THE PROMISE
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1995 James Berardinelli
RATING (0 TO 10): 8.7
Germany, 1995 U.S. Availability: beginning 10/95 (limited) Running Length: 1:59 MPAA Classification: R (Mature themes, sex, profanity) Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
Cast: Meret Becker, Corinna Harfouch, Anian Zollner, August Zimer Director: Margarethe von Trotta Producer: Eberhard Junkersdorf Screenplay: Peter Schneider Cinematography: Franz Rath Music: Juergen Knieper U.S. Distributor: Fine Line Features In German with subtitles
Sometimes lovers are separated by race. Other times, it's age. On still other occasions, it's religion. But in THE PROMISE, Sophie and Konrad are the same nationality, the same age, and the same faith. What divides them is an ugly construct of stone and barbed wire that becomes a symbol of the cold war. In Berlin during the 1960s, nothing was more tragic than the reality of families, friends, and lovers kept apart by what became known simply as "the Wall."
The Berlin wall was erected in the summer of 1961, mere months before the start of this film. Back then, in the early days, a crossing was less difficult than it eventually would become. As THE PROMISE opens, Sophie (Meret Becker), Konrad (Anian Zollner), and two friends have planned an escape to the West that relies on a hastily-sketched map of miles of underground sewers. When the time arrives to climb through a manhole and a passing guard troop passes dangerously near to the escape route, Konrad stays behind to cover the others' tracks. He promises to join his girlfriend and her pals later, but he never does. The script leaves it carefully ambiguous whether it's circumstances or his own reluctance to leave behind his family that keep him in the East. Regardless, the Wall now divides Sophie and Konrad, whose love for each other holds them both in misery.
By 1968, Konrad has become a respected astronomer, and is allowed to travel to Prague for a seminar. After receiving his letter, Sophie meets him there. Recriminations give way to passion, and the two spend joyous weeks together, full of bright promises for the future. Shortly after Sophie becomes pregnant, however, events split the couple, with Konrad again in the East and Sophie in the West.
Their next meeting occurs twelve years later. This time, the lead actors have been seamlessly switched (Corinna Harfouch now plays Sophie; August Zimer, Konrad). By now, Konrad is married and has a daughter, and Sophie is living with someone. Their common link is their son, Alexander, and Konrad, as a top-level scientist, is allowed visitation privileges, until a rash act on his part earns him the displeasure of the Stasi.
The final segment is in November 1989, at the fall of the Wall. Equally full of promise and poignancy, this sequence not only gives the film closure, but highlights its principal differences from Hollywood romances. THE PROMISE ends on an ambiguous note, allowing the viewer to draw his or her own conclusions about what comes next.
Director Margarethe von Trotta effortlessly weaves history and personal events into a tapestry full of emotion and irony. Sophie and Konrad are likeable and we, as an involved audience, can't help but root for them to reach each other, even while recognizing that their different values and goals make a lasting union unlikely. Von Trotta doesn't cheat either side of her story, West or East. People and politics mix, but nothing is black or white in exploring one of many tales about the Wall.
Individual scenes stick in the mind. A man opens a stepladder near the Wall, climbs to the top, and waves to relatives (a daughter and granddaughter?) watching from a facing apartment window in the East. Near him, vans blaring propaganda wage a war of words across the barrier. Later, a boy in the West throws a ball over the Wall. Moments later, unseen hands return it. When he is asked how it comes back, he responds that he doesn't know, but it always happens that way.
The scope of THE PROMISE is ambitious--an allegorical tale of love and loss spanning three decades in the heart of a country sundered by an unnatural boundary. Because von Trotta has only two hours to work with, she cannot accomplish everything needed to explore the subject. The results of such time constraints are that some subplots, and even certain aspects of the main story, don't get their deserved exposure. THE PROMISE mines a motherlode, but there's no way the full potential can be unearthed in a single film.
Nevertheless, there's more than enough here to satisfy a viewer with a penchant for history, politics, or love. In movies, romance is often treated as a frothy thing, so it's rare to find the emotional highs and lows of THE PROMISE. Constructed with obvious care, this film is filled with the little details that differentiate a very good picture from an average one. With this movie, at least, von Trotta delivers on the promise of her ability as a film maker.
- James Berardinelli (jberardinell@delphi.com)
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