The Promise is a history lesson coated with a love with triangle
MOVIE DETAILS Title: The Promise Rating: PG-13 (for thematic material including war attrocities, violence and disturbing images, and some sexuality) Genre: Drama, Romance Casts: Christian Bale, Oscar Isaac, Charlotte Le Bon, Angela Sarafyan, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Jean Reno, Marwan Kenzari, James Cromwel, Daniel Giménez Cacho, Rade Šerbedžija, Numan Acar, Yigal Naor, Tamer Hassan, Roman Mitichyan, Kevork Malikyan, Michael Stahl-David, Milene Mayer, Alain Hernández, James Chanos, Tom Hollander, Osman Soykut, Alex Maruny, Julián Villagrán, Armin Amiri, Pau Cólera, Marco Khan, Nacho Aldeguer, Stewart Scudamore, Andrew Tarbet, Mario Opinato, Aaron Neil, Garen Boyajian, Nicolas Bosc, Antonella Axisa,Jean Claude Ricquebourg Directed By: Terry George Written By: Terry George, Robin Swicord In Theaters: Apr 21, 2017 Wide On Disc/Streaming: Jul 18, 2017 Runtime: 134 minutes Studio: Open Road Films RATING: 8/10
[Source](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gnwgMYeaqr4)No one can really know the story of the Armenian Genocide except the survivors. The Armenian Genocide is the annihilation of 1.5million Armenians by the Turkish government during world war 1. The Turks denies this crime until date. *The promise* is a movie to show the World the truth and it was financed by a few Armenian Americans including Billionaire Kirk Kerkorian who died before it was concluded, but his money shows in the prestigious production.
The movie was set in Southern Turkey, in 1914 with A-list actors. It began with Mikael (Oscar Isaac) a local apothecary who wants to be a medical doctor but can't afford the tuition fees. He decided to get betrothed to Maral (Angela Sarafyan), his neighbour's daughter so that he could use the dowry and sponsor himself in medical school. He was paid 400 gold coins and he set out for the Imperial Medical School in Constantinople (now Istanbul), and promised his family that he'll return after 3years and formerly marry Maral. When he got to his wealthy's uncle house, he fell in love with Ana (Charlotte Le Bon), his nieces' dance teacher. He also befriends Emre (Marwan Kenzari), the son of a wealthy Turkish government official. Unfortunately for him, his betrothed is not the only obstacle between him and his new found love, Ana also has a famous American journalist boyfriend, Chris (Christopher Bale), whose sole work is to report and expose war crimes, but it didn't stop their romance.
Source
Until war came, Turkish Muslims started attacking Christian Armenians, properties were burned, women and children were dragged to the desert to be slaughtered, Armenian elites were arrested including Mikael's uncle, Mikael enlisted the help of Emre to release his uncle but instead he was captured and taken to a Turkish camp and was subjected to hard labour with thousands of Armenians. 6 months later, an Armenian former clown dropped a dynamite, which blew up the camp and paved a way for Mikael's escape. He returned to his family and things just took a turn for the worse.
Source
My heart goes out to the victims of this genocide and no amount of prestigious movie production will be able to depict what really happened, especially as Turkish government and United States do not acknowledge it as an act of genocide.  [Source](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTb8D1fBktvP1EJQnOPhrymko40STVLlN075cuQ_AUFUrNVSMgk67p-yLp5Dw) My only problem with this movie is George's choice to use a love story to sugar coat the story. This is a true story, a genocidal story which should be told extensively. George proved he could tell a genocidal story flawlessly when he directed *Hotel Rwanda*, which could be the reason why Kirk apparently chose him to direct this movie. He probably wanted to use the love story to not bore the audience with history, but it deprived the movie of an in depth narration on the Genocide. *the promise* ended up being neither a history movie nor a romance movie as neither the two was told expressively. It should be noted that Mikael and Ana are fictional characters, but the rest of the movie is a true life story. The set location and costume design is flawless. Despite this, the movie was effective in giving the history lesson but failed to engage in the love triangle. Even if the Turkish government and America do not acknowledge the Armenian Genocide, it is important that *The Promise* was made.  [Source](https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTrNe2-v4bdJoxq0LHjlqMt6CpS5e2C0lDil-QYU93Zl-CBktgquy97N2_YfQ)
Have you watched The Promise? Comment your thoughts. Kindly upvote and Resteem to.
It's the one and only @nmalove
