Blog Post: La Promesse

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-05-30-ca-63754-story.html

This article goes through the storyline of La Promesse while talking about the intentions of the Dardenne Brothers. The article talks about how the Dardenne brothers started out making movies and this is largely reflected in the way this movie is edited by using held hand cameras and constant close-ups. It is said that this was done with the intention of creating authentic urgency and immediacy. The author states that watching the movie was almost like eavesdropping in on a conversation. This article talks about the theme of morality and moral rebellion throughout the movie. The article says that the film highlights how difficult making moral decisions are, and how making the moral decision is normally harder.
One of the most interesting topics the article discusses is the actors that were chosen. He talks about how they all have different acting experiences which made the movie far more authentic. He states that Assita Ouedraogo's first time in Europe was to film this movie. The Dardenne Brother took everything into account when making this movie so it was as natural as possible. This was important because this movie was intended to have an emotional effect, and that would not have been as successful without feeling like the characters were people and not actors.