SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Beystiman It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Joanna Mccarty Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

Quiet Muffin This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

jesushumper Hearing perspectives if kids concerning most any subject is interesting. This is no exception.It's quite well balanced; in the scenes, the film-maker will pose a question or just let the kids speak. They speak plainly but do not try to lie to the camera.But this is also pretty depressing for me. Seeing how these kids - on both sides - have been brainwashed into hating each other based on past ignorance and fairy-tales. They start a speech speaking of something nice about how they go about their day, then start talking about killing other humans under the guise of religious rights.Still, a very good film.

YNOTswim "Promises" is an extraordinary film. It was deeply moving and profoundly devastating film, especially it echoes the reality of Iraq war and the recent attack in London. Through seven children's eyes, this film examines the root of hatred between Israel and the Palestinian and provokes the hunting question: "Is there ever going to have peace?" You would think those children are young and innocent. They might be young, but they grew up in the war zone and they saw their families and friends were killed or injured by the enemies. The seeds of hatred already buried deep inside of their young hearts. What a human tragedy! It broke my heart to see they lost the innocence at such a young age. Some of them were so articulate and insightful than many of the adults, such as the president. What troubles me the most is besides the lost in human lives, their hatred is coming from what they believe in: religion. All these fighting and killing are under the name of God.I was in tears when a phone call was made between the boys from both sides. I saw some hope, out of desperation. But how long will that hope last? Sadly, the war in Iraq is basically creating the exact situation in Israel and the Palestinian. There is no ending of killing in sight, only the deep hatred toward each other keeps building up."Promises" is a must see documentary.

philo_lund42 A lot of people liked this film. Heck, I even like this film. I laughed, I cried...BUT...This isn't a Hollywood film about fictional characters in a fictional situation. It's a documentary about the Palestinian/Israeli conflict. So I have some very serious problems with the overall approach of the film.First of all, the main scenes in this film are built on the manipulation of reality by the filmmakers. In the two crucial scenes in the film, in which Palestinians are brought out of the West Bank to visit the remains of their village and Israeli children are brought into the West Bank to play with Palestinian children, the action is able to take place ONLY because the film's producers intervened and set up the situations.Now, to their credit, the directors don't hide the fact that they are manipulating reality. But just the fact that they do, and that this is what the entire crux of the film is based around, leaves me feeling a little empty. After all, wouldn't it be more to the point to show that, in fact, if you are Palestinian living in the West Bank you will NEVER be able to go visit the remains of your village in what is now Israel, and if you are Israeli you will NEVER go to a Palestinian refugee camp to find out what the "enemy" is actually like in person? I realize that these scenes are constructed to make a point. But I prefer documentaries that rely on the way things are, rather than the way things could/should be.And in creating this alternative to actual reality, the filmmakers have managed to gloss over the actual point that they SHOULD be making in a film about the Palestinian / Israeli conflict -- which is that the Israeli military occupation itself is at the root of this trouble, and that lifting it is the key to peace. Instead, a starry-eyed illusion is created in which, if we could all just meet each other and get along, then all the problems would be solved and the divisions mended. True enough, perhaps -- but where is the concrete truth, the actual root of separation? For all its lovely tearfulness, this film serves mostly to leave us feeling warm and sad, rather than address the actual issues that need to be addressed for this conflict to end.

wuijtswinkel A document for life. I saw it in Rotterdam, during the IFFR. The director was sitting behind me, I realized later. I have never experienced a silence during the last titles rolling over the screen. We were all so impressed. It was a moment to cry. Never, a documentary, or anything on the screen touched me so deeply as this projection.