The Promise (1995)

Director
Margarethe von Trotta

Main cast
Corinna Harfouch; Meret Becker; August Zirner; Eva Mattes; Hark Bohm

Genres
Drama, Romance

Description
East-Berlin, 1961, shortly after the erection of the Wall. Konrad, Sophie and three of their friends plan a daring escape to Western Germany. The attempt is successful, except for Konrad, who remains behind. From then on, and for the next 28 years, Konrad and Sophie will attempt to meet again, in spite of the Iron Curtain. Konrad, who has become a reputed Astrophysicist, tries to take advantage of scientific congresses outside Eastern Germany to arrange encounters with Sophie. But in a country where the political police, the Stasi, monitors the moves of all suspicious people (such as Konrad's sister Barbara and her husband Harald), preserving one's privacy, ideals and self-respect becomes an exhausting fight, even as the Eastern block begins its long process of disintegration.


Similar movies

Two desperate people have a wonderful romance, but their political views and convictions drive them apart.
Daniel and Andrea grew up in the same home and have been closer than real brothers and sisters ever since. But her father's goodwill to take in Daniel and bring him up does not sit well with her real older brother, who retaliates one day and kicks Daniel out. But by this time, nothing can come between the deeply in love Andrea and Daniel anymore--until the rich family on whose hacienda they've been working all these years come back. Andrea catches the eye of the rich son, while the daughter fancies Daniel, too. This will set in motion a series of events that will test how deep the two's love goes.
An orphaned girl, driven by poverty at such a young age, makes a promise with an enchantress. In return for beauty and the admiration of every man, she will never be with the man she loves. This spell cannot be broken unless the impossible happens: snow falling in spring and the dead coming back to life. Now a grown and beautiful princess, she regrets her promise, for all of the men she's loved has always been met with tragedy. In love again with a man behind a red armor and a golden mask who rescues her from death, she is tormented by their inevitable parting. Meanwhile, Kunlun, the slave of a great general, is searching for the lost memories of a family he once had. Soon the fate of these two intertwine when the princess believes the general to be her hero, thus pulling him into this web of fate. What end will befallen our three characters? Are their fates already sealed by a higher power, or can they still choose a life they want?
Young Park Seol-Hee is eagerly planning her wedding to a young anti-Communist activist when the North Koreans invade. Her fiancé is forced to flee, leaving her behind with her family in their tiny, rural South Korean village. Rather than resist the North Korean regiment that comes to occupy the area, the townspeople (to Seol-Hee's dismay) decide to cooperate with them in order to ensure their own survival. The North Koreans, however, turn out not to be all that Seol-Hee expected. She soon realizes that there is a history between her family and that of the regiment's leader, Lieutenant Kim Jeong-woong. In between the hilarious day to day antics of Seol-Hee's eccentric family and the hard realities of war, the attachment between Seol-Hee and Jeong-woong grows. As the occupation continues, Jeong-woong becomes torn between trying to follow the increasingly harsh orders from his general and protecting the people that he has come to love and care for so much.
Corky, a tough female ex con and her lover Violet concoct a scheme to steal millions of stashed mob money and pin the blame on Violet's crooked boyfriend Caeser.
Set during the last days of the Ottoman Empire, The Promise follows a love triangle between Mikael, a brilliant medical student, the beautiful and sophisticated artist Ana, and Chris - a renowned American journalist based in Paris.
Recently released from a mental hospital, Ricky ties up Marina, a film star he once had sex with and keeps her hostage.
A rich student's fiancee has her face destroyed by a car accident, and refuses to return to him fearing the loss of his love.
The irreverent host of a political satire talk show decides to run for president. But his stunt to expose Washington corruption goes further than he expects when he actually wins the election. Meanwhile, a software engineer suspects that a computer glitch is responsible for his surprising victory … but will she speak up?
While enjoying the flower gardens, Sailor Moon (Usagi) and friends encounter an old childhood friend of Mamoru's: an alien! He's come back to give Mamoru a special flower, but doesn't like Usagi and the rest of the planet's inhabitants. Sailor Moon must defend the earth from the evil Kisenian Flower he's brought back... before the evil vines and blossoms overrun the planet!
