The Promise Review – Spoiler Free
The Promise is a film which comes directed by Terry George who some may know as the director that brought us Reservation Road (2007). The film stars Oscar Isaac, Charlotte Le Bon and Christian Bale.
The Promise is a film set in World War 1 during the time near the end of the Ottomon empire and focuses on the events surrounding the Armenian genocide in the region at the time.
The Promise will see viewers follow the life of Mikael Boghosian who is an Armenian medical student in the Ottomon empire who becomes a victim of the government’s stance against his people. There is also a bit of a love story in the film, with a triangle between Mikael and his love interest Ana (Charlotte Le Bon) and her current partner Chris (Christain Bale), who is a journalist from America.
This is the second movie I’ve seen at the cinema this year which tackles a genocide topic. The other film I saw was The Zookeeper’s Wife and both films were done well. The difference I think with The Promise is that while there are many films out there that people can probably name about the genocide against the Jews in World War II in Germany, there are few films that I know that cover the Armenian genocide in World War 1. For people going in to see The Promise that don’t know much about what was going on in the Ottomon Empire during World War 1, The Promise will be a good educational film to see.
In saying this though, I am no expert in the time period this film is set in, so am not sure of the accuracy of what is portrayed. But am aware of the Armenian genocide issue which the film is drawing attention to. If anything, like most historical films, it will likely encourage those who are interested to go an read more about the topic, I know that I sure did that once I was finished with this movie to find out a bit more about these incidents.
I wouldn’t necessarily say that this film is one I’d recommend people to go and see if they’re looking for fun at the cinema or an entertaining night. This is I think one of the more educational experiences and I can see possibly teachers showing this in schools if people were learning about the time period. I would say though that film is a very emotional one and also a very sad one as well. I left the cinema thinking that it was horrible what happened during that time and found the whole film experience to be a sad one. As someone who doesn’t know much about the events with the Ottomons and the Armenians, a lot of it was shockingly strong, but also very sad. The love story part of it, made everything even worse and I did feel for the characters when they experienced their losses throughout the film.
I thought that both Christian Bale and Oscar Isaac put in a good performance for their characters in this film. Both these actors have never really disappointed me in anything I have seen them in at all. Christain Bale was a convincing American journalist and Oscar Isaac put in some good work as the Armenian medical student. There was also some good things here from Charlott Le Bon, who I haven’t seen in anything before, but she still had an impact.
Overall this is a very powerful but sad film to watch at the cinema. It’s got some good performances from Oscar Isaace, Christian Bale and Charlotte Le Bon, who all put in a lot of good work to create some convincing characters. It’s sad the events that happened at the time and The Promise tells an emotional story about three people just trying to live their lives in a country where horrible things were taking place. Films can be strong educational experiences, but it’s very sad that these events occurred in the world of the past.
