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In July, Russian police arrested 37 members of the Vory v Zakone or “Thieves-in-law”. “A mobster caste forged in the Soviet gulags, the Vory v Zakone maintains a hallowed place in Russia’s criminal lore, akin to that of the Cosa Nostra in Italy…The Vory was born of Stalin’s prison camps and grew into a group of criminal barons who kept order in the gulags and governed the dark gaps in Soviet life beyond the reach of the KGB. While the Communist Party had a steadfast grip on government and society, the Vory had something of a monopoly on crime. With its own code of ethics, hierarchy and even language, the Vory formed a society in opposition to rigid Soviet conformity, surviving on theft and black market dealing when not in prison.”

Today the Vory has spread across the globe and become a pop culture fixture, turning up in movies like The Dark Knight. A KGB expert on organized crime said that the most accurate depiction of Vory that he has ever seen is David Cronenberg’s Eastern Promises. The Chirayliq blog notes that Viggo Mortensen’s performance as Nikolai the mobster sets a new high standard for non-Russians playing Russians.  Well many of us think Viggo sets a high standard for the male of the species. Eastern Promises is brilliant. The naked fight scene is compelling, yes, but the rest of the film is excellent, too.

By the way, if Vory see non-Vory sporting their tattoos, they would be honor-bound to cut them out because the wearer has not earned them. That should teach the trendy.