508. CONSCIENCE ON FILM: LA PROMESSE

Peter Josyph

This gritty 1996 drama is the first masterpiece by the two best filmmakers in Europe, Belgian brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne. Jérémie Renier stars as Igor, a teenage apprentice mechanic who also works for his father, Roger (played by Olivier Gourmet), a man who ruthlessly trafficks and takes advantage of undocumented immigrants in the down-and-out, former industrial powerhouse district of Seraing in Liege, Belgium. Igor's promise to Amidou, a worker who is seriously injured doing illegal and unsafe labor for Roger, develops into a challenge to Igor's moral conscience between loyalty to his father and loyalty to Amidou's wife, Assita (played by Assita Quedraogo), who has not been told the truth about her husband's whereabouts. Film critic Kent Jones wrote about the film's stunning appearance on the international scene: "Everyone was justifiably bowled over by the physical immediacy and its unwavering radical humanism." 

NOTE: LA PROMESSE IS IN FRENCH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

1-3:30 p.m.                                                                                                                 1 Session

Thursday, October 30                                                                                                 Fee:  $40

ABOUT THE LECTURER

Peter Josyph is an actor, a painter, a photographer, an award-winning filmmaker, and he has published 13 books.