Ensofter Overrated and overhyped

Lightdeossk Captivating movie !

Onlinewsma Absolutely Brilliant!

Kaydan Christian A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

nothingisforbidden What did I learn from watching The Promise?Palestinians are warm, family-loving, loyal, peaceful, noble people, rich in spirit. Even the best Jews are hapless dupes of an evil police state; the rest are cold, heartless, scheming, violent and greedy—the opposite of noble.And the Brits? God bless those Brits! They are a wise and altruistic people who once ran a worldwide empire purely as an act of selfless philanthropy, bringing civilization and maintaining peace among lesser peoples. If only the Brits still ruled the world!Seriously, there is not a Palestinian in this movie who is not noble. And not a Jew who is not ignoble. The Brits are a bit more mixed—one of them, after all, falls for a Jewess and becomes yet another pawn in their evil scheme. But our British hero and heroine are shining examples of a type known in another era as the Ugly American—know-it- all buttinskys who think they possess an unerring moral compass and feel obliged to stick their noses in other people's business, certain that only they, the Brits, can sort things out. As foreigners abroad, it would never occur to them to simply mind their own business.The leading actors are also very good looking. Kosminsky knows that the surest way to keep an audience watching is to offer excellent eye-candy. But there is no nudity, or even much skin at all. The women are hardly even glimpsed in the love scenes, staying hidden under the sheets. The Promise is unusually chaste for a miniseries made in 2011, and I wondered about this, until I realized that Kosminsky deliberately deleted any naughty bits so as not to offend any prudish Palestinian members of the audience.As filmmaking, The Promise is above average. I'd give it a solid six stars. As propaganda, its scores nine (negative) stars, because being duped into watching propaganda puts me in a bad mood. That's a net negative three, which can only be scored here as one star.About halfway through this four-parter, I still hoped the story might resolve in a nuanced and morally complex manner worthy of the thorny material—the sort of story we get from the best of le Carré or Graham Greene. But by the end, there is no ambiguity. There are good guys and bad guys—and a filmmaker with a clear agenda.

samirakel I come from Palestine, when I started watching this mini-series, I was mentally prepared for the common western biased production of The Palestine cause, I am surprised at the end, that this was not only unbiased to any party, but also, shed more in my conscious on the British position, the Jews misery in Germany and later their perspective to occupy our lands and renaming our country. The drama was great, not a common Hollywood Bad Guys Vs.Good Guys BS. It gave me an urge to watch again and again and show it to my parents, relatives who are all refugees, a great and intelligent production, I strongly recommend it to anyone. If I was not Palestinian, or involved in this story, I still find a great story line, intelligent script and acting.

elis-perach I was utterly appalled at the historical distortion, bias, and horrible demonization of Israel, made by 'The Promise'. Admittedly, I only watched the last episode, so it is possible that the previous ones were more balanced, but that wouldn't make things better. In this episode the Jews are portrayed as blood-thirsty, murderous brutes, who upon withdrawal of the British mandate army, relentlessly kill defenseless and peace-loving Arab civilians, including women and children. The mighty "Jewish army" is so vicious, that even the cute family puppy-dog must be put to death to avoid a more cruel end had it fallen into their monstrous hands (bringing the soft-hearted viewer into tears)! The fact is that the Arab Higher Committee, supported by the Arab League, rejected the UN plan for partitioning mandatory Palestine even before the assembly had voted on it. The very next day following the UN voting (November 30th 1947), the local Arabs, backed by militias and armies from nearby countries, attacked the Jewish population wherever it could. The Jewish forces were defensive, trying to protect and deliver supplies to secluded Jewish towns besieged by Arab forces. In fact, things seemed so grim for the Jewish population, that in March 1948 the UN discussed proposals to withdraw from the partition plan and establish a trustee-mandate instead. So, it was the Arabs who killed Jewish civilians at that stage of the war (approx. 2,700 Jewish civilians were killed), and not the other way around, as shown in 'The Promise'. It wasn't until April 1948 that the Jewish forces became the initiating party, after the defeat of the local Arab forces. That's when some of the Arab population fled for the fear of the Jewish forces. The Grand Invasion of the Arab armies came shortly afterwards, on May 14th 1948, and only then the "Jewish army" -the IDF, was formed. In the parallel plot, which takes place around the present time, the heroine ('Erin') manages to infiltrate into Gaza, and arrives to the home of a terrorist, who recently murdered several Israelis by suicide-bombing. The close family sits there and mourns quietly. In reality, there is nothing quiet and homely about it. The terrorist organization affiliated with the murderer takes custody over the event, putting up their flags and slogans and praising the acts of the "martyr". In Gaza, civilians often spontaneously celebrate "successful" suicide bombings, and give out candy to the public. Throughout that episode, all the main characters criticize the Israeli "policy", including the Israeli soldier, 'Paul' (acted by the extreme left-wing activist Itay Tiran). When considering screen time, only a few second were dedicated to the misdoings of Palestinians, e.g., Erin reads a news report about suicide bombing, shots are fired at soldiers in Hebron. However, in the rest of the 90 minutes, the viewer experiences the conflict entirely through the eyes of the Palestinians. This is as far as it can be from "balanced". To further accentuate the differences between the Jewish population and the "oppressed" Palestinian population, Erin's parents live in an amazing villa (if not a palace) with a pond in their huge back yard. As she leaves and looks through the taxi window, the camera focuses on many other extravagant villas, contrasting the poverty of Gaza, which was captured in the previous scene. The fact is that the shots of these houses were taken in the most prestigious part of the country, occupied by the wealthiest percentile - It most certainly does not represent the way Israelis live. And by the way, there are villas even in Gaza… So why am I being so petty? Why ruin a good story with truths and facts? The real problem is that movies like this are being broadcast to millions of people, who have no significant knowledge of the conflict and its history. Their concepts and views are therefore shaped by what they see. Some of them may develop a more forgiving, or even supportive approach towards terrorist organizations that act against Israel. The public view may in turn affect these organizations, by allowing them to morally strengthen their belief in their cause, and recruit more members and resources. Eventually, it translates into blood. To summarize my review: Credibility of the story: poor. Acting: exaggerated. Adhesion to historic facts: negative 10.

D Damen For a person who has been to the places that Kosminsky had shot, this piece of work is certainly worth the praise and had pushed me to write my first review on IMDb.This outstanding piece of work, especially in photography and editing, indeed moves different audiences. The analogy between the past and the presence presents a different approach to seeing the Palestinian cause, especially from a foreigner's point of view.The director is first a true historian, then a talented artist and finally an outstanding director. I sent this series to all of my family and friends as a must-watch.