Essentially a tribute to the passing of writer Ahn Eun-mi, “The Promise” is a hybrid movie that moves somewhere between the documentary and the mourning journal.
The Promise is screening at Busan International Film Festival
Nine-year-old Si-woo often cries at night, missing his late mother. In those moments, his father Min Byung-hun embraces him, offering comfort and solace. In an effort for him to get in terms with his wife’s death and also to take care of his child, he first makes him a promise of talking more about her death and even showing him her grave, while he encourages him to write poetry. At the same time, he channels his emotions and particularly his grief by capturing nature through his camera lens.
Thus unfolds the narrative of Min Byung-hun’s movie, which essentially consists of four elements: the son and the father talking and hugging, usually on the former’s bed, reading Si-woo’s poems, taking long walks in nature, and presenting the latter’s photographs. Expectedly, the movie moves rather slowly and in a repetitive fashion, in an approach that is as personal for the director as it could get.
This, however, does not mean that “The Promise” has no context or no appeal. On the contrary, the comments about how people can deal with loss and the subsequent grief, and particularly in situations that also involve a kid, are quite eloquent, with Min showing that staying as close as possible to his young son is a remedy for both of them. Furthermore, he also shows how art, in this case poetry and photography, can help people express their feelings and essentially heal themselves through that type of expression
Where the film truly thrives, however, it is visuals. The island of Jeju proves a great theme in the hands of Min and Lee Sang-hun, who function as the DPs of the documentary, with the two of them presenting a series of images of ominous beauty throughout the movie. The forest, the wind, the fog, the sea, the sky and especially the way the snow affects them all, are a true wonder to look at. Furthermore, the use of slow motion is also ideal, enhancing the sense each scene emits, with the ones with the sea and the forests in particular definitely staying on mind. Also of note is how the feelings and psychological status of the two protagonists resonate with the aforementioned images, in a trait that should also be attributed to Lee Sang-hun’s editing.
“The Promise”, evidently, is not a film for everybody, with its lack of story and tension essentially, making it hard to watch, particularly considering it lasts for 84 minutes. At the same time, though, people who have experienced grief will definitely find a message for courage and perseverance here, while the visuals are a reason enough for someone to watch the movie from beginning to end.
