The movie "The Pledge" lives mostly on its excellent story which is due to the Swiss novelist Friedrich Duerrenmatt (so much for "great AMERICAN cinema"). And because the story is so good, it has already been filmed several times. Personally, I know two versions besides "The Pledge". The first one is the classical one with Gerd Froebe and Heinz Ruehmann and has a happy ending. The second one is a Swiss one with more or less the same action and ending (except that the little girl turned into a whore - but this appearantly would have been too strong for an American major production). If I remember correctly, the tone of the latter movie was very much like the one in "The Pledge".
Sean Penn's movie is quite well done. The direction is good. The movie has a dark undertone and the cast is, of course, excellent. For anyone who hasn't seen any version based on that novel (as probably most of the American audience), the movie will definitely appear as one of the outstanding movies of 2001. If you have, however, seen one or more versions of that material, you will notice that Sean Penn really didn't have anything new to contribute to the interpretation of the story but just made a relatively tame adaptation. His only merit is that he has successfully transplanted it to the United States without spoiling it.
Sean Penn's movie is quite well done. The direction is good. The movie has a dark undertone and the cast is, of course, excellent. For anyone who hasn't seen any version based on that novel (as probably most of the American audience), the movie will definitely appear as one of the outstanding movies of 2001. If you have, however, seen one or more versions of that material, you will notice that Sean Penn really didn't have anything new to contribute to the interpretation of the story but just made a relatively tame adaptation. His only merit is that he has successfully transplanted it to the United States without spoiling it.
