The movie, set during the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the onset of the Armenian Genocide, tells the love story between two Armenians, Mikael, a medical student, and Ana, the girlfriend of an American journalist called Chris. Even though the majority of The Promise is the love triangle, it manages to provide accurate information about the Armenian Genocide.
The Promise is historically accurate in its depiction of the massacre. Garnik Banean, in his book Goodbye, Antoura: A Memoire of the Armenian Genocide, states that during the time, “the women and children were internally displaced, often to concentration camps.” During the movie, Chris saw Armenian women and children were forcibly displaced through his telescope. Banean also claims that men were into labor battalions. In The Promise, Mikael was a forced laborer for six months. Taner Akçam, in his book The Young Turks’ Crime Against Humanity: The Armenian Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing in the Ottoman Empire declares that the mass murder is part of the Empire’s plan for the “homogenization” of Anatolia. The word “Homogenization” suggests that the Ottoman Empire’s plan is to exterminate the Armenian people. One of the most hideous moments in the film occurs when Mikael tells other Armenians that his pregnant wife’s belly is bayoneted and his baby is killed before being born. This scene symbolizes the Empire’s extermination plan. They kill the baby so that no new Armenian could against them.
Nevertheless, the motion picture has a few flaws. The two love scenes in this film are not necessary since The Promise is about the genocide. Also, the image of Armenian people in this film is not very positive, in that not everyone is always faithful. At the beginning of the movie, the only reason that Mikael promises himself to his fiancée is to get the dowry so that he can afford medical school. He is not even faithful before the marriage begins because he chooses to be engaged out of the money, not out of love. The night the genocide begins, Ana has an affair with Mikael even though she is still is Chris’ girlfriend. Mikael chooses not to restrain his feeling towards Ana even though he is engaged to another woman. Also, one of the most surprising moments in the film occurs when Mikael’s mother claims that he is dead after Chris and Ana bring his aunt and cousins back to his village. In these scenes, the Armenian characters are being deceitful, even though the movie is called The Promise. Since most Armenian are Christian, who should not lie, the intention of the film’s depiction of Armenian’s unfaithfulness is bewildering.
If you want to know more about the Armenian genocide, this is the film for you. But it is indispensable to understand that The Promise is not a truly great piece of filmmaking in the depiction of Armenian people.
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