Promises

Promises Film Review 

Directed by: Justine Shapiro, B.Z. Goldberg, Carlos Bolado

2001 ‧ Political cinema/Documentary ‧ 1h 46m

IMDB     Rotten Tomatoes

8.4/10                      96%

My Rating 

✰✰✰✰✰ 

 "Promises" is a deep and intimate look into the lives of young Israeli and Palestinian children living during a relative time of peace from 1997-2000 in an effort to try to bring young people together and realize they aren't so different from one another. It is one of the most humanizing and powerful documentaries I think I've seen yet because it doesn't focus too much on the complicated specifics of the politics and war between Israeli and Palestinian people and more so just shows an individual look at the reality of being a child in this harsh environment. This documentary is simultaneously both very hopeful but also brutally realistic in demonstrating how change for the people in Israel/Palestine will not come about easily. The documentary shows that very clearly in that the next generation of children have the ability to change the damage that the previous generation has caused but it will still be extremely gradual and difficult. The importance of following around children from different neighborhoods is to show how the political and religious climates affect the way these children view other people around them and how truly malleable children's brains are. The way these children responded to interview questions alone versus how they acted towards one another really gives an interesting insight into childhood development in these harsh conditions. 

Out of all of the films we have seen so far this is the only one I have felt compelled to give an all 5 star rating because of how important of a documentary it truly is not just for understanding the tensions between Israeli and Palestinians but just in understanding the delicate humanity and an openness to experience children have before tainted by the world around them. This appears to be one of the most unbiased documentaries on the suffering of the people of Israel/Palestine that is currently out there when this is one of the biggest divided issues out in our world today. This documentary approaches it in a way that shows both sides of the story to bring people together without causing a bigger divide than there already is. However, There is one slight aspect of this documentary that can be criticized and which I agree with to a certain extent but I don't think hinders the effectiveness of the documentary. In a New York Times article titled For Children, Peace Seems Easy if They Get to Connect writes: "The film's personal focus may assume too much knowledge on the part of viewers, especially since this film would be a valuable teaching guide. The filmmakers supply some history, not going back to ancient Judea but more recently to what Israelis call the 1948 war of independence and Palestinians call 'the catastrophe.' A bit more geopolitics would provide useful context." A bit more historical background would definitely enhance the film's strength although I don't think it is entirely necessary and I felt like the background it gave you was enough to understand the living situations of the children. It is valuable and important to learn more about the history of the conflicts but the reality is that there is plenty of misinformation and this is also perhaps one of the most complicated conflicts to understand unless you have experienced it first hand. 

Some of the most valuable lessons about what it means to be human are from children and how they experience and change with the world around them. In the context of this film the perspectives of 11 children all came to a somewhat general consensus on the conflict. They all wish the fighting would stop. One of the more secular Jewish children interviewed in the film said "In war both sides suffer, maybe there's a winner, but what is a winner?" This is extremely mature for a young child to say, let alone understand and what is promising is that he is not alone. The other children in the film are more or less willing to meet with children from the other side of the conflict and play together. The connections they make don't necessarily last but it is definitely a step in a promising direction. Adults appear to have a more difficult time doing so as their hatred and intolerance for one another grows and what is important to understand is they grew up to be that way. Nothing will change unless we learn to be as open minded and forgiving as children in this film are.