The Promise

2006
5.6| 2h1m| PG-13| en
Details

An orphaned girl, driven by poverty at such a young age, makes a promise with an enchantress. In return for beauty and the admiration of every man, she will never be with the man she loves. This spell cannot be broken unless the impossible happens: snow falling in spring and the dead coming back to life. Now a grown and beautiful princess, she regrets her promise, for all of the men she's loved has always been met with tragedy.

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Also starring Chen Hong

Reviews

Linkshoch Wonderful Movie
ThiefHott Too much of everything
ShangLuda Admirable film.
Allison Davies The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
berlin55 I think that the basic premise of this film is to do with levels of love: - love of your people, your family - and love in the sense of comradeship, love in terms of loyalty in the military sense, and love between a man and woman. These different kinds of love appeal to cultures in different ways - and perhaps in one country sentimentality is seen as "cheesy" - however I think then one would have to call "City Lights" or "Miracle in Milan" cheesy - which they certainly aren't - and of course in the latter one has supernatural happenings - in some ways similar to "Promise". I found from my own point of view the film had faults, but never once did I see this as a martial arts film like "Crouching Tiger" - it is more in line with the Chinese ghost stories - a genre I think this film has obvious ties to. The cinematography in the film was brilliant. I felt aesthetically it was at times quite breathtaking. Having said that the special effects did at times border on the comical - yet anyone who knows anything about Chinese ghost stories will know this is pardonable. We have to not only suspend our disbelief, but accept the generic parameters. The film is full of symbolism redolent of Chinese mythology Colours e.g. red & white)- yet as we know from the director's interview (DVD)- this is not a film of nationalism, but one of accepting differences - and in many ways asserting one's identity against a hegemonic authority. This is true in the film - and in the cast who come from several Asian countries - a point made by the director. I have given it 10 points - because I dislike films being criticized for not meeting generic expectations - when they actually never intended to be in that genre. Secondly, because I am a sentimentalist and this film worked for me.
quintaldo It is about beauty and meaning. Yes, it is a fairy tale. How refreshing after decades of Disney low-grade tales and looks! This movie makes me feel like china taking over the world would be a good thing : You cant beat Chinese culture. The movie is highly personal and courageous, it is a statement of aesthetics as well as a philosophical one. I love it how it crashes through the preconceived notions, habits and expectations of the audience to bring forth its own powerful vision. I was taken aback at the start but the sheer beauty of some scenes took me into it. Don't ask yourself what it is about, it is just too beautiful for you to care. And there is a whole lot of meaning if you look into it. This meaning is on another level from the one of usual movies. This makes it all the better and more daring. It is soulful. It tells you about the inner worlds, as well as about ethics and decision. It is as a fairy tale should be : inspiring, meaningful, uplifting and strengthening your aliveness and involvement in the world. Helping you reconnect with your purpose and identity. Thank you, whoever made this piece of art. I'm deeply grateful.
Claudio Carvalho When the world was young, laid a Kingdom between the Land of Snow and the Barbarian Territory where gods and men lived side by side and promises were lies. When the poor and starving orphaned girl Qingcheng meets the Goddess Manshen (Hong Chen), she accepts to become the wealthy beauty of beauties with the curse that she would lose every man she loves, unless three things happen: snow falls in the spring, time moves backwards and the dead comes back to life. Years later, the slave Kunlun (Dong-Kun Jang) helps the Great General Master of the Crimson Armor Guangming (Hiroyuki Sanada) to defeat a barbarian army with almost seven times more warriors, and Kunlun becomes his slave. When Guangming is wounded, he asks Kunlun to wear his armor and save the king from the cruel Duke of the North Wuhuan (Nicholas Tse) that put the Imperial City under siege with his army. However, Kunlun kills the king to save Princess Qingcheng (Cecilia Cheung) and promises her to never let her die. Princess Qingcheng falls in love for the man of the crimson armor that she believes is General Guangming. When Snow Wolf (Ye Liu) saves Kunlun and brings him to the Land of Snow, he recollects his childhood when his mother and sister were killed by the evil Wuhuan. Kunlun decides to return to the Kingdom to face Wuhuan and fight for his love."Wu Ji" is one of the most beautiful fantasies that I have ever seen, and I list this magnificent film among my favorites. The story has romance, magic, betrayal, loyalty, action, supported by a stunning cinematography, great screenplay, wonderful special effects and awesome direction and performances. This film is surprisingly underrated in IMDb, with and user rating of 5.6. Cecilia Cheung is one of the most beautiful actresses of cinema and is perfect in the role of the Beauty of Beauties. In the end, fate can be changed. My vote is nine.Title (Brazil): "A Promessa" ("The Promise")
popeye the shapei This movie is just terrible. It is a bad cover version of western epics like lord of the ring with the Chinese twists. The story is absolute fantasy with no real historical basis. It could be totally legitimate if it is done right. But with all the funky special effects (probably 15 years behind the nowadays standard) and final fantasy(the Japanese video game)like costume and environmental designs, this movie is a hybrid of Asian pop-cultures with no real substance in it. Everything is way too flashy and cliché to be considered as beautiful.it is easy to notice that the script writer tried to complicate the story by having this intertwining love-hate relationships within the characters, which is nothing but a safe way to make the story intriguing. But the rough development and lack of details of the story really doesn't convince me to believe in the emotional status of all the characters in the movie.The choices of the characters are questionable as well. Cecilia Cheung is, quite honestly, more like a drug addict than a princess. Hiroyuki Sanada was supposed to be one of the best actors in Japan, but his performance is totally 'cartoonized' by the horribly bad development of the story.It is just laughable to see how many Chinese directors have become Hollywood wannabes. The typical look of these kind of movies are as epic as possible, but with overly naive stories and logics that make the movies superficial in any aspects.Please give me a break.