La Promesse (1996) - film review

Igor is a 15 year old boy living in a bleak Belgian town and who helps his bullying father Roger exploit illegal immigrants.   When one of these immigrants, a man named Amidou, is accidentally killed whilst working on a building site, Igor promises to look after his wife and baby.  Roger is far less generous, however.  He secretly buries the body (with Igor’s help) and plans to remove Amidou’s wife to Germany to prevent her from making enquiries into her husband’s disappearance.  Remembering his promise to Amidou, Igor turns against his father and attempts to help the unfortunate woman and her baby...

With La Promesse, the Belgian directors Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne paint a harrowing picture of teenage rebellion in the grimmest of situations.  With its naturalistic acting, rough editing and unsteady camera movements, the film has a documentary feel which, whilst disorientating at first, heightens the drama and conveys a shocking sense of realism.   The film’s uncompromising presentation of the ill-treatment of illegal immigrants is unequivocally stomach-turning, drawing our attention to one the biggest social issues of our time.

Although the film has some obvious flaws (some of the acting looks false and stilted in places, and the film’s low-key ending lacks any real sense of resolution), it is for the most part a captivating drama, with some genuinely poignant moments.   Jérémie Rénier’s credible performance as the teenager Igor is particularly noteworthy, providing a likeable figure the audience has no trouble identifying with.   By contrast, Olivier Gourmet’s Roger is truly loathsome creature, a vile slob whose humiliation near the end of the film is a pleasure to witness.

© James Travers 2001

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