Based on an acclaimed 1935 novel about the War of Liberation (1918-1920) that ensured Estonia's independence, the film tells about a group of young schoolboys heading to the front to fight the army of Soviet Russia.
Secrets, rumors and betrayals surround the upcoming marriage between a young dissolute man and virtuous woman of the French aristocracy.
Set in 1951, a blacklisted Hollywood writer gets into a car accident, loses his memory and settles down in a small town where he is mistaken for a long-lost son.
The happy lives of three best friends from school are brutally upended when Hei (Ivy Chen) breaks up with her fiancé (Wallace Chung). High flyer Kimmy (Fiona Sit) and director May (Yang Zishan) close ranks to help a devastated Hei move on, but she clings to her old feelings despite meeting a highly eligible prospect (Shawn Yue). Whilst May considers leaving the film set to travel the world with a free spirited musician (Vanness Wu); rivalry over the same guy threatens to tear Kimmy and May apart. An unexpected, shocking incident provides a climactic test. Can the girls keep their friendship together?
Kunju Lakshmi is the youngest daughter of the aristocratic Kavumpattu family in Peruvannapuram. She is pampered by her brothers and is a little arrogant. The family owns the local college. Sivasankaran comes to the college as a peon to replace the Padmanabhan who fails to give the promised donation to the Kavumpattu family in return for the job. In the meantime a love note that was written for Kunju by a classmate ends up in her book and she accuses Sivasankar of writing her the letter. Kunju gets into a fight with Sivasankaran. Her brothers join the fight and Sivasankaran declares that he will marry Kunju in 15 days.
Before crossing paths with Peyton, falling for a woman was an unimaginable situation for Elena, a straight wife and mother. The friendship between Peyton, an out lesbian writer, and Elena, the wife of an anti-gay paster who has never experienced true love, transforms swiftly from a one-sided crush into a torrid extramarital affair. Despite their attraction, Peyton, jaded in a number of ways, has strong reservations about becoming involved with a married straight woman; Elena, recognizing that she is caught in a loveless marriage, can barely begin to rationalize the nature and magnitude of her desires. As their relationship evolves, Elena confronts the choice of leaving her husband or ending her involvement with Peyton to save her unraveling and unrewarding marriage and return to a drab and automated life. Above all, Elena faces the looming challenge of convincing Peyton that the two women have a bright future together despite their unfavorable circumstances
Subramaniapuram (Tamil: சுப்ரமணியபுரம்) is a 2008 Tamil film produced, written, and directed by M. Sasikumar. The low budget film received critical acclaim for its original script, expert direction, screenplay, editing, accurate sets and costumes to resurrect Madurai from the 1980s. Sasikumar cast then relatively new actors Jai, Swathi, Ganja Karuppu and himself in pivotal roles for the film. Shot in a remarkable eighty five days, the film became a huge box office grosser. Sasikumar is now considered one of the promising young directors in Tamil film industry.
Victor Bukowski is an out-of-work actor with problems. He's got a lousy agent, he has a habit of falling out with directors and he's still in love with his ex-girlfriend. However, Victor is about to embark on an unexpected emotional journey which will make him confront his future and his past mistakes.
In India, open romance is forbidden, as is showing affection in public. A college principal named Narayan is a strong believer in this, aware that a male student named Vicky is in love with Ishika; while another male student is hopelessly in love with Sanjana; and a third man named Karan is in love with a married woman named Kiran. No amount of persuasion can get Narayan to change his mind. Then the college recruits a music teacher named Raj, who eventually starts fanning the flames of love among the students, much to Narayan's chagrin, anger, and displeasure. Things get worse when Narayan finds out that Raj was the very man who fell in love with his daughter who eventually committed suicide when he didn't grant them permission to get married. Will the six young people be also heartbroken by Narayan, and if so, who will be the first to kill himself or herself?
In 1931, a young soldier deserts from the army and falls into a country farm, where he is welcomed by the owner due to his political ideas. Manolo has four daughters, Fernando likes all of them and they like him, so he has to decide which one to love.
