540: The Soviet Union , people of Russia had to face the fact of what they used to previously read only in newspapers. Gang wars accompanied the formation of a free market in Russia. This decade in Russia received the name of the "Dashing 90s" ( Russian : Лихие 90-е , translit. Lihie devyanostye ). In 1997, director Aleksei Balabanov released Brother which acquired cult status, and started to return interest of local people to Russian cinema, which had been in crisis since

4092-557: The United Kingdom on October 26, 2007. The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 89% based on 200 reviews, with an average rating 7.60/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "David Cronenberg triumphs again, showcasing the Viggo Mortensen's onscreen prowess in a daring performance. Bearing the trademarks of psychological drama and gritty violence, Eastern Promises is a very compelling crime story." On Metacritic ,

4185-623: The Victoria Embankment, overlooking the River Thames , south of what is now the Ministry of Defence 's headquarters. In 1888, during the construction of the new building, workers discovered the dismembered torso of a female; the case, known as the ' Whitehall Mystery ', was never solved. In 1890, police headquarters moved to the new location, which was named New Scotland Yard. By this time, the Metropolitan Police had grown from its initial 1,000 officers to about 13,000 and needed more administrative staff and

4278-443: The abuses suffered by the common people, often at the hands of the corrupt powers that be. The so-called "Chivalry movies" of the 1960s gave way to the violent realism of Kinji Fukasaku , whose 1973 Battles Without Honor and Humanity would inspire future filmmakers across the globe. In 1931 and 1932, three of the most enduring gangster films were ever produced. Scarface , Little Caesar and The Public Enemy remain as three of

4371-536: The award for Best Supporting Actor for Joe Pesci 's performance. Italian-American film Once Upon a Time in America directed by Sergio Leone about David "Noodles" Aaronson played by Robert De Niro is considered one of the best gangster films of all time. The 1987 film The Untouchables was nominated for four Academy Awards . Sean Connery won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in his role as an associate of Eliot Ness who helped bring down Al Capone . Others, however, strayed into stereotypes and

4464-447: The baby and meets Semyon, who offers to help. Though Anna's mother, Helen, is open to the idea, Anna's Russian uncle, Stepan, a former KGB functionary, 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

4557-454: The baby was fathered by Semyon. Meanwhile, Semyon realizes that Anna knows the truth and visits her in hospital. They made a deal: Anna gives him the diary in exchange for the location of the girl's family. Later, Anna, Stepan and Helen meets Nikolai in a fast-food restaurant. Nikolai takes the diary but denies knowing about the deal. Semyon then orders Nikolai to kill Stepan, who soon goes missing. As Nikolai rises in rank, Semyon sponsors him as

4650-728: The blame from the criminal's shoulders, onto a cruel society in which success is difficult. At the end of the 1930s, crime films became more figurative, representing metaphors, as opposed to the more straight forward films produced earlier in the decade, showing an increasing interest in offering a thought provoking message about criminal character. With the abolition of the Hays Code in the late 1960s, studios and filmmakers found themselves free to produce films dealing with subject matter that had previously been off-limits. Early examples include Arthur Penn 's 1967 depression-era tale of Bonnie and Clyde . In 1973's Mean Streets , Scorsese directed

4743-555: The box office, grossing $ 5,659,133 — an average of $ 4,030 per theater. The film has grossed $ 56,106,607 worldwide as of March 17, 2019 — $ 17,266,000 in the United States and Canada and $ 38,840,607 in other territories. The film took part in competition at the San Sebastian Film Festival September 20, 2007. The film was shown at the London Film Festival on October 17, 2007, and was released in

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4836-590: The building prior to the Metropolitan Police moving to it in 2015. This building previously housed the Territorial Policing headquarters and is adjacent to the original New Scotland Yard (Norman Shaw North Building). In December 2015 construction work on the exterior of the Curtis Green building was completed. On 31 October 2016, the Metropolitan Police staff left the building at 10 Broadway and moved to their new headquarters. The new New Scotland Yard building

4929-479: The depiction of bootlegging is a frequent occurrence in many early mob films. As the 1930s progressed, Hollywood also experimented with the stories of rural criminals and bank robbers, such as John Dillinger , Baby Face Nelson , and Pretty Boy Floyd . The success of these characters in film can be attributed to their value as news subjects, as their exploits often thrilled the people of a nation who had become weary with inefficient government and apathy in business. As

5022-738: The 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

5115-406: The earliest films, reflecting doubts about how well the American system was working. As stated, many films pushed the message that criminals were the result of a poor moral and economic society, and many criminal protagonists are portrayed as having foreign backgrounds or coming from the lower class. Thus, the film criminal is often able to evoke sympathy and admiration from the viewer, who often shift

