Known for the same kind of roles, not gonna win you awards or praise. He's good looking, a great actor. Is he Pacino, Hanks, Day Lewis, Walken, Norton? No. Although I like Viggo more, I think Matthew Mconahey(sp) is a better actor.
His tattoo scenes are by far the most pivotal and memorable parts of the film for me. To think it may never have been in it without Viggo's research is unbelievable.
as a russian, i have to say that this movie was fairly accurate, even the nonrussians spoke russian very well, there were like maybe 5 real russians in this movie
I asked my Russian friends - including parents - if they thought Vigo's accent was genuine and I was told there was something off. As a Romanian, I could tell as well. But it still a good movie.
@@aadin that's what I mean. People say: it's perfect, but it's not. As a Romanian I can hear his Eng accent a bit - but I did practice accents so I know what it takes. Almost nobody can switch from an Western to an Eastern accent just like that - it's backwards; the tongue, muscles and whatnot can't cope with the change.
A history of violence and eastern promises - both with Viggo Mortensen and directed by David Cronenberg - are two of the best movies of the last 20 years. Just brilliant.
Viggo is definitely a modern Renaissance Man, fluent in several languages, does meticulous research on his characters, and just straight seems like a cool dude you could spend an evening sharing experiences and stories with at the bar.
I was in the U.S. Army, and the Russian tattoo system is exactly like the ribbons and patches on a military dress uniform, these people are soldiers in an Army.
There was a time in which Star-Tattoos in the West were pretty "trendy". Imagine to have the Stars on your Knees and/or Shoulders and end up one time with the wrong people at the wrong time and they are bored ...
@@jamessherwood1898 For sure! Apparently, there was supposed to be a sequel too! I'm usually opposed to sequels, but this movie ended in a place that would probably make a sequel pretty decent (the undercover dude just got "promoted", and the lead dude just got arrested? could have been great). But it got shut down by some jerk at _Focus_ by the name of _James Schamus_ back in 2013 :-( (This was all from Wikipedia, so take it with a grain of salt) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Promises#Sequel
@@jamessherwood1898its not really some mysterious reason. Indie types are a niche to begin with (Cronenberg pretty much only makes indie feeling films with weird vibes regardless of budget & stars). Add to that brutal rralistic violence + full male nudity & you'll immediately cut out most of the mainstream
This is a VERY, VERY GOOD MOVIE and Viggo enhances the character to the T! I still learn something new about this film every time I play it. Thank you Viggo and cast for an Excellent portrayal of one aspect in life
An excellent movie with Viggo portraying the character perfectly. I love the story about him going into a eastern bloc restaurant in London while still bearing the fake tattoo's and the other customers going quiet! So it is told Viggo made sure to remove all traces before doing that again. The backdrop suited the style of the movie completely. Viggo working for the authorities ujnder cover while progressing through the "Mob". The other main actors played their parts very well contributing to the whole finished article.
Viggo is such a great actor. I love his performance in this movie, it was so real and deep. You feel the sadness because of evil, but you also know it will get better. Russian culture amazes me.
These are the best fake tattoos I have ever seen on film. Usually they make them too stark looking and they look like a transfer. I really liked this film, AND it was filmed mostly not far from where I live, and the hospital I go to.
After The Lord of the Rings trilogy finished filming, Liv Tyler's stunt double was distraught because she had grown so close to the horse (the one where Arwen was being chased by the Nine). That particular horse was a pedigree very rare and expensive. But Viggo bought it and gave it to her. Top fella with a big big heart :)
As few others have indicated - "vory v zakone" (thieves in law) is a by-gone era. A credible source in Ukraine pointed out that in modern day criminal organizations, such tattoos aren't welcome because they are counter-productive. The effectiveness of the Slavic 'mafias', is largely due to their discretion. These tattoos originated in Soviet times by political prisoners who had a great distaste for communism, and thus were criminalized through their action of opposition. Soviet regime had so many harsh arbitrary laws, that it was almost natural to be a "criminal" by its standards.
@@Decurion505 perhaps. But Slavic crews never worked/work under a centralized power structure like the Italian mafia. Far from it. There is great FBI documentary here on RU-vid on this topic.
@@aerebona9947 he didnt speak... they just saw the tattoos.... you did watch the video, didnt you? aply the tatoos takes a lot of time, so he didnt remove them in the brakes, he went to a bar, and there was a couple of russian guys that freak out because they saw the tattoos
@@thepoppunx Pablo,you have to understand the MEANING of those tattoos,as well who and what are Vor v Zakone.We are not talking about Bratva here,it's something totally different.When those Russians saw those tattoes,they had EVERYright to be frightened,trust me.
Thanks for posting this! I came her to say the same, plus that "Vor v Zakone" is not the name of a specific clan or brotherhood, or a catch-all term for a type of criminal organization, it is a title that a high-ranking criminal of the type referred to by Bulletdude can have. If a reader is interested in the tattoos themselves, the Russian Criminal Tattoo Encyclopaedia Volumes I-3 is the place to start.
