La Promesse

Let me say from the start I first watched this because I had to. Helping program a film festival it was on my list, and as a fan of french films it fell to me. It had to be passed over because at 25+ minutes it was awkward to slot. It turned out to be one of the few short films I have returned to watch by choice, finding a new nugget at each viewing. First of all, after watching, I found it wasn't a french film but a group of English film makers making a film in the french style, Secondly, non of the actors were french. Some admitted, were non actors, but of the leads, Jennie Rawling could work and not be found out. The writer has an affinity for the french style of carefully unfolding drama. The director shows a good grasp of cinema style, more care with continuity would help, but all in all, I am sure I will return to this again and be as entertained.

Even as the titles played I was waiting to see what happened next, after these got your attention, a girl in her underwear always gets mine, I got wrapped up in the story and the characters and even if I could see the twist coming I didn't mind. Nice to see a short film that gets the characters out of rooms and involves more than conversations. Also nice to get a short film of 20 minutes that doesn't drag or feel padded.Seeing as the people who made it were not french that added another element, don't know what came first, the location or the actors but all added to the overall look of the film and didn't detract. Don't know why the short film was made but if these people go on to make a feature this is a good stepping stone.