The Promise

[Art]

I had been waiting to see this and watched it a bit late. The movie is about the 1914 Armenian genocide seen through the eyes of the fictitious members of a love triangle reminiscent of Dr. Zhivago. While the characters are fictionalized many of the events including the evacuation of several thousand Armenians by the French Navy are not. It is actually quite good and the first movie on the subject the Turks were not able to suppress. I understand the movie cost $90,000,000.00 to make and didn't recoup the money. I also understand the producers didn't expect to recover their money. If that's so it is one case in which the Hollywood bunch putting profit aside to make a point is probably a good thing.

Though not a great movie its very good and well done one. It's well worth watching.

Speaking of the Frogs. I see there is a thread on the new Dunkirk movie. One of the neglected facts about the evacuation is that it was covered by French troops who knew they weren't getting out. The tenacious rear guard action by the French, especially the 12th Motorized Infantry who burned their colors to prevent them from falling into Nazi hands at the end are worthy of fond recollection. After hearing that the evacuation was complete Churchill ordered the ships back to bring our as many French and allied troops as possible. Unfortunately the men of the 12th were not among them.

[jon_norstog]

I was grazing the internet, looking for references to execution by impalement. Found something where an Armenian woman said to this effect: "The movie put forward the idea that the young women were crucified on a cross after being gang-raped. In actual fact the soldiers sharpened a long stake and drove it into the women with a hammer, before they raised it up and set it in the ground. They were impaled."

This is one of the things taht makes me wish I had a time machine and an FN/FAL.

jn

[djt20]

"the promise" movies seems interesting...Hollywood director make a movie and not looking to make profit is a new one to me.

[dave]

I saw the movie, don't remember any cross crucifixions. Was confused because Armenia has no excess to the sea (at least to-day) so how did they get to the French ships. But I guess that the country was actually part of Turkey at the time.

[Art]

I saw the movie, don't remember any cross crucifixions. Was confused because Armenia has no excess to the sea (at least to-day) so how did they get to the French ships. But I guess that the country was actually part of Turkey at the time.

At the time there were Armenian villages all over Turkey and many thousands of Armenians lived outside of those villages in the general Turkish population.. When the Turkish Army showed up in 1915 to deport the people of several villages near the coast the locals fled to a local mountain called Musa Dagh. There they held off the Turkish Army for over a month. Then with ammunition and food running low the French Navy appeared, specifically the 3rd Squadron of the French Mediterranean fleet. They evacuated over 4,000 Armenians with armed Armenian irregulars and French Marines fighting a covering action against the Turks. There is a rough monument on Musa Dagh thrown up by the Armenians and dedicated to the French Navy. Today there is, I understand, only one Armenian village in Turkey.

At the start of the movie the fictitious American reporter played by Christian Bale who is assigned to Turkey and has an Armenian mistress tells a group of people that the infidels (the Armenians are Christians) the Turks will go for first are the local ones....yup.

The Turks did everything they could to sabotage the movie including submitting thousands of on line negative reviews.

[dryheat]

I was grazing the internet, looking for references to execution by impalement. Found something where an Armenian woman said to this effect: "The movie put forward the idea that the young women were crucified on a cross after being gang-raped. In actual fact the soldiers sharpened a long stake and drove it into the women with a hammer, before they raised it up and set it in the ground. They were impaled."

This is one of the things taht makes me wish I had a time machine and an FN/FAL.

jn

Your post reminds me of the song where the line goes: If I had a rocket launcher, I'd make somebody pay.

[Chaz]

I saw the movie, don't remember any cross crucifixions. Was confused because Armenia has no excess to the sea (at least to-day) so how did they get to the French ships. But I guess that the country was actually part of Turkey at the time.

Historical/ancient/Anatolian Armenia was north of present day Syria in what is now Turkey, and there was access to the sea. My four grandparents emigrated from there between 1892 and 1908. (They considered the eastern "Russian-Armenians" to be nothing more than Cossacks!). [I deleted an entire paragraph for brevity] I find it interesting that there were in fact friendly Turks along with a form of underground railroad. But the Ottomans, like ISIS today, were animals. The Christian Armenians were "infidels" and the Turk massacres brutal beyond belief. Nothing has changed in the past 102 years. And what of our loyal allies, the noble, freedom-loving Kurds? They were the most brutal of all. Seeking the properties of the more prosperous Armenians, they were paid and encouraged by the Turks to conduct massacres. Like the Turks, they too are animals and they are all bound by a common, murderous faith. My grandparents were fortunate to leave that behind and became proud Americans. My parents, as I am, were in turn proud of being American-born. But we have never forgotten. Peter Balakian has written good books on the subject. "The Burning Tigris" relates the extensive efforts of Americans in documenting the massacres and providing aid to the Armenians.
Chaz

[bruce]

Re: OP. The movie is a good effort to bring to a popular audience at least a portion of the truth regarding Turkey's wholesale genocide of the Armenian people. It was not a money maker. Some are surprised it would be made given the likelyhood it would not make money. No surprise. There are lots of people who will spend money to make a point that is important to them. The Turks of course are outraged. No surprise. Let them rage against the machine called Hollywood. At least one time when that machine has done some good.

As to the French ... never put any confidence in mythological history. When it comes to the French army and its performance in the opening days of WWII, the facts speak for themselves. All of the Allies took the bait while the Germans busted through the woods and caught them all with their pants down. If the French had not fought so effectively, the British would never have made it to Dunkirk to be rescued. It's that simple. JMHO. Sincerely. bruce.