A Promise

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For being a romance film, "A Promise" certainly lacks in romance. The movie tells the story of an aging factory owner Karl Hoffmeister, his beautiful young wife Charlotte, and the promising youngster he takes in as his protégé. Eventually, a forbidden love ensues as Friedrich becomes enamoured with his boss' wife. The way their "love" is depicted, however, is completely lackluster. There is no substantial build-up (though it is somewhat attempted) which would lead to the scene where they promise their love to one another. Perhaps this is due to them restraining their feelings, seeing as Charlotte is married. But, it is too restrained, too polite, too proper. So little passion & emotion makes it hard to believe that Charlotte and Friedrich have fallen for one another, experienced a secretive relationship, only to be seperated with little communication for six years. Surely that would evoke some form of emotional response? No. When the lovers are finally reunited, they are cold, emotionless, and act as though there is some dark unspoken history between them - despite the fact that they never even kissed. Not to mention, shoddy camera work - the entire film features oddly placed zooms as well as headache-inducing shakiness. Overall, the film lacked the tension and intensity one would expect from a forbidden romance. Which is a shame, because the costumes, sets, and music were beautifully done.

We are in Germany before World War I. Karl Hoffmeister (Alan Rickman) is the aging and ailing husband of young Lotte (Rebecca Hall). He is also an industrial magnate in need of a successor. Enter Friedrich (Richard Madden), a metallurgist with a head for business. He is soon welcomed not only into the industry but into their home. What follows is 90 minutes of Lotte and Friedrich stealing looks at each other, and Karl catching them at it-- at looking, that is, because that is just about the full extent of their indiscretion. The War is the catalyst which sends Friedrich overseas to mine magnesium. Karl remains at home, dying, and Lotte watches. There's a lot of watching in this movie, and not a lot of plot. You would not miss much if you kept your thumb on fast-forward. The problem with love stories is that they require chemistry between the lovers. There is no chemistry here. Literally, none. Rebecca Hall plays Lotte with an abundance of poise and dignity, and no small amount of charm. She's the animated one. Richard Madden, on the other hand, has a handsome but empty face. He wears his one blank expression throughout the movie. Except for the rare instances when he laughs, he is blank-- as blank when he's talking about war profiteering as he is blank when his crotch is being fondled by his high-spirited and adorable mistress (Shannon Tarbet), who calls him Fritz and disappears from the film early. Whatever feelings of desire come through are generated by the audience-- for me, that was a desire for the two of them to get on with things, or for the movie to end. The key scene-- the one with actual insight into the emotional landscape adults muddle through --is effective, however, because it captures how very strange estrangement is when, with passing time, it displaces love. When Friedrich returns from overseas, after a decade, he and Lotte have become virtual strangers. The war has interrupted even their correspondence. They must take for granted, somehow, that they were once devoted to each other, if they are to live happily ever after. It is a worthy scene, but the scenes that come before, and even after, are too long in the telling, with too little told, and too little feeling touching the heart.

So i just finished the movie and i am someone who wanted to see them become more close as some might say. They kissed at the every end. Don't get me wrong this was a very good movie. Richard Madden was brilliant, he is the type of person to make you fall in love within minutes of seeing him. I wish i could know more on what happens after when they kiss at the pond, but i cause that is up to the watchers mind at this point.

I did not expect to see a movie that looked like the movie of the year and it's not what I've seen, but at least I've seen a movie that is well taken. You know from the first moment that the most important thing in the film is the reaction between them and that they end up together, of course, but at least it goes step by step. Rebecca is great, makes a role, for my taste, incredible. It was a long time since I saw an actress who showed me that I was truly in love and with her, I've seen it. Richard is not up to it, but hey, it's not bad. Alan, of course, is fine, but that's not saying anything new. It has a great atmosphere, it seems that you are fully involved in that era. It is appreciated that makeup, costumes and art work so well. I can not say the same about the address. While it is true that the film tells the tempo level, does not bore, is giving the amounts in parts, but then at the time of the staging, is not able to make a nice plane or move characters from a Pretty shape and give life to a plane. Photography is beautiful in parts. The interiors are pretty good, but the exteriors, the photography is a bit too white. It's not pretty The final stretch is too long, that also has to be said.

It's no wonder that the film's budget was nearly $11 million. "A Promise" is truly gorgeously shot. It's equally no surprise that the US box-office take was less than $1 million. I don't know at whose feet to lay the blame for this soporific set-piece: casting? direction? I do know that this is a love story without much in the way of romantic feeling. Perhaps a boy-meets-girl, boy-gets-girl plot is way too predictable these days, but there was so little spark, particularly from the younger of the two male leads, that I did not even root for the typical outcome. It was clever, I suppose, to substitute "British" class-based accents for a story set in Germany to distinguish characters' social classes from one another. (How would the average viewer know a higher-class German-accented English versus a lower-class one?) And there were certainly other competent directorial decisions. There may have also been an anachronism or two, however, including a clunky scene near the end alluding to the rise of Nazism, but the timing wasn't completely clear (right after the war? early 1920s?), so I'll give M. Leconte a pass on that. May the great Alan Rickman, a highlight of this production, rest in peace.

Seeing a guy get almost sick pining for a woman he really can't have got boring very quickly. Pass on this one.

I watched "A Promise" by accident - totally unprepared, and not even knowing what I was about to watch. But the fact that I watched it to the end already says a lot, since the film is not your typical shoot-them-up-superhero type of entertainment. A Promise is essentially a love story set in times just before the WWI. It moves at its own, unhurried pace, but gives us plenty to observe and enjoy. While thoughtful, it manages to create suspense and drama without ever becoming sappy or boring. The story is inspiring, and screenplay well written. Besides great photography, and great story, all the actors were marvelous. It is rare for me to be impressed by a film a day after I watched it, but A Promise achieved exactly that. It is refined, honest and deep enough to keep one engaged and only the most jaded will be unimpressed. Maybe there was a thing or two I would've done differently, but even with those imperfections, it stands out as an enviable work of seventh art. Obviously, if you were looking for Ironman 12, or Halloween 13, you came to the wrong place.