''La Promesse'' () is a 1996 Drama (film and television), drama film by the Belgium, Belgian brothers Luc Dardenne and Jean-Pierre Dardenne. The plot involves a father, Roger, who mercilessly trafficks and exploits undocumented immigrants. His son, Igor, is fifteen and an apprentice mechanic, who also works for his father in his labor contracting operation. When one of their illegal workers is seriously injured at the worksite, left to die, and the death concealed by Roger and Igor, a guilt-ridden Igor must choose between his father's chosen way of life and his promise to the dying man.

Cast

*Jérémie Renier as Igor *Olivier Gourmet as Roger *Assita Ouedraogo as Assita

Critical response

''La Promesse'' received overwhelmingly positive reviews from critics. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives it a 95% approval rating, based on 21 reviews, with an average score of 7.8/10. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film received an average score of 82, based on 17 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim ".

Awards and nominations

*Belgian Film Critics Association (Belgium) **Won: André Cavens Award for Best Film **Nominated: Grand Prix (Belgian Syndicate of Cinema Critics), Grand Prix *César Awards (France) **Nominated: César Award for Best Foreign Film, Best Foreign Film *Los Angeles Film Critics (USA) **Nominated: Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Foreign Language Film, Best Foreign Film *National Society of Film Critics (USA) **Won: National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Foreign Language Film, Best Foreign Language Film *Online Film Critics Society Awards (USA) **Nominated: Best Foreign Language Film *Satellite Awards (USA) **Nominated: Best Motion Picture – Foreign Language *Valladolid International Film Festival, Valladolid Film Festival (Spain) **Won: FIPRESCI Prize (Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne) **Won: Golden Spike (Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne)

References

External links

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''La Promesse''
a
dardenne-brothers.com''La promesse: One Plus One''
an essay by Kent Jones at the Criterion Collection 1996 films 1990s French-language films 1996 drama films Belgian drama films French drama films Films directed by the Dardenne brothers Films shot in Belgium Films set in Belgium Belgium in fiction Films about illegal immigration to Europe French-language Belgian films 1990s French films {{Belgium-film-stub