The Promise

It's a shame that this film's IMDb page has effectively been hijacked by trolls because it covers a politically sensitive topic. Over 90% of all voters have either given it 1 or 10 stars, clearly attempting to sway the rating one way or another without actually watching the film and judging it on merit. 'The Promise' doesn't actually focus on the Armenian genocide itself, rather it is set during the final years of the Ottoman Empire and centers for the most part on a developing love triangle involving the main character.

Looking at this film objectively and without joining the many others in disputing its historical accuracy, I thought 'The Promise' was an impressive and well-made drama film. The plot is engaging and well-constructed and is effective in balancing the telling of historical events with an emerging romance. It also looks great - the production and cinematography is excellent and it features some stunning scenery. Unfortunately the genuine ratings and reviews for this film have been drowned out by so many one-line one-star fake reviews.

...but that still hasn't been done justice. "The promise" is slightly better than its predecessor of the same theme, "Ararat". The scenery and settings, specifically of pre-War Constantinople are in fact, breathtaking (if not a bit fanciful). The story is entirely linear and unfortunately falls into trap of turning into a "refugee" movie, similar to "Beyond Rangoon", or the much more masterful "The Inn of the Sixth Happiness"; where the protagonist enjoys a wonderful life until civil conflict forces them and a group of refugees to have to escape somewhere. I think the worst part about "The Promise" is the historical revisionism; The American Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire (played by James Cromwell) was indeed Jewish, but absolutely no "Schindler", in that he did absolutely NOTHING to save Armenians...not a single one. So, the movie has to invent a fictitious American journalist (played by Christian Bale) so Ambassador Morganthau can "save" him, somehow redeeming his role in the genocide, when the reality was Morganthau was the one who sat around and documented what was happening from accounts flooding his office while doing nothing. Yet, once again, it is a story that needs to be told, so I'm keeping that in consideration in my rating.

Should be required viewing in every high school Social Studies class to show the dangers of alternative facts and disputed leadership and the necessity of individual moral fortitude. History forgotten is history repeated. Every viewer will be forced to examine what they would be willing to sacrifice, what actions would they take, what can or can't they live with? While the romance is beautiful and an obvious audience draw, it is the beautiful photography and the Oscar caliber acting by Oscar Issac earning my score. How sad is it no studio would touch this subject requiring the private funding of an Armenian billionaire?

Me and my lack of history knowledge, new nothing of this situation. I fell across the film by mistake. It was a great film about a terrible time. Highly recommend this film to all ages. Everyone plays a great part. I look forward to future films from the directors The promise Can't fault any of film

God bless all the people who made this fill possible. Not just for the Amermenian genocide perpetrated by the Turks, but for the Greeks and Assyria s also.

On another note, it it completely insane how there are so many 1 star reviews on a movie of this caliber. I guess it helps reveal the evil is still alive to this day when it comes to this subject.