A Promise (2013 film)

A Promise
File:A Promise (2013 film).jpg
Directed by	Patrice Leconte
Written by	Patrice Leconte Jérôme Tonnerre
Starring	Rebecca Hall Alan Rickman Richard Madden Maggie Steed Shannon Tarbet Jean-Louis Sbille
Cinematography	Eduardo Serra
Edited by	Joelle Hache
Music by	Gabriel Yared
Release date	September 2013 (2013-09) (TIFF)
Running time	95 minutes
Country	France
Language	English
Budget	$10.4 million
Box office	$1 million

A Promise is a 2013 French drama romance film directed by Patrice Leconte and written by Patrice Leconte and Jérôme Tonnerre. The story is based on Stefan Zweig's novel Journey into the Past and stars Rebecca Hall, Alan Rickman, Richard Madden, and Maggie Steed. It was screened in the Special Presentation section at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival.

Plot

In 1912 Germany, a freshly graduated engineer with modest origins, Friedrich Zeitz, becomes the right hand of aging tycoon Karl Hoffmeister. When Hoffmeister's declining health starts to confine him permanently to his house, Friedrich has to visit him at home to get briefed. Thus Friedrich makes the acquaintance of Hoffmeister's younger wife Charlotte, a beautiful and reserved woman in her early 30s. He immediately becomes enamored with her and struggles with his growing feelings for her, not realizing they are reciprocated. Just as they disclose their mutual attraction towards one another, Friedrich has to leave the country to represent Hoffmeister overseas. The outbreak of World War I keeps him away from Germany for a long time. Only after the end of the war and many years of separation are Friedrich and Charlotte able to reunite.

Cast

• Rebecca Hall as Charlotte "Lotte" Hoffmeister
• Alan Rickman as Karl Hoffmeister
• Richard Madden as Friedrich Zeitz
• Maggie Steed as Frau Hermann
• Shannon Tarbet as Anna
• Jean-Louis Sbille as Hans
• Toby Murray as Otto Hoffmeister
• Christelle Cornil
• Jonathan Sawdon as engineer

Reception

Critical response

A Promise was generally panned by the critics. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film an approval rating of 13% based on 23 reviews, with an average rating of 4/10. On Metacritic, the film has a score of 36 out of 100, based on 39 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".

Critics commented on the quality of the film-making, but a number of reviewers criticised the lack of chemistry between the two leads. Justin Chang of [[Variety] described the film as "awkward [and] passionless]" and Elizabeth Weitzman of the New York Daily News commented "A romantic triangle featuring Rebecca Hall, Alan Rickman and "Game of Thrones" costar Richard Madden has no business being this dull". David Parkinson of the Radio Times described the lack of spark between Madden and Hall as "unintentionally amusing". Some critics suggested that perhaps issues of translation, as Patrice Leconte's first English-language film, may have been partially responsible.

On the whole, critics felt that the film missed the mark as an adaptation. Robbie Collin, writing for The Telegraph, dismissed the film as "a classic Zweig narrative, as tight and prickly as a thorn-bush, pruned into a shapeless, leafy clump", while David Hughes of Empire advised "If you only watch one Stefan Zweig-inspired film this year, watch The Grand Budapest Hotel. If you watch two, see The Grand Budapest Hotel twice".

External links

• Official English Press Kit
• A Promise at IMDb