An important movie that you’ll wish was just a little bit better.
The story of the Armenian Genocide is one of the most tragic tales in human history, when on the brink of World War 1, Turkey began systematically killing Armenian citizens throughout their country under the disguise of a “relocation” of the people. In the end, 1.5 million Armenians were killed, and while the Turkish government still refuses to recognize the event, the story has been waiting for the right film to bring its tragedy to life on the big screen for years now. But despite the staggering talents of its lead cast members, writer and director Terry George’s The Promise just isn’t that film.
Set during the time just before the first World War, the film begins by introducing us to Oscar Isaac’s Mikael, an intelligent and passionate Armenian man living in a remote village located in the hills of Turkey. We quickly learn, through a clunky, expository, opening narration, that Mikael wants to study medicine so that he can bring all of the knowledge and tools of modern medical techniques to his home, but lacks the funds or means to do it. As a result, he agrees to become engaged to a young village girl named Maral (Angela Sarafyan), someone he’s not particularly attracted to or interested in, but whose father will give Mikael 400 gold coins as an engagement dowry in exchange. With it, Mikael can move to Constantinople and enroll as a student at the city’s medical school.
Mikael promises to return in a few years when he has completed his schooling, where he will marry Maral and start a family with her. But while in Constantinople, he lives under the roof of his uncle, Mesrob (Igal Naor), and is introduced to Mesrob’s daughters, and their beautiful French-Armenian tutor, Ana (Charlotte Le Bon). Mikael quickly becomes infatuated with Ana during his time in Constantinople, and the two begin a romantic affair, even while Ana continues to be in a relationship with Chris Myers (Christian Bale), an equally intelligent and principled American journalist for the Associated Press.
Their peaceful time in Constantinople quickly comes to a harsh and violent end when both Mikael and Mesrob are imprisoned by the Turkish empire, with the former sent to an internment camp where he and the other Armenian prisoners are forced to build a railroad for the army or be killed. However, months into his time there, and through an unexpected sequence of events, Mikael is able to escape his imprisonment. From there he begins a long journey home to fulfill his promise, save his family from certain death, and possibly reconnect with Ana and Chris along the way.
With that basic plot, the bones of a truly great epic about finding hope in a seemingly hopeless scenario are certainly there, but The Promise frustrates because it stubbornly insists on trying to do much more than it reasonably should. The romantic love triangle between Mikael, Ana, and Chris never feels earned or even remotely tangible, especially as Bale’s Chris continues to prove himself as a heroic and honorable man, who only seems to get worked up about Ana and Mikael’s affair briefly during one chaotic scene near the middle of the film. For this reason alone, Bale is able to give the best performance out of the three leads, as he’s able to stay fairly clear of the cliched writing and moments that drag The Promise down.
What’s even worse is that when The Promise isn’t concerning itself with Ana and Mikael’s lackluster romance, it manages to capture moments of real tragedy, heroism, and human defiance. It’s in these moments, like when Chris and Mikael are forced to run through a dense forest in the hills of Turkey away from their violent Turkish pursuers, that George manages to most closely touch the same depth he captured in the flawed, but important Hotel Rwanda. That 2004 film from George, which told a similar story about genocide, never quite lost sight of the horrible atrocities being committed to its characters, even despite being messy in its own right.
That’s not to say that George goes light on scenes of murder and death in The Promise either, but rather that they never quite land with the same weight as they did in Hotel Rwanda. It’s clear that with the love story between Mikael and Ana he’s trying to bring a face to the millions of Armenians who lost their lives at the hands of the Turkish empire, but their romance merely distracts from the far more interesting and important events happening before and after their scenes together. It’s hard not to wonder if The Promise would have been more effective had Mikael, Chris, and Ana simply been friends forced to try and live through a terrible time together, rather than war-torn lovers.
The Promise hits its biggest stride near the middle of its runtime, as it follows Mikael through a difficult and stressful journey away from his internment camp back home to his village and family. Along the way, he tries to save a compartment full of Armenian prisoners while riding on the side of a speeding train, and happens upon a small Armenian family kind enough to lend him a donkey. That’s the kind of story that The Promise should have been more focused on telling, rather than a wartime love story that feels as unoriginal as it does lifeless.
The Verdict
Christian Bale and Oscar Isaac both prove themselves to be some of the finest actors of their generation once again here, but The Promise squanders their work under the weight of story tropes and an unearned romantic subplot. The fact that The Promise still manages to hit moments of real dramatic weight throughout speaks to the tragedy of the material and the abilities of its leads.
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