A Foreign Film Analysis on La Promesse

There is a strong difference between American and foreign films.  When we watch films made in the United States, we can see a flair of the Hollywood look - even in 2020 - which becomes explicitly noticeable when comparing Euphoria and Skins. There is a distinct difference between these shows in terms of style, aside from the fact that they were filmed at different points in time. Even though Euphoria does an effective job at telling the realities of the lives of high school students, there is still a pop of glamour added to the stories, through the characters and their experiences that we learn to be inspired by. Not to say the lives of those living in the United Kingdom aren’t glamorous or as glamorous, but rather there is a disparity in how they decide to showcase the lives of their characters. 

When watching foreign films, (in this case a European film), there is a specific aesthetic that differentiates them from films made in the United States. In La Promesse, the look and feel depicted is pure grit, and the film offers a brutally realistic representation of the main character's persona.  

Our protagonist, Igor, works alongside his father to bring illegal immigrants into Belgium and provides them with housing.  After being forced to cover up a death, Igor becomes awakened to the exploitation and manipulation his father exudes onto these immigrants. Throughout the narrative, Igor struggles to take control of the situation and finally puts it on the right track. Igor must do whatever is possible to fulfill the promise he has made to a man whose last breath he witnessed.

Igor’s character transforms from being a slave to his father’s work to becoming his own person who is actually trying to help people, instead of exploiting them. In the beginning, we see that Igor is his father’s right-hand man, helping him collect money, fill out paperwork, and basically being at his side immediately whenever he’s needed - even if that means losing his job. We don’t really see Igor being a child, aside from the time when he goes go-karting with his friends, and even then, his father makes him cut his time with his friends short. Along with being forced to hide the death of Amidou, I felt as though this was the last straw for Igor. Igor is simply a child who can only do so much with the guilt of hiding a death riding on his back. He becomes aware that if he doesn’t do the right thing soon, he will end up like his father. 

I believe the main two emotions that drive Igor throughout the story are his desire to live life as a real kid, and the guilt from constantly lying to Assita about her husband’s whereabouts. Because of how early in the story Amidou’s death occurs, Igor’s guilt drives his character for the majority of the film. Since the incident, he’s wanted to do the right thing, but his father continuously blocks him from doing so. Each rejection pushes Igor further towards making more drastic actions. In the end, Igor wants to stay true to himself, and no longer live with this traumatic incident that only he and his father know about. 

A shift in the narrative is ignited at the midpoint of the movie, when Igor and his father go to the restaurant with two other women. This constitutes a transition for Igor; at this point he must decide what to do about the Amidou/Assita situation, and whether he should side with his father, or stay true to himself and do the right thing.  Roger, his father, is trying to lure Igor into his world by mentioning how he should be talking and getting involved with girls. By doing this, he wants Igor’s mindset to be strictly money and women, instead of youth and truthfulness. 

There are two turning points in this film that trigger a new perspective for Igor, and allow him to take control of another situation at a later stage. The first pivotal moment is when Roger refuses to take Amidou to the hospital or to help him in any way. His immediate thought process is to dispose of the body and act like nothing happened, meanwhile Igor is on the other side of the spectrum, wanting to help Amidou to make sure he lives so that he can be there for his wife and child. Igor doesn’t understand that it isn’t so easy for him to simply take Amidou to the hospital, but for his father to completely refuse to help him confuses him even more. The second turning point is when Igor takes the van with Assita and her child inside, and drives away from his father. He partially tells Assita the truth about the situation his father was going to put her in, but is reluctant to tell her about Amidou’s death. This is a turning point because Igor has finally had enough of this situation and wants to do what is right for Assita and her child because he promised Amidou he would look after them. Since the first turning point, Igor has transformed as a character and in this second situation, he is able to take control of the situation he is in. 

At first, La Promesse didn’t seem like a film I would enjoy watching and analyzing. But after giving it a second shot and discussing its differences with other foreign or American coming-of-age films, I soon began to appreciate it more. I wasn’t accustomed to the simplicity of the production, but learned to see that this was what made the story even more heartbreaking.