In the last few weeks before the release of the movie worldwide and Lebanon, there was a lot of discussions how the movie through ratings via IMDb & Rotten Tomatoes being hijacked by thousand of reviewers through very low ratings with the majority not writing a single note on the movie. For the reason mentioned and the fact that I was invited by AFHIL (Armenian Fund For Health Insurance in Lebanon) through a friend, I had to go and judge for myself.
Usually, I care a lot about ratings but this time I had to ignore because the movie wasn't given chance and in my mind, because I understood that this act by Turkish influenced reviewers is a second attempt to diminish importance of what happened 102 years ago & erase a nation's right from the history books. So I was not deterred by 4/10 rating or the rotten status on both mentioned sites. In an approximately 2 hours 10 minutes, there was not a second of boredom in the film. I will go into little deeply & briefly in explaining certain aspects of making a good film. In any film especially a feature film there're few things that complement each other without one the movie is a failure. In the case of "The Promise" had the storytelling attributes & a well struck script, the director who is the project manager of this feature was in control & in my opinion he excelled, the cast was almost flawless although Christian Bale had by far had better roles from the Batman series, American psycho, and other parts nevertheless he was on top of his game. Oscar Isaac portrayal of the Armenian living under the Turkish rule was overwhelming and authentic, especially during his emotional outburst while witnessing the tragedy of his people and family. Charlotte LeBon as an actress was new to me but she as well nailed in her performance. The production from small details to the biggest either makes it or break it and here they were spot on. At the end of the day, it's a dramatic love story with historical influences and no matter what you do someone will criticize. The most important elements to a good movie were evident the story, cast, production, directing, & crew. Would I say it's a masterpiece? No, but it's a movie I recommend everyone to watch, open their heart & eyes to fully grasp this major production that highlights an important & tragic part in the history of the Armenian nation and Armenians scattered all over the world because the aggression of an arrogant empire and until our days the same entity is not even conceding of the atrocities occurred by their predecessors.
Usually, I care a lot about ratings but this time I had to ignore because the movie wasn't given chance and in my mind, because I understood that this act by Turkish influenced reviewers is a second attempt to diminish importance of what happened 102 years ago & erase a nation's right from the history books. So I was not deterred by 4/10 rating or the rotten status on both mentioned sites. In an approximately 2 hours 10 minutes, there was not a second of boredom in the film. I will go into little deeply & briefly in explaining certain aspects of making a good film. In any film especially a feature film there're few things that complement each other without one the movie is a failure. In the case of "The Promise" had the storytelling attributes & a well struck script, the director who is the project manager of this feature was in control & in my opinion he excelled, the cast was almost flawless although Christian Bale had by far had better roles from the Batman series, American psycho, and other parts nevertheless he was on top of his game. Oscar Isaac portrayal of the Armenian living under the Turkish rule was overwhelming and authentic, especially during his emotional outburst while witnessing the tragedy of his people and family. Charlotte LeBon as an actress was new to me but she as well nailed in her performance. The production from small details to the biggest either makes it or break it and here they were spot on. At the end of the day, it's a dramatic love story with historical influences and no matter what you do someone will criticize. The most important elements to a good movie were evident the story, cast, production, directing, & crew. Would I say it's a masterpiece? No, but it's a movie I recommend everyone to watch, open their heart & eyes to fully grasp this major production that highlights an important & tragic part in the history of the Armenian nation and Armenians scattered all over the world because the aggression of an arrogant empire and until our days the same entity is not even conceding of the atrocities occurred by their predecessors.