La Promesse (1996)
Genre: Drama
Duration: 92 minuten
Country:
Belgium / France / Luxembourg / Tunisia
Directed by: Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne
Stars: Jérémie Renier, Olivier Gourmet and Assita Ouedraogo
IMDb score:
7,7 (8.733)
Releasedate: 7 August 1996
La Promesse plot
Young 15-year-old Igor helps his father Roger with his illegal activities in a suburb of Liège. Roger is mainly concerned with placing clandestine immigrants in construction. When an African undeclared worker falls deadly one day, Roger tries to cover up the accident. But Igor, meanwhile, has his doubts about Roger's practices. He promises the dying man that he will take care of his wife and child, even if this harms the interests of his own father.
Actors and actresses
Igor
Roger
Assita
Riri
Nabil
Amidou
The Labour Inspector
The Garage Boss
Muller
The Postman
Reviews & comments
Spetie
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- 38830 messages
- 7300 votes
The second film I see by the Dardenne brothers, and I liked this one too.
Just like in Le Fils, the filming is also very close, which sometimes gave me the impression that I was almost in the film. That works pretty well for a story like this. The story is quite interesting and especially gives a good look at the way illegal immigrants are sometimes treated.
The relationship between father and son is also elaborated in a beautiful way. The son is at first very servile towards his father, but at some point he rebels, because he realizes that what his father is doing is not all right.
Jérémie Rénier plays a great lead role and the rest of the cast is also doing well. Furthermore, it is mainly a small, very modest film, which slowly but surely succeeds in getting the message across in a good way. La Promesse takes some time to get going, but is still quite convincing in the end. That's why I definitely want to see more of the Dardennes.
3.5*
Translated from Dutch · View original
arno74
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- 8700 messages
- 3342 votes
Nice movie. Again in depressing disadvantaged neighborhoods where it is always cloudy, both literally and figuratively. Reminds me of Rosetta (1999) in terms of setting. I found the film interesting in itself, nothing new indeed, but I did find the father's character very thick, there are few who are as perfect as him as a peripheral figure. A little more nuance would have benefited the film. 3*
Translated from Dutch · View original
Fisico (moderator films)
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- 10009 messages
- 5398 votes
Another one that we had to see at school at the time. Liège was 20 years ago a gray desolate desolate city with a decayed metal industry. Fortunately, Liège has become a bit more hip today with its bustling center and many shopping streets, although the edge is still in need of renovation. Gray and desolate are also the refugees who pass in review in La promesse. Even then it was an important theme in political circles.
Igor and Roger have a business in bringing refugees abroad and in addition to employment - in black of course - he also offers them shelter in a dilapidated building with hardly any facilities worthy of a human being. La promesse is a raw portrait of the exploitation of the weakest. Gourmet does an excellent job here as a shrewd human trafficker. The unknown Renier also played an excellent role as the young Igor, although I found his conversion just a bit too easy.
Less is more at the Dardennes. Stylish, but sober camera techniques with only ambient sounds instead of melodramatic music with sentimental images. It makes the film so much more intense and brings the events closer to the viewer. The limited dialogues also indicate that the images are already powerful enough to record the hopeless and desolate situations.
Translated from Dutch · View original
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