The Promise Review

The Promise Review

Review by Myla Tosatto

Though The Promise starts in 1914, it’s as timely as ever.  Death, destruction, nationalism, and discrimination that took place 100 years ago in the Ottoman Empire feels a lot like what is going on in the world right now.  People dying and being kicked out of their own countries is still sadly relevant.  It makes sense for Terry George to make a movie about the genocide of the Armenian people by the hands of the Turks that took 1.5 million lives.  It is a story about death, love and love (yes, you read that right).  At the middle of all three are Mikael Boghosian (Oscar Isaac), Ana (Charlotte LeBon), and Chris Myers (Christian Bale).  Through their eyes and experiences, we watch as Armenia and their love is torn apart.

 

Mikael is a pharmacist from Armenia who travels to Constantinople to go to medical school.  He meets the charismatic Ana and falls in love.  Nevermind that he is betrothed to Maral (Angela Sarafyan) and that Ana has an American boyfriend, Chris.  Along the way we will see beatings, shootings, weddings, suffering and survival.  

 

Though this movie is being advertised as a romance, I would think it fits better in the history genre.  Sure, we get to see Mikael and Chris compete for the love of Ana, but the more important part of the story is the conflict of nations.  It’s for people who think that the atrocities of war are far away and something you only see on CNN.  It’s for folks that think it’s cool to drop bombs on countries without giving a thought on the human casualties that it could produce.  It’s for anyone that thinks it’s okay to refuse suffering people or feel superior to them for any reason.  It’s a movie for people who would like history to not repeat itself.  It’s basically a movie for humans.

Empires fall, love survives. When Michael (Oscar Isaac), a brilliant medical student, meets Ana (Charlotte Le Bon), their shared Armenian heritage sparks an attraction that explodes into a romantic rivalry between Michael and Ana’s boyfriend Chris (Christian Bale), a famous American photojournalist dedicated to exposing political truth. As the Ottoman Empire crumbles into war-torn chaos, their conflicting passions must be deferred while they join forces to get their people to safety and survive themselves. The Promise is directed by Academy Award winning filmmaker Terry George.

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