Les Années du mur

THE PROMISE (Das Versprechen) by Margarethe von Trotta is must viewing. There is no easier and more entertaining manner to understand recent German, and Central European, history than by watching this film. It plays very well on video, and the interesting locales and action will excite those who dislike subtitles. THE PROMISE is an epic drama focusing on divisions: in love, in a nation, in its capital city, in its politics, and in love. Indeed a love story is the vehicle used for this extraordinary epic, recounting the three decades between the Berlin Wall's first barbed wire, and its fall. Some critics, forgetting what a historical epic requires, dismiss the film as cliche-ridden. Well, of course, "War and Peace", "Gone with the Wind", "Dr. Zhivago", were successful due to the use of composite characters or cliches. These are necessary to explain history in a medium like the cinema. Ms. von Trotta is to be congratulated not only for this and other great political films (i.e."Rosa Luxemburg") but for being one of the only German filmmakers to tackle the controversial topic of German reunification. A declared socialist from Western Germany, Ms von Trotta lends the film a point of view that is as unbiased as I can imagine. Don't miss it. A lot of people did because of the film's timing. The last thing I guess most Germans wanted to see at the movies in 1994 was a reminder of the results of reunification. For this reason, this great film was unfairly denied its place in European Film History.

This is one my favorite movies of all time. I've read most of the negative comments on this one, and I agree with most of the criticisms.

Nevertheless, despite some uneven patches in the storyline, this is one of the few movies I've seen that has real characters with real lives that I at least can relate to. This movie ultimately is about humanity and how distance and proximity to what one loves and hates twists around who we really are inside.

Portraying several friends separated by the Berlin Wall, "Das Versprechen" - called "The Promise" in English - hits you right where it hurts. I thought that it was very interesting how the movie picks up about every ten years, showing the historical context each time (specifically the sign saying "Victory to the Vietnamese Revolution" in 1968, during Prague Spring). To my generation, the Berlin Wall remains part of history (I was only five when it fell), so we have to rely on movies like this to understand the whole thing. All in all, director Margarethe von Trotta did a very good job here, as did the whole cast. Definitely worth seeing.

In an interview at the time of the release of this film Margarete von Trotta rather bragged about the fact that this was the first German (after unification) film after the fall of the Berlin wall that dealt with the 28 years of history on the East side of the wall. This remains to be seen, but if so, is that a good reason to come up with this dim, tepid and obligatory romantic drama that is predictable from scene 1? A drama in which the viewer no cliche spared?

The film looks more a kaleidoscope of political events in which the two main characters just happened to be a part of. The film never is a real drama and lacks every dramatic tension. The two main characters are simply boring people (not helped much by the casting); all other characters are one-dimensional. Some bad writing is also present: some characters, like the aunt, simply disappear from the story. As to direction and filmmaking there are plenty of uneasy moments as well. In the Prague scene the girl waits on the wrong spot for her friend; well, they just wait, but then "pop" a short scene in which she asks where this or that place is and then "pop": yes, there he is! The scene of the father in hospital also just seems to come from nowhere.

It all looks like as Von Trotta really wanted to show how very, very concerned she was about the 28 years of history and by that overplaying her hand. She should either have elaborated the drama more, or have taken the trouble for a more thorough interpretation of the political situation. As it is now it is a "everything political happens to poor us" drama. (5/10)

I first saw this in a German language class, and even though I'm no where near fluent, I still find this to be more enjoyable and moving than many English movies. Following the lives of two main characters, the film chronicles the period just after the wall's construction to the fall in 1989. Though all protagonist characters are of course impacted negatively by the wall, the politics of a few characters are very complex and surprising. This movie will undoubtedly make you think. Aside from politics, the main plot is a love story, and it is very powerful. The characters are imperfect, real and delightful. All in all it is evocative, emotional, and never trite. Great film.