Review of The Promise (2016) by Spangle — 26 Oct 2017

A return to genocide films for director Terry George, The Promise is a film made to build awareness about the Armenian genocide, the horror of the time, and the Turks' refusal to acknowledge the atrocities they committed. After it bombed financially, the studio even came out and said it was intended to raise awareness, not make money. Considering they did not fund it and it was instead funded by Kirk Kerkorian, an Armenian-American businessman and philanthropist who dedicated funding for a film about the Armenian genocide in his will, it is rather easy for them to say. Fortunately, The Promise is a film with greatly noble intentions, a powerful story, and solid execution. Featuring a love triangle between Armenian Mikael (Oscar Isaac), Armenian Ana (Charlotte Le Bon), and American journalist Chris (Christian Bale), set against the horrific events of the Armenian genocide, The Promise is a film that may be flawed but is just good enough to overcome those flaws and deliver a strong final product.

Where the film is flawed is in its inclusion of this love triangle, which only serves to slow down the film far too much and forces it to be longer than needed to account for the development of the relationships. The love triangle is not quite dull, but it hardly really captures your attention too much and could hardly be described as particularly gripping. The real interest is in the genocide going on, but whenever the love triangle comes up, it feels too much like that episode of Seinfeld where Jerry makes out with his girlfriend as they watch Schindler's List. Scenes of Mikael and Ana being attacked by Turks outside are swiftly followed up by them going inside and having sex, which made me really identify with Jerry's mother and want to screw out, "You're having sex during The Promise?!" Fortunately, what the love triangle does not get wrong is that it does not distract from the genocide at all. It never feels offensive, forced, or thrown in at the last second. As with many war films before it, this just happens to be the entry point The Promise chose to explore the Armenian genocide and through that lens, it accomplished what it set out to reach. Unfortunately, it was never strictly necessary and could have been accomplished otherwise.

Now, where the film soars is in the power of the story it presents. Capturing the fight, spirit, and pride of the Armenians, the film ends triumphantly with a speech by Mikael and on-screen text that sums up that fight we had just watched. Brave and willing to fight the Turks head on to avoid being captured, The Promise shows the sacrifice, the loss, and absolute stubbornness of the Armenians when it comes to their being wiped out. These are a proud people, which the film celebrates throughout and demonstrates the lengths they were willing to go to in order to save their families, their homes, and their livelihoods in spite of all of the pressure put on them by the Turkish government. As a by-product, it is impossible not to get swept up by this fighting spirit and truly feel every blow and bullet alongside the Armenians. It is obviously not surprise that we root for them in the film, but the degree to which The Promise manages to make an impact is impressive and is largely due to how well it shows the culture of the Armenians and celebrates what makes them who they are as a people.

Beyond the action and the fight, however, The Promise earns points for never shying away from the gruesome nature of the genocide. We see Armenians be rounded up, led away, and put on trains where they reach out to beg for help. We see a woman shot right in front of her child. We see Mikael and Chris find the bodies of an entire town, including some of Mikael's family. We see Chris go to a village where two men were strung up and had signs attached to them. We see the callousness of the Turks towards the Armenians as they call them "thieves" or as a father sends his son to the military because he was friends with Mikael and brought dishonor to the family for the actions he took to help Mikael. This is not a film that skirts over details or forgets the horrors committed in the name of hatred and xenophobia. It is a film that brings them to the forefront, makes the audience see the hatred that led to the atrocities, and then shows the atrocities in their full detail. It is a film that may not be particularly graphic or gory, but it does need to be in order to showcase what happened in the Armenian genocide. Together with demonstrating the spirit of the Armenians in every character and in their courageous actions to save their people, these images of atrocities and the horror that led to them having to fight makes The Promise delivers on its powerful premise. This is not a film that has to be manipulative or cloying to create great emotional resonance, instead it is able to do it through the stirring depictions of loss and togetherness.