In an attempt to save her son Martin, who has been unjustly sentenced to death in Indonesia, Carole embarks on an unequal fight against the palm oil producers responsible for deforestation and against powerful industrial lobbies.
The film met mixed critical reception in its native land , and the imdb rating is average ; when the dust settles,one has to admit it's a courageous movie, not always convincing , but which will grab you till its ending ,in spite of a rather conventional denouement ,with the obligatory deus ex machina , the revealing photograph and the magic of computering.
The first part is the most successful ,IMHO ; the cinematography is splendid , using the wide screen with taste , enhancing this wonderful forest ,the lungs of our planet ; thus, my favorite scene is the stroll through the forest when the native kneels down before his "father" a giant centenarian tree ; but the following scene shows the company workers ,chopping down the trees to get this palm oil ,which will make money in the name of ecology ; the Asian girl speaks about the forest wildlife , all these animals who desert their habitat .... The people 's dispensary and the Canadian doctor ,though ,are at least as important as an anthropology student and his tesis (which gives its title to the movie) , that's why the ending is downright embarrassing for that matter IMHO.
It turns ecological ,economical and political thriller in its second part ; Alexandra Lamy gives a restrained but effective performance ,the director insisted she do not wear any make-up. To a lesser degree ,the same can be said of Felix Moati .The treatment recalls then the trail-blazer in this field ,André Cayatte 's,so often unjustly despised by the French biased critic .Perhaps there're too many things : the French farmers urging their government to tax the palm oil (whereas their colza produces a less polluting green fuel ); the listlessness of this government because France has capital invested in the oil company , the deputy probably more interested in her electorate (and telling the distraught mother that there has been no executions for twenty years in Indonesia ,it takes thoughtlessness to new limits ). An unpleasant short look at the people ,who,unlike the highbrows, seem unable to sympathise (the woman in the café ); and the hunting scene verges on grotesque .
In spite of these reservations ,"la promesse verte" is to be recommended ,and its final lines on the screen are apivotal warning to all of us
Only 50% of the dialogue is in French ,40 % in English and 10% in Indonesian ,which may be off-putting to some ;my copy had no subtitles at all , I hope the other viewers will be luckier.
