The beginning of the Ottoman Empires’ genocide of the Armenian people is the dramatic backdrop for The Promise, a drama featuring characters played by Oscar Isaac, Charlotte Le Bon and Christian Bale.
Hotel Rwanda director Terry George was at the helm of the film that covers a subject rarely touched upon by popular culture — that being the Turk’s state-sanctioned murder of 1.5 Armenian Christians.
Filmed in Portugal and the Canary Islands, The Promise has earned mixed reviews so far but most have praised the idea of the atrocity getting attention by Hollywood.
But initial critics have largely panned the film’s three-way romance.
The Turkish government denies the enormity of the Armenian Holocaust and it has made it illegal for anyone inside Turkey to say otherwise.
Nobody is expecting The Promise to be screened in Turkey anytime soon.
See some of the early reviews below.
JUDGEMENT
“It’s commonplace, and sometimes unfair, to complain that movies like this trivialize wartime suffering by focusing on the romances of fictional characters. But in at least one scene here, the movie’s sincere interest in showing the horrific things the Ottoman government did to its Armenian citizens is so thoroughly betrayed by its melodramatic agenda that it’s hard not to be offended.” John DeFore, The Hollywood Reporter
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“There’s something rather dusty about The Promise as George pushes his characters through a string of soapy machinations that feel incredibly familiar. But there’s also something rather comfortingly reliable about it as well and, while a tad workmanlike, his solid direction ensures that the drama is mostly involving. It also helps that the Armenian genocide is a relatively unexplored period of history and makes for a horrifying backdrop.” Benjamin Lee, The Guardian
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“Astonishingly, the Americans come off as heroes in the end, as when a U.S. embassy official (played by James Cromwell) comes right out and tells a Turkish authority, ‘You are using this relocation as a cover for the systematic extermination of the Armenian people.’ And yet it should be noted that, as broken promises go, President Obama has never followed through on his 2008 campaign pledge: ‘… As President, I will recognize the Armenian Genocide.’” Peter Debruge, Variety
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“Of course, the Armenian genocide is a very important point of history, and while this kind of romantic epic worked well in the past, there are far more interesting (and affecting) ways of chronicling such a vital true story. The soapy aspects of The Promise only serve to deter focus from the real horrors that are ongoing, and while this cast shines when given serious emotional moments, the earned moments are few and far between.” Adam Chitwood, Collider
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“The battle scenes are also immaculately shot by George, giving the film a grit that might be hiding under Aguirresarobe’s romantic photography. Somewhere in here lies a great war movie, but the screenplay, by George and Robin Swicord, hits more than a few rough patches when focusing on Michael and Ana’s affair. These inconsistencies as it pertains to a rudimentary love story bog the proceedings down.” Jordan Ruimy, The Film Stage
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For a non-Hollywood take on the Armenian genocide see this report from Channel 4 News where survivors recall the events 100 years on: