In an attempt to liberate himself from gloominess, depression and despair, filmmaker David Kinsella sets out to investigate the deeper truth behind the disastrous love relationship that has left him severely damaged. During the course of his journey, Kinsella is forced to take a critical look at his own past actions and confront his mistakes and illusions.
"People ask me why it is so hard to trust people. I ask them why is it so hard to keep a promise?"
In 2009, filmmaker David Kinsella visited Moldova representing the Norwegian Film Institute with his award-winning documentary A Beautiful Tragedy. David's film was nominated for the best film award at the Moldova Cronograf Film Festival. During this visit, David was interviewed by a national TV channel, a young Moldovan reporter named "Katya"
"A very sweet smiling sunshine of a lady, she was impossible to forget.";
After some days of meeting together during the festival, Katya eventually told David her shocking sad story of a desperate hard life of survival in Moldova, her personal tragic upbringing, a life of sadness, lies, being used and abused, physically assaulted and fighting for everything just to survive her day-to-day life.
As most people, the film director David Kinsella felt very sad and shocked, he had helped others all his life and decided he needed to do what he could to give her the chance to have a new life, keep her smiling and take away the darkness in her soul.
And so David did, giving her "THE PROMISE", to always be there for her, whatever happens in their lives, in time this grew to become more than just helping, David was showing and giving Katya unconditional love.
David was determined on giving her the life she never had, and so much deserved. Whatever the personal cost "A promise Katya could never say no too".
The Promise is a drama reflecting over the events from "past, present, and future", intertwined with the core of the film played over a one month period from when Katya says goodbye to her family and home in Moldova and journeys to Norway.
Katya secret wish was to finally at the age of 31 having a baby, David had no limits of how much good he could do for Katya, so he agreed and planned for months to make her most precious wish come true.
Katya decides to dare to believe in a new life, a compromise on her dreams, but so many forces are against her, especially her own daemons, but what with the baby? Is she strong enough for this massive change in her life? David sends Katya return tickets so she knows she can return to her world at any time, he makes ready their new home, Katya takes the 12 hour bus journey from Moldova to Romania, and then sends a SMS from Bucharest airport, "David I am not coming, my mother is sick, and my stepfather insists I return home, and if not he will never forgive me if something happens to her, he has promised me David to buy me new tickets to Norway in the next days, I am coming, don't worry, you are my white angel, a big hug from me".
Days pass, finally Katya makes contact saying she is sad, her mother was never sick, her family only wanted her to stay in Moldova, her stepfather will not pay for new tickets as promised, and she has no money and asks David to help yet again, promising to return all the money she borrowed, David sadly agrees not knowing what is the truth and what is lies
Finally Katya arrives in Norway, she had few smiles and sadness in her eyes, David does not know what to do or say, he can only understand how difficult it has been for Katya, and he can only show his unconditional love, and his commitment to Katya and their relationship, but Katya has other ideas, she has her plan, and so our story begins...
Most fairytales with princesses and knights in shining armor present the girl locked away in a tower, patiently waiting to be saved, while the guy has to fight the bad ogre and open the tower gate for her. The girl and the guy don't know each other, they have never seen each other, and yet they will live happily ever after. That's how the story goes...
Of course all this will work as long as ever since your childhood, you have been told as a boy that you will have to find 'The love of your life' by traveling the world and fighting for her, and as a girl – that you will only need to wait. Things get however a bit complicated when your prince is from Western Europe and your princess – from the former communist bloc.
Each of them starts learning things about 'the other world'. As a child. The western boy finds out that he lives in an almost perfect world; the true values of life are those that he actually sees every day, and money is a virtue. When economic statistics also confirms you are a top ranking product, your success is guaranteed.
Meanwhile, the Eastern European girl learns that it's not so good for her to keep waiting in her tower, and if she wants to get things, she needs money. Also, western money is better than eastern money – and life gets easier when you have the right kind of money in your pocket. One of the most important things that can be said when eastern European girls get together for a 'girl talk' is "I met a foreigner".
Back when these two worlds used to be separated by a Wall, things were less complicated. But the Wall came down and life became complicated, although in such a way that the atoms of the two former distinct worlds still cannot fuse together.
