IMDb > La promesse (1996)

La promesse (1996) More at IMDbPro »


Overview

User Rating:
7.8/10   1,912 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?

Up 8% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.

Writers:

Luc Dardenne (writer) &
Jean-Pierre Dardenne (writer)

Contact:

View company contact information for La promesse on IMDbPro.

Release Date:

16 May 1997 (USA) more

Genre:

Drama more

Plot:

Igor and his father, Roger, are making a decent living renting apartments to illegal immigrants and... more | add synopsis

Awards:

15 wins & 5 nominations more

User Comments:

A Small Masterpiece more (21 total)


Cast

  (Credited cast)
Jérémie Renier ... Igor
Olivier Gourmet ... Roger
Assita Ouedraogo ... Assita
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jean-Michel Balthazar
Frédéric Bodson ... The garage boss
Katarzyna Chrzanowska
Florian Delain ... Riri
Hachemi Haddad ... Nabil
Alain Holtgen ... Le postier
Sophie Leboutte
Rasmane Ouedraogo ... Amidou
more
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Additional Details

Also Known As:

The Promise (Australia) (DVD title)
more

Runtime:

Argentina:92 min | Belgium:90 min | Sweden:94 min

Language:

French | Romanian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1 more

Filming Locations:

Liège, Wallonia, Belgium more

Company:

Eurimages more


FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
9 out of 10 people found the following comment useful.
A Small Masterpiece, 7 July 1999
10/10
Author: eek-4 from New York, New York

La Promesse is one of the best films of this decade. With its simple style and character-driven plot, one may think that the film comes from one of the Dogma 95 manifesto directors but it doesn't. The film's strengths lie in its theme of morality and responsibility and in its no-nonsense portrayal of the immigrant situation in Belgium (with reverberations reaching all across Europe). One can say that it's a coming-of-age tale--and in some ways it is--but when one thinks of the usual film categorized as such, the moniker doesn't match. Even the scene where Igor is being seduced by an older woman, while his father and his father's girlfriend look on, has no follow-up, no clumsy bedroom scene where we see Igor lose his virginity. The film makers just cut from the seduction scene in the bar to Igor the next morning back to his "job" at the dilapidated building site. Clearly, the directors are unconcerned with the staples of the "coming-of-age" genre. More precisely, I think it should be called a "coming-of-conscience" film. The final scene is at the same time heartbreaking and thought-provoking. The way they end the movie is a masterstroke because it forces the viewer to ponder what will come next, thus prompting self-reflective questions on what the viewer himself or herself would have chosen to do.

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