Raj has always had a unrequited childhood crush on a friend named Tina, but Tina's best friend Pooja has always had a crush on Raj. When Raj's family move to England to get involved in an internet business, Raj promises Tina that he will keep in touch with her and that their friendship will always be forever. However Tina disregards him and chooses not to respond to his first e-mail, in turn Pooja decides to keep in touch with him but signs under Tina's name. Fifteen years later, and their friendship has blossomed via e-mail, Raj believing that he's getting to know Tina when it's really Pooja. His family decides to go back on a holiday to India for 2 weeks, when Tina discovers the truth about Pooja's e-mails, they decide together that Tina will play along with the charade. When Raj arrives in India, he is struck by Tina's beauty but equally as struck to Pooja's personality. Who will he choose?
Carnival dancer Lane Bellamy finds herself stranded in a southern town ruled by corrupt political boss Sheriff Titus Semple. Lane becomes romantically involved with Deputy Sheriff Fielding Carlisle, a weakling whose career is being driven by Titus. Seeing Lane as a liability to his own political ambitions, Titus mounts a campaign to get her driven out of town. She finds she can't get a job and even gets arrested on a trumped-up morals charge. Released from jail, Lane finds work as a "hostess" at Lutie-Mae's road house, where she meets Dan Reynolds, another member of the town's political machine. They marry and move to a home on Flamingo Road, the town's social pinnacle. Their marriage is soon marked by scandal when a drunken Carlisle visits Lane at home one evening and shoots himself.
Rahul is a singer, who loses his career due to his drinking habits. He meets Arohi in a bar in Goa, where she works to earn a living. Impressed by her singing, he promises to take her to Mumbai and make her a star, where they fall in love with each other. Will they stay together accepting their success, or will their egos break them apart?
Set in Osaka in the 18th century, the film centers on the doomed romance between Jihei (Kichiemon Nakamura), a down and out married paper merchant passionately in love with doe-eyed courtesan Koharu (Shima Iwashita), whom he cannot afford to buy out of servitude. Koharu herself has also fallen in love with Jihei; she even starts turning away other patrons to be with him. Their love is further imperiled by Tahei (Hosei Komatsu), a rich, obnoxious merchant who flaunts his ability to buy Koharu's indenture. Suicide is the only way for the two to be together.
A fidgety, wisecracking video store clerk develops a fixation on a particularly reclusive customer, a frequent visitor to the pornography section of Cinefile, the video store where he works in Los Angeles. After multiple failures to impress her during their brief daily transactions, he finds her street address in the store's database, drives to her apartment building and initiates an unconventional campaign to win her affections.
As a parting shot, fired reporter Ann Mitchell prints a fake letter from unemployed "John Doe," who threatens suicide in protest of social ills. The paper is forced to rehire Ann and hires John Willoughby to impersonate "Doe." Ann and her bosses cynically milk the story for all it's worth, until the made-up "John Doe" philosophy starts a whole political movement.
The friendship between two orphans endures even though they grow up on opposite sides of the law and fall in love with the same woman.
Dhadkan is about Anjali (Shilpa Shetty) who is a girl that hails from an extremely rich and influential family. Her father Mr. Chauhan (Kiran Kumar) is a renowned businessman and has many dreams for his daughter. But Anjali is in love with Dev (Sunil Shetty) who is very poor & often cannot even afford to clothe himself properly. Dev also loves Anjali, wants to marry her so has to meet her father.
Womanising, right-wing Dan Hanson and quiet, liberal Lorie Bryer work for the Baltimore Sun. Rivals for the job of new writer of a vacant column, the paper ends up instead printing their very different opinions alongside each other, which leads to a similarly combative local TV show. At the same time their initial indifference to each other looks like it may evolve into something more romantic.
On a sight-seeing road trip of India, U.K. based Manav Mehta meets Mansi, the daughter of a singer, Tarababu. He is attracted to her, and makes his attraction known. She also is attracted to him eventually. Her dad approves of Manav, and both go to Bombay to meet his family. On their arrival itself, they are shunned and treated as second class citizens, and this lasts throughout the day.
Bahia Benmahmoud, a free-spirited young woman, has a particular way of seeing political engagement, as she doesn't hesitate to sleep with those who don't agree with her to convert them to her cause - which is a lot of people, as all right-leaning people are concerned. Generally, it works pretty well. Until the day she meets Arthur Martin, a discreet forty-something who doesn't like taking risks. She imagines that with a name like that, he's got to be slightly fascist. But names are deceitful and appearances deceiving..
