The Promise (12A) ****
Dir: Terry George
With: Oscar Isaac, Christian Bale
Runtime: 133mins
A LOVE triangle set against the backdrop of the Armenian genocide during the First World Way may seem like an ill-advised marriage. But Terry George’s film, while certainly contrived at times, remains an important and emotionally compelling piece of work, shining a deserved light on an atrocity that its perpetrator, Turkey, continues to deny today. Oscar Isaac, Christian Bale and Charlotte Le Bon are the trio at the heart of the drama, whose tug-of-love becomes eclipsed by the mass murder of 1.5 million Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Empire. As committed as their performances are, however, it’s the frequently shocking historical insights that lend the film its staying power and which George delivers just as effectively as he did with past work such as Hotel Rwanda.
Lady Macbeth (15) ****
Dir: William Oldroyd
With: Florence Pugh, Cosmo Jarvis
Runtime: 89mins
FORGET Shakespeare, William Oldroyd’s savagely dark film is actually inspired by Nikolai Leskov’s 1865 Russian novella Lady Macbeth Of The Mtsensk Distict and is a fiercely compelling tale of lust and murder in Victorian Northumberland. Florence Pugh excels as the 17-year-old Katherine, whose refuses to be trapped by her the loveless circumstance of her arranged marriage. Rather, she embarks upon a torrid affair with a stable groom (Cosmo Jarvis) that takes a murderous turn once it threatens to be discovered. Pugh mesmerises in the lead role, while Oldroyd’s direction is high on sombre atmospherics that really do haunt.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here