This film is about two people, each of them a product of their respective education. David won the Irish photographer of the year at the age of 16, the youngest ever in Ireland, over 50 movie awards around the world. Society rewarded him as a champion and acknowledged his effort. On the other hand, when she was a little girl, Katya learned that if she wanted to get more, she sometimes had to rely on a 'special type of ethics;, lax enough to allow her to do certain things.
Katya is beautiful, her skin is soft and her eyes are sparkling, but she is 31(In Moldova this is regarded as a serious issue, being not married in ones 30's) and she is single in 'the land of the brides'.
In contrast with the animal kingdom, where the male is the handsome half of the couple, displaying bright feathers or impressive moves, she is the one who has learned to use her beauty to attract a potential mate. And, more important, to attract money, and both time and looks are running out.
David is older than Katya. He works hard, living in the best, safest country in the world: the kingdom with the highest level of life quality on Earth. He only has one problem: he believes he has everything Katya wants in life. But none of them has the time or the skill to find the winning "chemistry" that could actually bring their two worlds together.
David brings Katya to Mosjøen, Nordland, promises to give her the life she deserves but never had, but Katya only knows her old ways "missing" her playground and the rules of life she knows in Moldova, lies, using people, these talents don't work in Norway.
Can she take the embarrassment being with an older man for 3 years?, maybe this relationship can actually work? at least she can get her Norwegian passport and a financial reward for her efforts, then she can try and bring her secret poor'sweetheart' from Moldova, she will have to face a terrible lonely sacrifice, new social rules, a new older man, new language, new people. The arctic cold, a new culture, new cage, a new perfect prison, and constant jealous remarks from her homeland and her family that refuse to talk to her.
The "past, present and future" film narration is built by the confessions of the two protagonists, in a 'video diary' style. It is a 'video selfie' world, intimate eye view POV views from both characters, where the only witness of the human thoughts is an electronic device, and the images our mind creates, "What is true and what is lies"
As their confessions, 1000,s of mails and SMS's are locked away archived forever in a computer file, who needs to make up words, when the truth is way beyond fiction. The life David and Katya's are trying to build together becomes a one direction of giving and a one direction of talking. In real life this level of 'zero communication' distorts us. The feeling is visually supported by graphical imagery of thoughts and the scenarios we create not knowing what is real and what is lies, we also mix this world with real daily life events of the film director David Kinsella; for example David will be in South Korea, signing autographs, living the film star, marketing his new feature film that will have its national cinema release in December 2016. Katya living her life in the Norwegian class room, in the snows of Mosjøen alone waiting for David to return.
We have the audience asking what is real? is David real?, is it lies or real? We also have archive images from David's work and the real people that are part of his life in Norway, we will be revealing the origins of the tremendous differences between the two worlds of David and Katya, (Cultural differences are the main cause of ending relationships).
This is not a story about the differences between two people, but about the differences between two cultures, two worlds: the West and the East. Each of them have their own demons, the battles fought between them are long and fierce. Until the final battle, that will win the war. Because in the end, one of them will definitely lose this war.
Is living in Norway as they say, "Like winning the lottery" or a cage, a prison for Katya being one of the many new foreigners who can be despised and feel very unwelcome to their new land. Will David and Katya ever learn to love each other and finally find the elusive happiness they both deserve?
POINT OF VIEW David home in Mosjøen:
He is lying on his back on the couch, Katya in his arms. She sees a black marker lying on the coffee table and grabs it. Katya takes its cap off, and draws two stars on the wall, just above the couch.
VOICE DAVID (in English)
Hey! Not on the wall!
KATYA (in English)
I give you two stars for trying so hard to please me.
VOICE DAVID (in English)
What! Only two stars?
KATYA (in English)
I'm still a "young enough" woman, and I'm still demanding. But you can work on it.
KATYA (cont'd)
(Smiling) Maybe next time, you get three stars.
VOICE DAVID (in English, joking)
Well, if you only rate me two stars, maybe there won't be a next time.
KATYA (in English)
No, no, you can't get away from me. You're under my spell.
Katya grabs the marker and writes two short sentences on the wall, next to the stars: 'Say my name and I disappear. What am I?'
KATYA (in English)
The moment you know the answer, you're no longer under my spell David. Then you're free.
VOICE DAVID (in English)
That's not difficult: 'Katya'. Now the curse is broken!
KATYA (in English)
No, you don't and never understand David.