I don’t know how true this statement is, but beyond that, there’s not much in the film that’s meaningful. In the same year, the festival had several films and directors, much more worthy - "Neon Demon", "She" and others. I have not seen all the films nominated for the palm branch, but for cinematic value I would put “Promise” in one of the last places.
The film has a curious plot - the parents of the girl all their lives devoted to sending their daughter to study and live in a prosperous country. However, this idea is presented rather pale and unexpressive. The director smooths the sharp corners of history, pacifies conflicts between the characters - one can say that he does this to make the film as close to reality as possible. However, this demonstration of life is greatly hampered by flashing in the dialogue pieces of tooth-cracking pathos, in the form of arguments about the fate of the country, which stand out from the general style of narration.
Many of the characters remain undisclosed, almost all except the hero-father. I'm especially sorry for my daughter. The whole story revolves around her, her father is ready to sacrifice his freedom for her, but she remains an empty place. Some conventional, schematically drawn figure.
It is also disappointing that the finale of the film remains open. The conflict remained unresolved, and without any final point, the question arises – why did all this happen? What did the director want to say, why did he spend so much time on it, why should we, the audience, spend our time on it and prefer this one to a lot of better movies? Unfortunately, I didn't have the answers. The absence of any bright event and reaction to it in the finale deprives the film of specifics, makes it slurred and schematic. The worst part is that it is empty.
2 out of 10
Original