The Promise (1996)

Roger uses his son Igor to ruthlessly traffic and exploit undocumented immigrants. When one of the immigrants is killed, Igor is guilt-ridden and wants to care for the dead man's family against his father's orders.

Directors:

Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne

Writers:

Luc Dardenne, Jean-Pierre Dardenne

Stars:

Jérémie Renier, Olivier Gourmet, Assita Ouedraogo

16 wins & 5 nominations.

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
Geneviève Joly-Provost	...	Geneviève
Sophia Leboutte
Rasmané Ouédraogo	...	Amidou (as Rasmane Ouedraogo)
Norbert Rutili

Storyline

Igor--a 15-year-old apprentice mechanic--spends his off hours at the beck and call of his father. Igor's father, Roger, is a low-life involved with smuggling undocumented immigrants into Belgium, and acts as their slumlord, housing them in barely livable conditions, and paying them menial wages to work construction on his building (among other scams). When the building inspector pays a surprise visit and Amidou falls off a scaffold in his hurry to hide, things start to unravel, particularly when Igor makes a promise to the injured Amidou that ultimately exposes the different values of Igor and Roger, and of Amidou's wife, Assita.

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Plot Keywords:

belgium | two directors | teenage boy | illegal immigration | baby | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film is part of the Criterion Collection, spine #620.

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Goofs

An hour and 4 minutes into the film (NTSC) when Assita asks Igor to pour some water onto her hair - the sound of water hitting the ground comes before the water is actually seen hitting the ground.

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Connections

Referenced in Zingo (1998)

User Reviews

Richly Crafted Morality Tale

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.

Details

Country:

Belgium France Luxembourg Tunisia

Language:

French Romanian

Release Date:

16 May 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Promise

Filming Locations:

Belgium

Box Office

Gross USA:

$592,543

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$592,543

Company Credits

Production Co:

Eurimages, Les Films du Fleuve, Radio Télévision Belge Francophone (RTBF)

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1