La Promesse (1996)

Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

Don't listen to the negative reviews

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

Igor's father Roger rents his ramshackle flats to illegal immigrants as part of an organized smuggling operation. His exploitation includes offering some with reduced rent to work construction on his building. When inspectors come for a surprise visit, an illegal worker falls to his death. With his dying breath, the worker asks Igor to care for his baby and wife Assita. Igor helps his father hide the dead body. Roger intends to trick Assita but Igor intervenes.Jérémie Renier is a newcomer teenager here. The role is terribly juicy. He tries his best but he may not be prepared. Also Assita Ouedraogo may not be a professional actress but she does have a realism. This is a devastating story. The Dardenne brothers bring a documentary realism. At the same time, they don't necessarily have the skills to bring out superior acting from their actors.

I was relatively unfamiliar with the films of the Dardenne brothers until I ended up watching 'Two Days, One Night' and was completely floored by what I watched. So I then decided to watch some of their earlier films and 'La Promesse' seemed like a good place to start as this is widely considered to be their breakout film.'La Promesse' has so many of the directorial and thematic content that I found in 'Two Days, One Night'. There is a clear sense of moral dilemma that is existent in both the films. In 'La Promesse', the protagonist is made to face this dilemma, while in 'Two Days, One Night', it's the supporting characters that are made to face the same for the majority of the film. Another similarity is the extremely simple storyline in the screenplay. But what makes both the films special is the stripped down and brutally unflashy style of direction and storytelling and a conscious effort by the Dardennes to give all the importance to the characters instead of the plot which binds them. In both the films, the plot moved me, but what bowled me over was the incredibly humane and endearing nature with which the Dardennes treated the characters.Although 'La Promesse' at the basic level is a character study of Igor and his character arc, but the Dardennes manage to weave in and explore some very universal and substantial issues. One of these issues is racism. We can easily see and observe the prejudice that the character of Assita faces from some of the Belgian citizens due to the colour of her skin. The other big issue that gets explored is the matter of immigration. This is an issue whose significance hasn't receded even a bit from 1996 to 2016. It is still an issue which divides the ordinary people, politicians and countries. Although the Dardennes don't make a huge statement on this issue, but they do depict the grim reality and the exploitation that comes along with it.The father and son relationship between Roger and Igor provides the backbone for the film. Roger is a big, burly man who brings immigrants to Belgium illegally and then exploits them for his own gains and benefits. He also has a influence on his son Igor. Igor does whatever he wants him to do. Igor has to take leave from his apprenticeship work and also is forced to curtail his playing time with his friends whenever his father summons him. He has to help Roger in his work which involves exploiting the immigrants. So, in a simplified sense Roger is the villain in the film who has an overbearing presence. Thematically he is a dark shadow that Igor is living under and the viewer would want Igor to have a moral awakening and rebel against his father. But the Dardennes give Roger one likable quality that makes him somewhat redeemable. His love for his son Igor seemed genuine to me. There are some scenes in the film which Roger and Igor share which are genuinely sweet and adorable especially the karaoke scene. So Roger is still a bad presence in Igor's life and his flaws outweigh his redeeming qualities, but his love for his son lifts him from being a generic villain to being an interesting, flawed individual. The actor Olivier Gourmet deserves a lot of praise for his pitch perfect portrayal of this flawed man. Another great performance comes from Assita Ouedraogo. This is a fiery performance. She exudes a great amount of strength that is also expressed through the fire in her eyes. If I have any reservation with the film, though being a nitpick, it will be Jérémie Renier's performance as Igor. He is not bad at all. As a matter of fact in certain emotional scenes, he is genuinely good and forces the viewer to feel empathy for him. However in some of the quieter scenes, his facial expressions seemed a bit artificial and flat to me. But I'll have to restate that he is still good as Igor. There are just certain scenes where I thought his performance could have been slightly better. The Dardennes' subtle and nuanced style of storytelling which involves the lack of any musical score whatsoever makes 'La Promesse' a very realistic portrayal of moral awakening. Immigration and Racism are a part of the plot, but there isn't a heavy-handed treatment of these issues. Just like 'Two Days, One Night', the ending of the film is absolutely perfect. It is by no means a happy ending. But it still is an ending that is subtly ornamented with an underlying sense of hope and optimism for the future.

The performance of Jérémie Renier is memorable. (He's also great in L'infant). The Dardennes are obviously influenced by Robert Bresson and have a similar interest in use of realistic sound, and observation of everyday tasks. They especially like workshops, and woodworking tools. Like Bresson, they eschew incidental music and produce a very naturalistic view of events. And they do it so well. This film will remain in your conscience for a long time after you have seen it, and should satisfy those who need a resolution and a conclusion in their movies, by offering at least an answer to one "will he - won't he?" dilemma.These guys are making some of the best cinema of the present era.

"La Promesse", from the makers of "Rosetta", is an award winning drama which gets down to business quickly. The film is shot with no frills and the hard edge of a documentary. It tells of a father and son, both of questionable character, who make their living on the backs of transient illegal aliens in Belgium and the schism which developes between them as they engage a serious matter of conscience. Viewers with an appetite for reality in film will extol this flick while fantasy lovers may hate its grit.