''La Promesse'' () is a 1996 drama film written and directed by the Belgian brothers

Luc Dardenne Brothers Jean-Pierre Dardenne (; born 21 April 1951) and Luc Dardenne (born 10 March 1954), collectively referred to as the Dardenne brothers, are a Belgian filmmaking duo. They write, produce, and direct their films together. The Dardennes b ...

and Jean-Pierre Dardenne, starring

Jérémie Renier (; born 6 January 1981) is a Belgian actor. His film debut was in the critically praised (1996), directed by the Dardenne brothers. He became better known to worldwide audiences in ''Brotherhood of the Wolf'' (2001) and (2005). The latter ...

and

Olivier Gourmet Olivier Gourmet (born 22 July 1963) is a Belgian actor. Gourmet was born in Namur. He won the Best Actor award at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival for his role in '' Le Fils'' by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne. He also appeared in ''La Promesse'' ...

. The film had its world premiere in the Directors' Fortnight section parallel to the

1996 Cannes Film Festival The 49th Cannes Film Festival was held from 9 to 20 May 1996. The Palme d'Or went to '' Secrets & Lies'' by Mike Leigh. The festival opened with ''Ridicule'', directed by Patrice Leconte and closed with '' Flirting with Disaster'', directed by ...

. The film was shot in chronological order.

Plot

The plot involves a father, Roger, who mercilessly trafficks and exploits undocumented immigrants. His son, Igor, is fifteen and an apprentice mechanic, who also works for his father in his labor contracting operation. When one of their illegal workers is seriously injured at the worksite, left to die, and the death concealed by Roger and Igor, a guilt-ridden Igor must choose between his father's chosen way of life and his promise to the dying man.

Cast

as Igor *

as Roger * Assita Ouedraogo as Assita

Critical response

''La Promesse'' received overwhelmingly positive reviews from critics. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives it a 95% approval rating, based on 22 reviews, with an average score of 7.8/10. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film received an average score of 82, based on 17 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".

Awards and nominations

* Belgian Film Critics Association (Belgium) **Won: André Cavens Award for Best Film **Nominated:

Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...

* César Awards (France) **Nominated: Best Foreign Film * Los Angeles Film Critics (USA) **Nominated: Best Foreign Film * National Society of Film Critics (USA) **Won:

Best Foreign Language Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

* Online Film Critics Society Awards (USA) **Nominated: Best Foreign Language Film *

Satellite Awards The Satellite Awards are annual awards given by the International Press Academy that are commonly noted in entertainment industry journals and blogs. The awards were originally known as the Golden Satellite Awards. The award ceremonies take place ...

(USA) **Nominated: Best Motion Picture – Foreign Language *

Valladolid Film Festival The Valladolid International Film Festival, popularly known as Seminci (short for ; ), is a film festival held annually in Valladolid, Spain. First held in 1956 as ('Valladolid Religious Film Week'), the Seminci is one of the longest-standing fi ...

(Spain) **Won: FIPRESCI Prize (Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne) **Won: Golden Spike (Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne)

References

External links

* *
''La Promesse''
a
dardenne-brothers.com''La promesse: One Plus One''
an essay by Kent Jones at the

Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films." Criterion serves film and media scholars, cinep ...

1996 films 1990s French-language films 1996 drama films Belgian drama films French drama films Tunisian drama films Films directed by the Dardenne brothers Les Films du Fleuve films Films shot in Belgium Films set in Belgium Belgium in fiction Films shot in chronological order Films about illegal immigration to Europe French-language Belgian films 1990s French films {{Belgium-film-stub