Shaping up to be the kind of sweeping romantic war epic Hollywood doesn’t seem all that interested in making today, The Promise follows an Armenian medical student (Oscar Isaac), an artist (Charlotte Le Bon), and a worldly American journalist (Christian Bale) who form a love triangle amid the chaos of the First World War. Directed by Terry George (Hotel Rwanda), following a TIFF premiere, it’ll arrive next month, and the new theatrical trailer has arrived.
We said in our review, “Terry George, whose Hotel Rwanda also dealt with a historical genocide, shoots the film with visual care. With the help of cinematographer Javier Aguirresarobe (Vicky Cristina Barcelona, The Road), he sets the scene capturing a vast, alluring Middle Eastern landscape, filled with deserts and mountains. The battle scenes are also immaculately shot by George, giving the film a grit that might be hiding under Aguirresarobe’s romantic photography. Somewhere in here lies a great war movie, but the screenplay, by George and Robin Swicord, hits more than a few rough patches when focusing on Michael and Ana’s affair. These inconsistencies as it pertains to an rudimentary love story bog the proceedings down.”
Check out the trailer below.
Empires fall, love survives. When Michael (Oscar Isaac), a brilliant medical student, meets Ana (Charlotte Le Bon), their shared Armenian heritage sparks an attraction that explodes into a romantic rivalry between Michael and Ana’s boyfriend Chris (Christian Bale), a famous American photojournalist dedicated to exposing political truth. As the Ottoman Empire crumbles into war-torn chaos, their conflicting passions must be deferred while they join forces to get their people to safety and survive themselves. The Promise is directed by Academy Award winning filmmaker Terry George.
The Promise opens on April 21.