Navigating the promises made by others

By Narelle Wood

Written by Nick Conidi, Promised follows the story of Angela and Robert as they navigate a promise of marriage that their fathers made many years before.

The story spans 20 years, beginning with Angela’s (Antoniette Iesue) birth under difficult circumstances – her mother Rosalba (Tina Arena) is found in labour on the floor of the family’s pastry shop – in the early 1950’s, through to 1974 when Angela and Robert (Daniel Berini) are reunited after he returns home from studying in Oxford. While Angela has always known about the arranged marriage, she has found herself in a different world to that in which the promise was made. She is studying English Literature, longs to be a writer and is in love with an Australian boy. To complicate matters further, Rosalba and her husband Sal (Paul Mercurio) are indebted to Robert’s parents, Joe and Maria, for rescuing Rosalba during labour, and to complicate things even further, Joe is connected, in the Italian mobster sense of the word. The story is almost Shakespearean; part tragedy, part farce, but it is also reminiscent of The Godfather, minus, thankfully, the horses head.

The film is beautifully made, and made in Melbourne. The settings and costuming perfectly and authentically capture 1970’s Australia. Conidi, who also directs, has an uncanny knack for slowly unfolding a complex story, without it ever feeling like it is loosing pace. The performances are solid, especially from stalwarts Arena and Mercurio, though Iesue and Berini do more than hold their own portraying complex characters that are both likeable and frustrating in equal measure. And this was perhaps the reason why I found this film a little uncomfortable at times; there was no clear hero, and each outcome would possibly end up disappointing someone. However, this was also perhaps the reason why this film works. Promised is in many ways a manifestation of the tagline “Love like life is never perfectly arranged”. It is complex, heartfelt look at intergenerational, intercultural and family expectations, with a lovely dose of nostalgia.

Promised is in cinemas now.