"La Promesse," a film about racism

[Louis Proyect]

When we first meet Igor (Jeremie Renier), a teen-aged garage mechanic, he
is stealing the wallet of an elderly woman whose car he is servicing. That
act would seem to define the essential immorality of "La Promesse's"
central character.

Next we see him join his father Roger (Olivier Gourmet) in a van filled
with undocumented workers, mostly from Eastern Europe and Africa, who have
come to Belgium to escape economic oppression. What awaits them at Roger's
warren of ramshackle buildings is only a tiny step upward. As they stand
forlornly outside the buildings--their new homes--they complain about the
smell of shit. They will rent dismal rooms there and work for a pittance
repairing the buildings. To make sure that they will bend to his will,
Roger orders Igor to collect their passports.

The relationship between father and son is like the kind Dickens wrote
about in Oliver Twist. Roger, a Fagin like character, is both bullying and
affectionate to his son. He bonds with him by tattooing his arm, using the
crude sort of needle-pen and ink that you find in prisons. Although there
is no explicit mention of Roger having a criminal past, he strikes you as a
criminal type. He is constantly ripping off his workers and tenants and
seems ready to use violence to achieve his aims at the drop of a hat. By
all appearances, Igor is destined to turn out like his father.

One day the immigration police make a surprise raid and the workmen flee in
all directions. In the ensuing panic, Hamidu (Rasmane Ouedraogo), who is
from Burkina Faso, falls from a third floor scaffold. As he lies on the
ground severely injured, he whispers to Igor that he must watch over his
wife Assita (Assita Ouedraogo) and their baby, who have just arrived with
the latest batch of "illegals." "Promise me," he says. Before Igor has a
chance to answer him, his father arrives and makes a decision that will
divide him psychologically and morally from his son. If they bring Hamidu
to the hospital, they will invite an investigation by the cops. So they put
some planks over the injured man to keep him from view and allow him to
die. After he dies, they drag him into a shed and pour concrete over his body.

Igor is assigned the task to lie to the dead man's wife that he has fled
town because of gambling debts. She answers emphatically that he will
return, because he is her husband. In the course of their conversation, the
youth takes note of the coldness of the room and tells her that he will
bring a gas heater. For some reason, he views the African woman and her
infant as fellow human beings. Whether it is because of the "promesse" her
dead husband demanded from him, or some shred of humanity that his father
has not managed to rip out, he begins to bond with her. For the remainder
of the film, he does everything he can to protect the woman and her baby,
even when she rejects his protection. She finds it difficult to distinguish
the boy from his heartless father.

One can understand her wariness of whites. In one scene, she waits under a
bridge for Igor, with her baby in her arms. Suddenly she feels a stream of
liquid on her head. Two motorcyclists have begun pissing on her. After she
screams at them, they get on their bikes and ride over her bags. A carving
of a deity is destroyed in the process. Igor takes her and the child to the
garage where he begins repairing it, only to be confronted by his father
who demands that he turn the woman over to him. He has made plans to sell
her into prostitution.

Although Belgium does not evoke images of racism, economic tensions are
turning it into a simmering cauldron of hatred according to a March 5, 1998
USA Today article filed by Marco R. della Cava from Antwerp, Belgium:

"Living in fear because of one's skin color would appear to be  the dirty
little secret of a quiet country best known for chocolates,  diamonds and
the EU's headquarters. Except this is no secret. 

"Belgium is home to the most racist people in Europe, tops among  a
15-nation populace of 370 million who are increasingly tense  over
joblessness and immigration, according to the EU poll released  in 1997. 

"In the poll, European citizens were posed the following question: 'Some
people feel they are not at all racist. Others feel they  are very racist.
Would you look at this card and give me the number  that shows your own
feelings about this?'

"Belgians were the most open about their racist feelings, with  22% saying
they considered themselves 'very racist.' They were followed by the French
(16%) and Austrians (14%). Least racist  were the Swedes (2%). Among all
Europeans, just 9% rated themselves  as 'very racist' and another 24% said
they were 'quite racist.' 

"The poll's companion analysis indicates that those polled explained  their
racist tendencies by linking top concerns -- unemployment,  crime and drug
abuse -- to the growing legions of economic and  political refugees banging
on Europe's door. 

"Whatever the reasons, Europe is being prodded to quickly address  its
increasing ethnic dilution. Liberal voices urge education  and employment,
while far-right groups echo the slogan of Antwerp's  popular political
party Vlaams Blok: 'Eigen volk eerst,'  'Our People First.'"

I strongly recommend "La Promesse" as a powerful human story that
dramatizes one of Europe's most urgent social problems. It is written and
directed by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne. It was released in American
theaters in 1996 and is now available in video.


Louis Proyect

(http://www.panix.com/~lnp3/marxism.html)