I like him in this movie , I own it on dvd it appeals to me couse my uncle vlad who passed away was a member in the Romanian mafia , he didn't talk about it much , but when I was little I enjoyed looking at his tattoos on his arms, he had one with a vampire /devil looking creature and in Romanian it said below it to spill blood is personal, to kill is different,
at 1:01, I recognize a particular tattoo lifted from the Russian Tattoo Encyclopaedia by Danzig Baldaev, a tat that essentially represents "This is what is destroying us!" depicting a woman, gun, knife, money, vodka, drugs, all the vices that are the life, and eventual downfall of the criminal.
The Vory Y Zakone and the Russian Mafia are actually two different entities. It's true that many members of Vory Y Zakone are in the Russian Mafia but they are not the same thing, a Vor generally will have been through the Communist prison system and will have the tattoos that are mentioned but there are also many members of the Russian mafia who have never been in prison and therefore will not have such marks on them.
Viggo is such a brilliant guy. Top man :) lmao at the "one foot doesn't even have respect for the other." It's really cute at how he laughs (kinda like The Joker?) and then abruptedly stops... yeah Viggo, I think you're the only one who finds it really funny ;)
E Fayerman Yeah, prior to watching this, I've always kind of been aware of the tattoo 'system' in prisons (is it only Russia or other eastern-European countries?), but I've never really known the intensity to it and the symbolism. It really is quite incredible, like quite scary almost.
It's pretty much common among gangster traditions worldwide. Like the Yakuza and the Mexican gangs. I think the Russian version is much more specific and coded.
hahaha yeah pretty much.. he is my favourite villain, i'm a DC fan ;) i think you're probably an expert on fictional characters, but i think you need to calm down honey. :* x
The tattoos aren't that important anymore in the criminal world. The Vors are not necessarily ''the Russian Mafia''. The police are, the FSB, the Avoriets, businessmen, oligarchs, they all are. The traditional days of organized prison gangs are long gone.
Yeah, tattoos used to be a symbol or ranking for most part of the world. But nowadays most interviews claimes that you can get whatever tattoos you want
Most of the russian tattoos are out of practice since they became popular with the banditi in the ussr. Now most of those same banditi are all dead alongside the ussr. With it they took the system that created and upheld the weight of these tattoos. If you see anyone with these tattoos and they look under the age of 45 then they’re faking it
love his last story about the couple believing his costume. typical viggo-moment in my opinion, like the sword waving incident which he talks about on the bonus dvds from lotr :-]
I really wish Viggo and Steven Knight work together again in a movie. Knight directed Locke starring Tom Hardy, which is one of my favorite movies of all time, and he also created Peaky Blinders.
angrycaveman In prison terms it means he killed a bunch of orcs, goblins and cave trolls, scared off some wraiths, chopped the head off a major dark ops figurehead, summoned an army of the undead and broke his big toe on an Uruk Hai helmet.
It's a complicated system. There are different tattoos for different crimes. I think a skull signifies that you've killed someone, for instance. Wikipedia has a page on criminal tattoos. Interesting stuff!
@2:23 "...it's not just that it's david Cronenberg and he's going to make a weird scene..." later on has to fight butt-naked in a bathhouse so David can fantasize about him.
I think The Witcher 3 took inspiration from the steam room fight scene. Viggo would have made a great Geralt, he definitely had the swordsmanship for the role.
It reminded me - "we all have our own laws, Vanya. You have the laws of the state, I have the law of thieves" (Red Heat) and "You see, son, all people should live by general concepts ... (pausing from shortness of breath) ... and the Baron often violated them, and now he wants to jump off altogether - it's not right ... For this you have to answer, really, the boys? At least for the sake of making it difficult for others." (By the name of Baron))))
In the documentary "the mark of cain" i understood it as these tattoos basically being a thing of the past, with new kids coming into prison having dollar signs and other random shit.
Isn't present it is all the same relevant presently, on extremely measure in prison in Russia and some the kavkakhkikh the countries you should reckon with these guys.
Swear words like “fuck all of you”, “fuck you” etc. Are not allowed on a body. In Russian prisons people never swear to each other they use other words to describe something bad or something good. If you swear to other prisoner he has permission to punish you that’s the rules because he is right. Sometimes they just cut you tongue if you swear.
From what I've read mafia prison tattoos have a long history and they used to incorporate Communist symbols and imagery rather than religious imagery. The reason why is because some prison guards refused to touch a symbol of the Soviet Part like a picture of Marx or Lenin so the criminals would cover themselves in those sorts of images in order to avoid beatings.
They use both actually, the communist propaganda was used when the Vor were forced to operate under the iron fist of Stalin. It was illegal to destroy an emulation of a communist leader's likeness or a communist symbol/phrase. This resulted in the Russian Mafia adopting tattoos that had the likeness of Lenin, Stalin, Marx, the Hammer and Sickle, the communist star, among other things in order to avoid certain punishments. The Religious symbols came about in the late 70s, and have stuck to there place as the de facto style of Russian Mafia tattoos, but we still see renditions of the old versions, occasionally.
