Director – Terry George
Writers – Terry George, Robin Swicord
Plot: Set during the last days of the Ottoman Empire, The Promise
follows a love triangle between Michael, a brilliant medical student,
the beautiful and sophisticated Ana, and Chris - a renowned American
journalist based in Paris. – IMDB.com
Cast Characters
Oscar Isaac … Mikael Boghosian
Charlotte Le Bon … Ana Khesarian
Christian Bale … Chris Myers
Daniel Giménez Cacho … Reverend Dikran Antreassian
Shohreh Aghdashloo … Marta Boghosian
Marwan Kenzari --- Emre Ogan
Angela Sarafyan … Maral
Tom Hollander … Garin
Numan Acar … Mustafa
Igal Naor … Mesrob
Milene Mayer … Yeva
Tamer Hassan … Faruk Pasha
Alicia Borrachero … Lena
Abel Folk … Harut
Jean Reno --- Admiral Fournet
Thoughts – The movie starts saying “On the eve of World War I, the
once vast Ottoman Turk Empire was on the brink of collapse. The fate
of the Empire’s Greek, Assyrian, and Armenian minorities lay in the
balance”
We begin in Siroun, Southern Turkey 1914. It is half Turk, half
Armenian. Mikael Boghosian is a man who prepares and sells medicines.
The narrator tells us “For 200 years the Boghosians made medicines
using formulas handed down from our ancestors. We treated everyone
alike, Muslim and Christian, rich and poor.” Harut, Mikael’s father in
law, gives him 400 gold coins as a dowry. He says he will grow to love
her so it is a marriage for money so he can go to school in
Constantinople to study medicine.
At the Imperial Medical School Mikael begins classes. This is his
dream come true. Mikael notices and talks to Ana Khesarian who is an
artist. We are introduced to Christopher Myers played by Christian
Bale who sis a Paris based American journalist. They agree the place
is boring where they are drinking and they go to a bar to drink
absinthe.
Ana tells Mikael she’s done sketches for Parisian magazines and
American newspapers. Ana is with Christopher but a love triangle is
brewing. Chris apologies for insulting the Turk and German armies at
the party to Ana. Turkey enters the war October 29, 1914. Mikael
avoids a military draft when his friend pays off a soldier who enlists
people. That was a close call. Chris tells Ana it’s not safe for
Armenians right now so he wants to get her an American visa. Mikael’s
uncle recognizes that Ana likes Mikael and that things are not good
between her and Chris. He suggests to Mikael he get divorced and pay
back the dowry of 400 gold coins plus 200 to ease the anger. Mikael
says no he made a promise. Chris witnesses Armenian’s being marched to
their deaths, The Armenian Genocide, and one woman weak is shot. Turks
are assaulting Armenians and setting fire to their shops.
An affair starts with Ana and Mikael. As a journalist Chris wires a
message to New York that Armenians are being murdered. The Turks don’t
like this when they hear him aloud. He is also mad because he knows
Ana cheated on him with Mikael. Emre, a Turk, tries to help his
Armenian friend, Mikael. Mikael tries to bribe someone in the prison
but is tricked and imprisoned himself. Emre’s relative tells him he is
to join the army to restore their family name. Chris looks at his wife
Ana and knows she cheated on him. The Turks are building a railroad
and the Armenians are doing all the manual labor. The Turks are
brutal. They shoot someone if they are injured.
Mikael escapes the work camp. He gets help from some Armenian
peasants. Maral and Mikael get married in an Armenian ceremony. Mikael
is given refuge b his family. He sleeps with Maral. All in all he is
lucky. Chris tells a pastor he wants to record the orphans escaping
for posterity. The pastor agrees to it. Maral thinks she is pregnant
with Mikael’s child. Ana and Mikael reunite at the mission. They cry
seeing each other.
Chris asks how Mikael is going to introduce Ana to his wife, Maral. He
is threatening him. Mikael doesn’t like this. Mikael sees his family
captured by the Turks. The Turks kill a load of people by the river
and leave them there. Among them is Maral and Mikael’s father.
Turks come and find the survivors, Mikael’s mother and a little girl.
A Turk kicks Chris in the testicles and he is emasculated once again.
Chris Myers tells a Turk official, Faruk Pasha, he is reporting on the
war. The man says there is no war here just a civilian relocation.
Chris rips up a confession he gets in prison he is suppose to sign. It
shocks Emre. They find out Emre sent out information about Chris and
he is executed. Marta dies and they bury her under rocks. This was
Mikael’s mother.
Turks start firing canon balls on the mountain where the Armenians are
hiding. They head toward the beach. Admiral Fournet of the French Navy
sends help to the Armenians. They fight alongside the Armenians. Ana
and Mikael kiss and she says she loves him. Chris sees this. Yeva and
Ana are tossed from the boat evacuating the Armenians. Ana drowns.
Chris finds out and he is devastated. Chris dies while reporting on
the Spanish Civil War.
The movie tells us, “One and a half million, men, women, and children
perished during the Armenian genocide. To this day the Turkish
government refuses to acknowledge this crime.”
Works Cited:
No comments:
Post a Comment