Olivier Assayas, Gus Van Sant, Wes Craven and Alfonso Cuaron are among the 20 distinguished directors who contribute to this collection of 18 stories, each exploring a different aspect of Parisian life. The colourful characters in this drama include a pair of mimes, a husband trying to chose between his wife and his lover, and a married man who turns to a prostitute for advice.
A look at modern-day life in China's capital centered on a ménage-a-quatre involving a young woman, her boss, her husband and her boss's wife. Massage girl Pingguo (Apple) (The stunning Fan Bingbing) lives in a cramped apartment with her bad-tempered window cleaner husband Kun (Tong Dawei), barely eking by on their miniscule pay. When Pingguo gets raped by her boss Lin (Tony Leung) one afternoon, Kun, who is washing the windows of the building, witnesses the act. The enraged Kun tries to get even first by (unsuccessfully) blackmailing Lin, then by sleeping with Lin's wife (Elaine Kam). The relationships get even more tangled when Pingguo discovers she's pregnant. With the paternity of the baby up in the air, Kun, who is eager for money, strikes a deal with Lin, who is eager for a son.
Karan, born in Calcutta, and Khushi, born in the small village of Chamoli, are destined to meet despite the distance between the two. Karan wants to go Canada to further her studies--but due to an accident that takes place, he is forced to continue his studies in Mumbai University. Khushi's father believes that for a girl the education that she has receives is enough and now she should stay with him and marry a boy who is ready to be his son-in-law. But Khushi insists on pursuing her education in Mumbai University. At the University Karan's friend Vicky and Khushi's friend Priya are in love, but are having relationship problems. Karan and Khushi decide to help Vicky and Priya come together, but end up making a romantic connection with each other.
Kenya McQueen, a corporate lawyer finds love in the most unexpected place when she agrees to go on a blind date with Brian Kelly, a sexy and free-spirited landscaper.
Autumn in New York follows the sexual exploits of Will Keane - New York restaurateur, infamous verging-on-50 playboy, master of the no-commitment seduction - until he runs into an unexpected dead end when he meets Charlotte Fielding. Charlotte is half Will's age and twice his match, a 21 year-old free spirit yearning to get out and taste the excitement of adult life.
Martin, an ex-Parisian well-heeled hipster passionate about Gustave Flaubert who settled into a Norman village as a baker, sees an English couple moving into a small farm nearby. Not only are the names of the new arrivals Gemma and Charles Bovery, but their behavior also seems to be inspired by Flaubert's heroes.
Marriages are made in heaven! Though the road to heaven might be a little “tedha’. Meet ‘Manu’, a seedha saadha Doctor from London. Intelligent, temperate and from a respectable family, The perfect groom which every parent wants for their daughter. ‘Family pressure’ leads him to Kanpur to meet Tanu the quintessential small town girl who has studied in Delhi. Tanu is a smart, intelligent girl who will do everything that her parents will disapprove. With a mind of her own and a love for rebellion, Tanu is dead against an arranged marriage. But destiny holds something totally different for these dramatically diverse personalities. Their paths keep crossing time and again and weaves this wonderful story through the Indian heartland.
A man in search of his past, and a woman who lives in the moment, are brought together when they pursue the origins of a stray parrot in this comedic and romantic drama.
Rafe Covington is as good as his word, and he's determined to keep his promise to a dying man that he'll look after the man's widow and Wyoming ranch. But the widow doubts the integrity of drifter Covington. And an unscrupulous land grabber and his gunmen are sizing up the ranch the way a spider eyes a fly.
Kristin Lavransdatter is a 1995 Norwegian film directed by Liv Ullman, featuring Elisabeth Matheson, Bjørn Skagestad, Jørgen Langhelle, Lena Endre and Sverre Anker Ousdal, based on Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset. It was the Norwegian entry to the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1996.
A small group of friends experience relationships which grow and stumble, involving everything from straight, gay, lesbian, and bisexual relationships. The speed with which these relationships last leads to the Goldfish memory effect, the belief that a Goldfish only has a 3 second memory is a metaphor for the transient nature of the characters relationships.
