I think that mafia and italian organized crime films have been done every which way but loose.

There are a handful of classics that are just the zenith of mafia films...and subsequent films pale in comparison...or are outright copies .

I grew up during the latter part of the cold war..and I was even surprised later to discover that there existed russian organized crime groups.

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Anyway, what films in this genre have you seen that are worth watching.


I saw Eastern Promises a few days ago. Decent film...Russian mob in London.

Viggo Mortensen aka Lalin from CW was in this, he's excellent.


some possibly awkward scenes in the film but overall not bad.

Little Odessa is a good one.

Did you ever see Pay or Die (60's or so, with Ernest Borgnine); based on a true story (but it is the Italian-American mob--the roots of it).

Which scenes in Eastern Promises are 'awkward'?

Though not crime films outright, both of Andrei Zvyagintsev's feature films have faint undercurrents of criminal activity; The Return less so than The Banishment - both are very good.

Have you seen Babalanov's Brother and its sequel?

"Eastern Promises" was a very good film. Mortensen was superb, but I thought that Vicent Cassel stole the show as the mentally unbalanced son of the mob boss.

SPOILER














wasn't expecting some borderline gay scenes between Viggo's character and the boss' son...........I also didn't sign up to see a "hit" take place on a fully naked character...

just a bit awkward...not things you normally see in mob films




will look into the recommended films...may create separate section of film collection for eastern european and russian crime films.thanks..or rather spasiba

never seen either one



besides eastern promises

the Russian enforcer character from the Wire "Boris.....why always Boris?"

the assumed Russian crime figures in 25th Hour

and the Russian crime figures of the last 2 editions of the martial arts series "Undisputed"

I've not seen any russian crime or related flicks

I thought you might have meant these scenes.

They're great! That sauna scene is incredible; horrific and honest - a less confrontational film might have had Mortensen's towel miraculously stay on as he's almost beaten to death.

Cronenberg's one of the best directors ever.

We Own the Night is a pretty good one with Joaquin Phoenix and Robert Duvall. And they also appear in a scene in Training Day.

I own We Own The Night.........haven't watched it in a while..forgot that...

Also forgot that the people that Alonzo owed the money to where the Russians.

Thanks...

ROCK N ROLLA by Madonna ex Guy Ritchie features some dodgy Russians also. The 2 heavies who chase Gerard Butler along the railway lines for miles are hilarious!

thanks Yogi

I got some of the films in the mail, thanks again fellas.


Having grown up during the Reagan part of the cold war, I just had this view of USSR as a no nonsense place where the authorities used any and all means to control crime.

I didn't think it was possible for "organized crime" to exist much less thrive in The Soviet Union.

When i read about the perhaps fictional way that Puzo wrote that Mussolini dealt with the mafia(throwing anybody even SUSPECTED of being in it in prison)I envisioned the Russians using a similar approach.

I'm gonna look for a documentary about the history of the Russian mob before I watch some of these films.

Keep in mind that Russian organized crime didn't thrive in the United States until after the fall of communism, outside of the Soviet Union.

That's not fiction, it really happened that way.



Try this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1u2PrPqdUc

And this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDkIYu3UqrM

thanks pizza and Sonny,



pizza, did you mean to write "didn't thrive until after the fall of communism...outside of the Soviet Union.


I've favorited the vids and will watch later...

Documentaries and sports are my favorite things to watch. So this is perfect.

Yes, that's exactly what I meant to type. Stupid me . I'll edit it now . Thanks!

Sonny,

thanks again...the first doc was very informative.

"The Bitch Wars"....it was worth it just to hear the narrator use that term.

I'm glad you liked it. While there are too much books and docu's on the Italian Mafia, there seems to be far less information about the Russian Mafiya, who presumably have thousands of members and are maybe the strongest global criminal organization today.

Spam removed

bonus from the dvd of Eastern Promises

about Russian prison tattoos ...about 7 minutes or so


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KV0myun8b80


the documentary that the director makes reference to is also up on youtube it's about 75 minutes