5208-452: The early 1990s. In 2000 came the sequel Brother 2 , which was even more successful. In 2001, actor Sergei Bodrov Jr. , who played a major role in both of those films, released Sisters , which was his directorial debut. Other notable films of those years were Antikiller (2002) by Yegor Konchalovsky and Tycoon (2002) by Pavel Lungin . In 2004, Pyotr Buslov, a young 26-year-old director, released Bimmer , which instantly became

5301-547: The escapades of outlaw rebels, such as Bonnie and Clyde , melodramas of villain gangsters against whom the in-story victims and the audience identify, such as Key Largo and, most predominantly in the genre, films following an outsider, immigrant gangster protagonist, with whom the audience identifies. The first Japanese films about the Yakuza evolved from the Tendency films of the 1930s. They featured historical tales of outlaws and

5394-440: The film "suggests a naturalized version of the recent Russian horror flick Night Watch ." When describing the cast, Hoberman said "Mueller-Stahl may be perfunctory ... but Vincent Cassel literally flings himself into [his role]" and "Mortensen is even more electrifying as Nikolai than in A History of Violence ". Chris Vognar of The Dallas Morning News gave the film a "B+" and said "The film's genius performance belongs to

5487-462: The film failed to win any. The film was nominated in five different categories in the British Independent Film Awards for 2007, and won in one category: Best Performance by an Actor in a British Independent Film (for Mortensen). Mortensen was also nominated for Academy Award for Best Actor at the 80th Academy Awards , but told the Associated Press: "If there's a strike I will not go." —

5580-554: The film focuses on the young future mafia boss Tony Soprano , with the 1967 Newark riots as a backdrop. Apart from telling their own tales of African American gangsters in syndicates, films like Black Caesar feature the Italian mafia prominently. Often the blaxploitation films of the 1970s such as Shaft tell the tale of African American gangsters rising up and defeating the established white criminal order. African Americans were under-represented in filmmaking roles during much of

5673-466: The film has a weighted average score of 82 out of 100, based on 35 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". Todd McCarthy of Variety , David Elliott of The San Diego Union-Tribune , and film critic Tony Medley noted the twists in the film. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film four out of four stars and wrote " Eastern Promises is no ordinary crime thriller, just as Cronenberg

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5766-433: The film was "a stifling descent into grim shock and disturbing awe." Eastern Promises won the Audience Prize for best film on September 15, 2007, at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival . The film received three Golden Globe nominations for the 65th Golden Globe Awards , being nominated for Best Motion Picture - Drama , Best Original Score and a Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama nomination for Mortensen, but

5859-531: The film's other estimable elements breathe through." Toumarkine also said the film is "essentially a character-driven crime thriller but is also a bloody tour de force laced with considerable nudity and sexually bold content that will rattle the squeamish." Bruce Westbrook of the Houston Chronicle gave the film one star out of four and said it had a "contrived plot" and wrote "what it's really about, more than sensitivity for displaced people or social analyses,

5952-488: The films imply that criminals are the creation of society, rather than its rebel, and considering the troublesome and bleak time of the 1930s, that argument carries significant weight. Often the best gangster films are closely tied to the reality of crime, reflecting public interest in a particular aspect of criminal activity. Thus, the gangster film is in a sense, a history of crime in the United States. The institution of Prohibition in 1920 led to an explosion in crime, and

6045-565: The films were domestic successes, and Borsalino was popular elsewhere in Europe. None of them, however, broke through in the United States. Various British film noir and crime dramas from the 1930s, 40s and 50s were set in the underworld with gangster or racketeer character, such as Night and the City (1950). The 1947 adaptation of the Graham Greene novel by the same name, Brighton Rock ,

6138-625: The gratuitous use of Italian ethnicity in minor characters who happened to be criminals. This created a backlash in a portion of the Italian American community. In the 1990s there were several critically acclaimed mob films, many of which were loosely based on real crimes and their perpetrators. Many of these films featured long-time actors, well known for their roles as mobsters such as Al Pacino , Robert De Niro , Joe Pesci and Chazz Palminteri . In 1990, Goodfellas , directed by Martin Scorsese , starred Ray Liotta as real-life associate of

6231-462: The greatest examples of the genre. However, starting in the mid-1930s, the Hays Code and its requirements for all criminal action to be punished, and all authority figures to be treated with respect, made gangster films scarce for the next three decades. Politics combined with the social and economic climate of the time, influenced how crime films were made, and how the characters were portrayed. Many of

6324-593: The investigative techniques they use in London before becoming involved as a consultant for a murder case. In Monty Python 's 1969 comedy sketch " The Funniest Joke in the World ", Graham Chapman plays a Scotland Yard Inspector who leaves the house with the joke in hand before dying from laughter. Scotland Yard as also appeared in the Professor Layton series as supporting characters, which Layton helped them solving many cases. Inspector Chelmey and Constable Barton are

