The Promise

Germany 1994
116 minutes
Directed by Margarethe von Trotta
Leading players - Meret Becker, Corinna Harfouch, August Zirner

Synopsis

"The Promise' opens in East Berlin in 1961, during the Cold War and just after the building of the Wall between East and West. A young couple, Konrad (August Zirner) and Sophie (Meres Becker) attempt to escape to the West but Konrad trips up and is left behind. The film traces their story in the years that follow - over a period of 28 years, they see each other just three times. Konrad is eventually allowed to pursue his career as a scientist, whilst Sophie enjoys her new freedom in the West as an assistant to a fashion designer. They meet again in Prague in 1968, when Sophie conceives a child, but Konrad is forced to return to the East.

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Margarethe von Trotta has chosen a terrific subject in 'The Promise'. The film spans the full life of the Berlin Wall, and by focusing on just two people she shows how the Wall managed to divide a country for almost 30 years. The story of Konrad and Sophie is treated with compassion, but it is not sentimental. The Wall finally comes down in 1989, but the world has moved on. Konrad can look forward to freedom in the West, but at what cost?

Before 'The Promise', von Trotta was perhaps best known for her film 'The German Sisters' (1981), a powerful and disturbing story about two sisters set in West Germany in the late 1970's. One of the sisters is a journalist and the other a terrorist with the Red Army Faction, and the film effectively shows how their lives are transformed because of their political beliefs. 'The Promise' has a very different perspective, but it also shows how politics can affect human destiny, and no-one can fail to be moved by the final heart-gripping scenes of the film as the symbol of political oppression is rolled away, and that Wall is taken down.