La promesa

I tend to think of any film in a foreign language as an 'artsy' movie, and avoid them like the plague. However, I had the good luck to catch "La Promesse" and I might have to change my thinking. The story is the kind that catches your interest quickly and never lets go. The film never adopts a high air...in fact, it's very gritty, which makes it that much more enjoyable. The characters are so believable you might think you're actually watching a documentary. To top it off, the morality play at the heart of the movie is done remarkably well. If you're in the mood for something different, see this movie.

One of the most amazing movies I've ever seen. The story take place in the quite ugly "all grey" suburbs of a belgian city and is about illegal emigrant workers.

Absolutely no music, just simple human emotion...

It shows the talent of belgian movie scene (here the Dardenne brothers) who make superb movies with ridiculously small budgets.

Check out their amazing new movie "Rosetta" who won the "Palme d'Or" at 99' Cannes film festival.

"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.

This film was a gem and I look forward to seeing "Rosetta" by the same filmmakers, although I missed it back in '99.

The story has a gritty documentary feel in its depiction of lower-class immigrant experience in Belgium, but nonetheless is dramatically compelling because of the tension between the father and the son.

I haven't seen this side of modern European urban life treated in film this well.

The movie brilliantly immerses itself in the details of running an illegal immigrant business (excellent scenes of the interchange of money; petty extortion; the miserable compromises and requests of the immigrants), from which the black couple and child gradually emerge as a sort of beacon of hope because of the gracious simplicity of their rituals in their horrible hovel. The movie avoids sentimentality or overt analysis - it s a highly respectful portrait of tumultuous actions in a very specific, eye-openingly grim sector of low life. The boy's relationship with the father is satisfyingly rounded - accommodating obvious mutual affection despite the outbursts of violence and the terrible paternal example set overall - and the portrayal of the woman is culturally precise and fascinating. A fine film, balancing enormous relevance with proper mystery.