6417-418: The key ingredients that make Eastern Promises a highly delectable and cinematically rich borsht that upscale film fans will devour." She described Mortensen's performance as "startling," called Watts "touching," Cassel "particularly delicious," but said "Mueller-Stahl, Cusack , and Skolimowski don't have as much to chew on." She said the film "is also blessed by Howard Shore 's restrained score, which lets

6510-410: 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

6603-565: The list from 1933 to 1966, 1949's White Heat . This was at least partly due to the limitations on the genre imposed by the Hays Code , which was abandoned in favor of the Motion Picture Association of America film rating system in 1968. Beginning in the 1960s, the genre was revitalized in the New Hollywood movement. New Hollywood directors were honored with 5 of the top 6 films on the list—1967's Bonnie and Clyde by Arthur Penn , 1972's The Godfather and 1974's The Godfather Part II both by Francis Ford Coppola , 1983's Scarface ,

6696-477: The mechanics also produce an admirable crispness and sense of purpose, a sense that the man behind the camera knows exactly what he's doing at all times." Film Journal International critic Doris Toumarkine said the film is a "highly entertaining but sometimes revolting look at a particularly venal branch of the Russian mob ." Toumarkine wrote that Mortensen and Watts "are intriguing moral counterpoints. They are also

6789-413: The most exhilaratingly visceral patches of cinema, period, full stop." Chicago Sun-Times critic Roger Ebert noted Cronenberg's quote and agreed, saying: "He is correct that it would be fatal, because this is not a movie of what or how, but of why. And for a long time you don't see the why coming." The film premiered on September 8, 2007, at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival where it won

6882-595: The name for police activity in London. The force moved from Great Scotland Yard in 1890, to a newly completed building on the Victoria Embankment , and the name "New Scotland Yard" was adopted for the new headquarters. An adjacent building was completed in 1906. A third building was added in 1940. In 1967 the MPS consolidated its headquarters from the three-building complex to a tall, newly constructed "New Scotland Yard" building on Broadway in nearby Victoria . In 2013, it

6975-447: The new police headquarters. The first two commissioners , Charles Rowan and Richard Mayne , along with various police officers and staff, occupied the building. Previously a private house, 4 Whitehall Place ( 51°30′22″N 0°07′34″W  /  51.50598°N 0.12609°W  / 51.50598; -0.12609  ( Original Scotland Yard - 4 Whitehall Place ) ) backed onto a street called Great Scotland Yard . This building

7068-536: The newly formed FBI increased in power, there was a shift to favour the stories of the FBI agents hunting the criminals, instead of focusing on the criminal characters. In 1935, at the height of the hunt for Dillinger, the Production Code office issued an order that no film should be made about Dillinger, for fear of further glamorizing his character. Many of the 1930s crime films dealt with class and ethnic conflict, notably

7161-711: The original Metropolitan Police headquarters at 4 Whitehall Place, which had its main public entrance on the Westminster street called Great Scotland Yard . The Scotland Yard entrance became the public entrance, and over time "Scotland Yard" came to be used not only as the common name of the headquarters building, but also as a metonym for the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) itself and police officers, especially detectives, who serve in it. The New York Times wrote in 1964 that, just as Wall Street gave its name to New York's financial district, Scotland Yard became

7254-565: The original script, the name was "Ozim's Hair Salon", but it was later changed to "Azim's" as there is no such name as Ozim in Turkish . The "Trafalgar Hospital" is actually the Middlesex Hospital , a hospital in the Fitzrovia area of London, which closed to patients in December 2005. The building in central London, which was knocked down in 2008, had the inscription 'Trafalgar Hospital', matching

7347-510: The others, were overshadowed by Francis Ford Coppola's Godfather saga. In 1972, Francis Ford Coppola 's The Godfather was released. The epic story of the Corleone family , its generational transition from post-prohibition to post-war, its fratricidal intrigues, and its tapestry of mid-century America's criminal underworld became a huge critical and commercial success. It accounted for nearly 10% of gross proceeds for all films for 1972. It won

7440-673: The public. Scotland Yard has appeared in books, films and television since the Victorian era when it featured in the Jack the Ripper cases and the stories of Sherlock Holmes . Wilkie Collins 's novel The Moonstone (1868), a tale of a Scotland Yard Detective investigating the theft of a valuable diamond, has been described as perhaps the earliest clear example of the police procedural genre. In Robert Louis Stevenson 's gothic novella Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886), Inspector Newcomen,

7533-750: The release of three successful French gangster films featuring the day's biggest French movie stars. All three films featured good looking star Alain Delon . In 1969, Jean Gabin , Delon, and Lino Ventura starred in Le clan des siciliens , about a jewel thief and the Mafia . In 1970, Borsalino , a tale of the Italian Mafia in 1930 Marseilles, featured Delon, along with Jean-Paul Belmondo . In 1970, in Le Cercle Rouge , Delon, Gian Maria Volonté , and Yves Montand team up to rob an impenetrable jewelry store. All three of

