''A Promise'' is a 2013 English-language French
drama
Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...
romance film
Romance films involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion (emotion), passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their ...
directed by
Patrice Leconte
Patrice Leconte (; born 12 November 1947) is a French film director, screenwriter and comic strip writer.
Life and career
Leconte grew up in Tours, and began making little amateur films at 15. He went to Paris in 1967 and studied at Institut des ...
and written by Patrice Leconte and Jérôme Tonnerre. The story is based on
Stefan Zweig's 1929 novel ''Widerstand der Wirklichkeit'' (translated into English as ''Journey into the Past)'' and stars
Rebecca Hall
Rebecca Maria Hall (born 3 May 1982) is an English actress and director. She made her first onscreen appearance at the age of 10 in the 1992 The Camomile Lawn (TV serial), television adaptation of ''The Camomile Lawn'', directed by her father, ...
,
Alan Rickman
Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman (21 February 1946 – 14 January 2016) was an English actor and director. Known for his distinctive deep, wikt:languid#Etymology 1, languid voice, he trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and b ...
,
Richard Madden
Richard Madden (born 18 June 1986) is a Scottish actor. He was cast in his first role at age 11 and made his screen acting debut in 2000. He later began performing on stage whilst a student at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. In 2007, he t ...
, and
Maggie Steed
Maggie Steed (born Margaret Baker; 1 December 1946) is an English actress and comedian.
Career
After studying drama at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School in Bristol in the late 1960s, Steed left the theatre for several years, until she was about ...
. It was screened in the Special Presentation section at the
2013 Toronto International Film Festival
The 38th annual Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) took place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada between September 5 and 15, 2013. ''The Fifth Estate (film), The Fifth Estate'' was selected as the opening film and ''Life of Crime (film), Life o ...
.
Plot
In 1912 Germany, a freshly graduated engineer with modest origins, Friedrich Zeitz (
Richard Madden
Richard Madden (born 18 June 1986) is a Scottish actor. He was cast in his first role at age 11 and made his screen acting debut in 2000. He later began performing on stage whilst a student at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. In 2007, he t ...
), starts work at a steelworks owned by ageing tycoon Karl Hoffmeister (
Alan Rickman
Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman (21 February 1946 – 14 January 2016) was an English actor and director. Known for his distinctive deep, wikt:languid#Etymology 1, languid voice, he trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and b ...
). Hoffmeister is impressed by Zeitz's knowledge and commitment to the work, and Friedrich moves up through the ranks. When Hoffmeister's declining health starts to confine him permanently to his house, Friedrich has to visit him at home for briefings, which he then relays back to the steelworks. Through his visits, Friedrich makes the acquaintance of Hoffmeister's younger wife Charlotte (
Rebecca Hall
Rebecca Maria Hall (born 3 May 1982) is an English actress and director. She made her first onscreen appearance at the age of 10 in the 1992 The Camomile Lawn (TV serial), television adaptation of ''The Camomile Lawn'', directed by her father, ...
), a beautiful and reserved woman in her early 30s. He immediately becomes enamoured with her.
Friedrich begins to spend more time with the Hoffmeisters, tutoring their young son Otto. Hoffmeister asks Zeitz to move in with his family, so as to be as close as possible for business matters. Friedrich struggles with his growing feelings for Charlotte, not realising that they are reciprocated. Just as they disclose their mutual attraction towards one another, Friedrich has to leave the country to represent Hoffmeister on an overseas mining venture in Mexico. They make a promise to one another that, once Friedrich returns from Mexico, they can be together.
Charlotte and Friedrich communicate frequently in secret, but the outbreak of World War I and a military blockade prevent Friedrich from returning to Germany. Eventually the letters between the lovers are unable to pass through the blockade, and Charlotte begins to fear that Friedrich may be dead. Karl Hoffmeister dies of his illness, confessing to Charlotte that he should never have kept her and Friedrich apart. Some time after the war, Friedrich finally returns home. At first, the relationship between Charlotte and Friedrich is tense - so much has changed in the time they were apart - but they reunite and promise to never leave each other again.
Cast
*
Rebecca Hall
Rebecca Maria Hall (born 3 May 1982) is an English actress and director. She made her first onscreen appearance at the age of 10 in the 1992 The Camomile Lawn (TV serial), television adaptation of ''The Camomile Lawn'', directed by her father, ...
as Charlotte "Lotte" Hoffmeister
*
Alan Rickman
Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman (21 February 1946 – 14 January 2016) was an English actor and director. Known for his distinctive deep, wikt:languid#Etymology 1, languid voice, he trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and b ...
as Karl Hoffmeister
*
Richard Madden
Richard Madden (born 18 June 1986) is a Scottish actor. He was cast in his first role at age 11 and made his screen acting debut in 2000. He later began performing on stage whilst a student at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. In 2007, he t ...
as Friedrich Zeitz
*
Maggie Steed
Maggie Steed (born Margaret Baker; 1 December 1946) is an English actress and comedian.
Career
After studying drama at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School in Bristol in the late 1960s, Steed left the theatre for several years, until she was about ...
as Frau Hermann
*
Shannon Tarbet as Anna
*
Jean-Louis Sbille as Hans
* Toby Murray as Otto Hoffmeister
* Christelle Cornil as Post Office Employee
* Jonathan Sawdon as engineer
Reception
Review aggregation website
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
gives the film an approval rating of 13% based on 23 reviews, with an average rating of 4/10. On
Metacritic
Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
, the film has a score of 36 out of 100, based on 39 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".
Critics commented on the quality of the film-making, but a number of reviewers criticised the lack of chemistry between the two leads. Justin Chang of ''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' described the film as "awkward
ndpassionless]" and Elizabeth Weitzman of the ''
New York Daily News
The ''Daily News'' is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, New Jersey. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson in New York City as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in Tabloid (newspaper format ...
'' commented "A romantic triangle featuring Rebecca Hall, Alan Rickman and "Game of Thrones" costar Richard Madden has no business being this dull". David Parkinson of the ''
Radio Times
''Radio Times'' is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in September 1923 by John Reith, then general manage ...
'' described the lack of spark between Madden and Hall as "unintentionally amusing". Some critics suggested that perhaps issues of translation, as Patrice Leconte's first English-language film, may have been partially responsible.
On the whole, critics felt that the film missed the mark as an adaptation. Robbie Collin, writing for ''
The Telegraph
''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are often names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include:
Australia
* The Telegraph (Adelaide), ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaid ...
'', dismissed the film as "a classic Zweig narrative, as tight and prickly as a thorn-bush, pruned into a shapeless, leafy clump", while David Hughes of ''
Empire
An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outpost (military), outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a hegemony, dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the ...
'' advised "If you only watch one Stefan Zweig-inspired film this year, watch The Grand Budapest Hotel. If you watch two, see The Grand Budapest Hotel twice".
Awards
References
External links
Official English Press Kit*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Promise, A
2013 films
2010s English-language films
French romantic drama films
2013 romantic drama films
Films based on works by Stefan Zweig
Films directed by Patrice Leconte
Films scored by Gabriel Yared
Films set in Germany
Films set in the 1910s
English-language French films
2010s French films
Films produced by Olivier Delbosc
Films produced by Marc Missonnier
Films set in 1912
English-language romantic drama films