La Promesse . Tucson Weekly . 11-17-97

La Promesse

DIRECTED BY: Jean-Pierre Dardenne

REVIEWED: 11-17-97

See the 15-year-old Igor help his slumlord dad exploit illegal immigrants. See Igor promise to take care of a poor tenant's wife and child as the man lay there dying from an accident. See Igor's dad hide the body and continue to exploit the man's wife and child instead of telling them what happened. See Igor slowly realize his dad is scum. See Igor develop a moral conscience and, though disoriented, come into his own as a human being. See the Belgian filmmakers Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne use a stark hand-held camera technique until you're dizzy. See this movie anyway, because it has a detailed documentary feel with verisimilitude and subtlety that more than make up for what it lacks in conventional dramatic satisfactions.

--Woodruff

Full Length Reviews
La Promesse
La Promesse

Other Films by Jean-Pierre Dardenne
Rosetta

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Nénette et Boni
The Life of Jesus
Cabaret Balkan

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