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[NyMartin90]

‘The Promise’ Trailer: Terry George Confronts Armenian Genocide By Turks – Toronto
http://deadline.com/2016/09/the-pro...onto-film-festival-christian-bale-1201815938/
September 9, 2016 8:34am
EXCLUSIVE: After turning the Rwandan genocide into the harrowing film Hotel Rwanda, director Terry George tackles the long-disputed genocide campaign waged by the Turks against the Armenians in World War I. He’s framed it in a romantic triangle among an Armenian medical student (Oscar Isaac), an artist (Charlotte Le Bon) and an American journalist (Christian Bale). Here is an exclusive look at the first trailer for a film that has its Gala premiere Sunday night at Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto.

The picture is an acquisitions title high on buyers’ lists because of the track record of the actors and George, who scripted the politically charged In The Name Of The Father and The Boxer and wrote and directed the Irish hunger-strike drama Some Mother’s Son. Considering the tensions between the U.S. and Turkey right now, and the fact that the latter always has disputed the validity of the word “genocide” — even though an estimated 1.5 million Armenians were exterminated — this could be another hot-button Toronto Film Festival title.

TRAILER: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwut1DUXaZc

SUMMARY: Set during the last days of the Ottoman Empire, The Promise follows a love triangle between Michael, a brilliant medical student, the beautiful and sophisticated Ana, and Chris - a renowned American journalist based in Paris.

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As a historian currently writing several articles on the Ottoman Empire during WWI, this is fascinating to see more western films focusing on the Ottoman Empire during this period and specifically the Armenian Genocide.
These topics have both not really had a presence in film media in the west, compared to Turkey where there are numerous WWI films (but obviously not many on the Armenian Genocide.)

First this will be hopefully a good historically accurate representation of Ottoman life leading to the war and the Armenian Genocide. The depiction of the Armenian Genocide is more than likely to infuriate Turkish government officials today but it is interesting as it is not widely touched upon in Western media.

While there are dozens and hundreds of Turkish shows and films about life in the Ottoman Empire this will be interesting as a western focus on life during the war, that may not have the nationalist tone that most Turkish perspectives have on the subject.

One thing I did notice in the trailer is that Christian Bale's character claims that "These Germans want your sultan to declare Holy War" to join the First World War.
This view that Germany pushed the Ottoman Empire into the war is a very western focused idea (since the Allied propaganda machine of the First World War) that has been receiving more revision in previous years that the decision was a purely Ottoman decision made by several members in the Ottoman government. While there was deadlock in the Ottoman government as to which side to choose many most importantly of the Young Turk cabinet wanted the Ottoman Empire to become a strong nation again. I was surprised they also included that viewpoint in this film, as evidenced in the trailer, and its good to see historical revisionism taking some part in this.

The atrocities faced by the Armenians and other minorities during the War years was unbelievable and it'll be interesting to see how its received by western audiences. Historically this was a big change for the Ottoman Young Turk government at the time which had come to power originally through the votes of Armenians and minorities after the Young Turk Revolution of 1908, with the promise of increased minority rights.

Overall I'm excited to see how this goes when it comes out later this year.

 

[Mivey]

Sounds promising, I am curious how historically detailed the movie will be, being a Hollywood flick, I could see them focusing way too much on the romance plot (which must of course be in a movie about genocide, duh).

Also looking forward to the butthurt reactions from Turkey.

 

[VAD]

It looks great and has an awesome cast! I'm pleasantly suprised that Charlotte Le Bon (french-speaking actress from Quebec who began her career on TV as a weather woman) is in this.

 

[Fatalah]

I'm happy this movie is being made.

Kardashians will Tweet the heck out of it, and draw people who would have never have gone to see it otherwise.

 

[lightskintwin]

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1276354&highlight=promise