7626-456: The set. Mortensen said of the significance of the tattoos: I talked to them [authentic gangsters and Gilly McKenzie] about what they meant and where they were on the body, what that said about where they'd been, what their specialties were, what their ethnic and geographical affiliations were. Basically their history, their calling card, is their body. Consistent with the trademark violence in much of Cronenberg's work, Eastern Promises features

7719-497: The streets with these knives, and if they were ever caught, they could say 'we're linoleum cutters'." Adam Nayman of Eye Weekly reported that director Cronenberg said "just don't give the plot away" and Nayman wrote "his request is understandable." Nayman said "there is one scene – the in-depth discussion of which prompted the director's anti-spoiler request referenced at the top of this story – that should rank not only in his personal pantheon of spectacularly deployed gore but among

7812-577: The style and apparent age of the old Middlesex Hospital, inserted into the legend above the main door. The fight scene in the Turkish Baths was filmed on a custom set based on the Ironmonger Row Baths in Islington . Eastern Promises was David Cronenberg's first film to be shot entirely outside Canada. Viggo Mortensen studied Russian gangsters and their tattoos. Mortensen spent a lot of time with

7905-457: The venerable Armin Mueller-Stahl , who plays the family head with a twinkling eye and an air of avuncular, Old World charm." Vognar wrote "Where some may see melodrama, Mr. Cronenberg locates timeless, elemental struggles between good and evil, right and wrong. But he makes sure to place a mysterious gray area front and center, personified here by Mr. Mortensen's Nikolai", writing "Nikolai Luzhin

7998-703: Was acquired by hypermarkets operator Lulu Group International in 2015 and redeveloped into a luxury hotel, operated by Hyatt , which opened in December 2019. By 1887, the Metropolitan Police headquarters had expanded from 4 Whitehall Place into several neighbouring addresses, including 3, 5, 21 and 22 Whitehall Place; 8 and 9 Great Scotland Yard, and several stables. Eventually, the service outgrew its original site, and new headquarters designed by architect Richard Norman Shaw were built ( 51°30′08″N 0°07′29″W  /  51.50222°N 0.12463°W  / 51.50222; -0.12463  ( New Scotland Yard - Norman Shaw North Building (second location) ) ) on

8091-583: Was also the last TIFF People's Choice Award winner to not win any of its Oscar nominations until Steven Spielberg 's The Fabelmans in 2022. The film appeared on many critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2007. Speaking in August 2010, Cassel said that a sequel was discussed with Cronenberg whilst they were filming A Dangerous Method . Cassel suggested that the sequel will be filmed in Russia with Cassel and Mortensen reprising their roles. In April 2012, producer Paul Webster told Screen International that

8184-464: Was announced that the force would move again to the Victoria Embankment at Westminster's Curtis Green Building , which following tradition was renamed "New Scotland Yard". This move to the latest New Scotland Yard was completed in 2016. The Metropolitan Police Service is responsible for law enforcement within Greater London , excluding the square mile of the City of London , which is covered by

8277-517: Was filmed in Bermondsey , south-east London at a Wimpy bar. The entrance to the "Ankara Social Club" of the film is actually the front door of a residential flat. The Broadway Market hair dresser known as "Broadway Gents Hairstylist" was changed to "Azim's Hair Salon", where in the film one of the Russians is murdered. The owner Mr. Ismail Yesiloglu decided to keep most of the shop front after filming. In

8370-695: Was his decision." On December 2, 2020, Knight revealed that the sequel became the upcoming separate Martin Zandvliet film Small Dark Look starring Jason Statham . Interviews Gangster film In 2008, the American Film Institute defines the genre as "centered on organized crime or maverick criminals in a twentieth century setting". The institute named it one of the 10 "classic genres" in its 10 Top 10 list, released in 2008. The list recognizes 3 films from 1931 & 1932, Scarface , The Public Enemy & Little Caesar . Only 1 film made

8463-472: Was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor . 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

8556-734: Was released. Al Pacino reprised his role as the iconic Michael Corleone . The film served as the final installment in The Godfather trilogy, following Michael Corleone as he tries to legitimize the Corleone family in the twilight of his career. In 1993, Pacino starred in Carlito's Way as a former gangster released from prison who vows to go straight. In 1995, following their collaboration in Goodfellas , Scorsese, De Niro and Pesci teamed up again to make Casino , based on Frank Rosenthal , an associate of

8649-576: Was to have been opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 23 March 2017, but that same day it was announced that the Royal opening would be postponed, due to the preceding day's terrorist attack at Westminster . The opening was re-arranged for 13 July 2017. Like all three of its predecessors it houses the Met's Crime Museum (formerly known as the Black Museum), founded in 1874, a collection of criminal memorabilia not open to

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