Things have been tough lately for Amelia. Her best friend moved out of the apartment, her cat got cancer, and now her best friend, Laura, is getting married. She copes with things, from the help of Andrew, Frank, Laura, and a brief romance with Bill "The Ugly Guy" Written by Rose Hilburn
Set in a small politically unstable Latin American country, the story follows the half English and half Latino Dr. Eduardo Plarr, who left his home to find a better life. Along the way he meets an array of people, including British Consul Charley Fortnum, a representative in Latin America who is trying to keep Revolution from occurring. He is also a remorseful alcoholic. Another person the doctor meets is Clara, whom he immediately falls in love with, but there is a problem: Clara is Charley's wife.
An industrialist is urged to run for President, but this requires uncomfortable compromises on both political and marital levels.
A struggling actor comes from Delhi to Bombay and enters the Hindi film industry. This gives the audience an in sight into what sometimes happens when making a movie and what happens in the industry and more when it involves the opposite sex and when you are working together. Zoya Akhtar, sister to Farhan Akhtar and daughter of Javed Akhtar, has done a superb job in her directorial debut in showin
A chic jewel thief in England falls in love with one of her marks.
Updated adaptation of Choderlos de Laclos' classic 18th Century tale of seduction, betrayal and revenge set in the modern 1960s world of Parisian high society. The beautiful Madame de Merteuil seeks vengeance against her ex-lover Gercourt when he becomes engaged to her young goddaughter, Cécile. Merteuil turns to her ex-lover/partner-in-crime, Valmont, famous for his reputation as a Don Juan, to seduce Cécile and emotionally destroy her. While on his mission, Valmont gets sidetracked when he goes to visit his aunt and falls for Madame Tourvel, a virtuous, married woman who knows of his womanizing ways, but that only makes the challenge more exciting to Valmont. Together, Madame de Merteuil and Valmont make a dangerous team and they will stop at nothing when it comes to matters of the heart.
Political thriller about Laine Hanson's nomination and confirmation as Vice President. An allegation that she was involved in a sexual orgy at the age of 19 is leaked to the press. As pressure mounts on Laine, she's torn between fighting back or sticking to her principles and refusing to comment on the allegations.
Vox Populi is a black comedy about an experienced politician suffering from a midlife crisis. When he comes into contact with the common-man's logic of his new in-laws, this has a far-reaching effect on both his political and his personal life.
A young British girl travels to Israel/Palestine, retracing the steps of her grandfather - a British soldier stationed there in the 1940s.
Rod Steiger is ferocious as a scheming land developer in Francesco Rosi’s Hands over the City, a blistering work of social realism and the winner of the 1963 Venice Film Festival Golden Lion. This expose of the politically driven real-estate speculation that has devastated Naples’s civilian landscape moves breathlessly from a cataclysmic building collapse to the backroom negotiations of civic leaders vying for power in a city council election, laying bare the inner workings of corruption with passion and outrage.
The owner of a failing cinema and his mysterious boarder are caught up in the political intrigue of Argentina.
The Polish film based on the book of the same name by Wladyslaw Reymont. Taking place in the nineteenth century town of Łódź, Poland, three friends want to make a lot of money by building and investing in a textile factory. An exceptional portrait of rapid industrial expansion shown through the eyes of one Polish town.
Frank Skeffington is an old Irish-American political boss, running for re-election as Mayor of of a US town for the last time.
A normal boy receives a blow to the head which sets him off to perform rebellious acts.
A drama based on Texas congressman Charlie Wilson's covert dealings in Afghanistan, where his efforts to assist rebels in their war with the Soviets had some unforeseen and long-reaching effects.
George Clooney’s fact-based drama about the famous radio journalist Edward R Murrow's stand against Senator McCarthy's anti-communist witch-hunts in the early 1950s.
The film is told in three acts, beginning with a historical background of Japan's student movement of the 1960s and early 1970s, mostly using archive footage and a narrator. The second act follows the formation of the group to their mountain training camps in the southern Japanese Alps. It emphasizes the dogmatic (and eventually hypocritical) bullying of the group by Mori and Nagata, with 12 members being killed for infractions as small as improperly cleaning a gun, wearing make-up, and kissing. The third act shows the splitting up of the group after two members run off. It follows one group of five members to Karuizawa and a hostage-taking and police standoff known as the Asama-Sansō incident.

© Valossa 2015–2024