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Too many fans seem to be blown away

Just perfect...

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

It takes a Serbian or at least a Balkan familiarity to understand and enjoy many of the situations, characters and jokes of 'Zavet' as well as of many other films of Kusturica. See for example the opening scenes, with the remote village in the Serbian mountains, with the low-tech devices that defend the integrity and way of life of the inhabitants, the nostalgia for the good days of the Communist rule, and the awakening of the young brat watching his nude teacher at the sounds of the Soviet hymn. Kusturica not only tries to depart from the tragic history of Serbia described in his previous movies, but creates a whole world of himself in the process.This is not a political film or not an explicit political film in any case. It's a fun film before all. Kusturica creates a set of characters that we care about. Music plays an active role in this film same as in all his other movies. His style is direct and grotesque, we now what he feels about his characters and we know that he wants us to feel the same. The space he develops melds present, history and magic, and the colours seem to be of a Douanier Rousseau of modern cinema.This is not a perfect film either. The principal flaw is the length, some editing and shortening would have been useful, as at some point in time the director seems to have run out of ideas and repetitions show up. It is yet one of the most catching, amusing, moving films that I have seen lately.

For those of you who are not aware with the theme that Kusturica continues to explore intermittently in his films--the Western assault on traditional Serbian values--it will be impossible for you to understand his narratives. This continuous theme, expressed through fantasy and outrageous comedy as its vehicle, is one that Kusturica has elected to mandate. Since his fantastic work and Magnum Opus 'Underground', Kusturica's films' 'Black Cat White Cat', 'Life is a Miracle', and recently with 'Promise Me This', his slapstick, carnivalistic style underscores the 'westernization' of Balkan culture, its ambivalent arrival and assault on the traditional idiom. In the case of 'Promise Me This', the paradoxical world of city (urban space) and village (traditional idiom) space are contrasted. The world of the city reflects western attributes that have ensconced the spatial and temporal setting; organized crime, sexual exploitation, a ruptured sense of identity and vehement disregard for traditional values--as expressed toward the young kid--villager. The end of the film further exemplifies this notion as we observe a funeral mass and wedding on a one-way dirt road. They are on a collision coarse; appropriately, the wedding, which represents the lifeline and pulse of the village, i.e. traditional values, are about to collide with the funeral mourners, exemplifying the death of tradition within this context. Yet Kusturica brilliantly examines this theme through his own unique, stylistic singularity. With his outrageous and flamboyant style serving as a vehicle in its portrayal.

This film seems to be getting an awful lot of stick which is quite unfounded. Sure, all the usual Kusturican elements are present, but its these ideas that make his films so special. The colourful barrage of heady surrealism barrels along at an incredible pace but without detracting from the energy of the movie.The plot follows Tsane as he is sent to the big city, by his Grandfather, to sell the family's cow and return with a wife before Grandpa shuffles off this mortal coil. Of course, life is not that simple and in a sparkling series of ribald vignettes that defy the laws of physics, Kusturica gives the audience murder, prostitution, gangsters, castration and a whole raft of bizarre characters and situations.However, at the heart of the movie is a quest for love and affirmation against the difficulties posed by the chaos of the region. In a gloriously anarchic ending, a double wedding is conducted in the midst of a gun battle, with the band playing on and all under the baleful gaze of a gravity defying human cannonball.This is a fun movie and yes, maybe not all of Kusturica's ideas pay off, but we should all be thankful that he has the imagination, the verve and the bravery to experiment with these ideas in his films. I would take one average Kusturica movie over a thousand dull, turgid and pointless Hollywood blockbusters.

I started to watch this movie with great expectation although I had some fears too. In my opinion Kusturica together with Almodovar is among the most creative directors in Europe. Movies like Time of the Gypsies, Underground, Black Cat, White Cat are so rich, so imaginative that I don't hesitate to call them masterpieces. That's the reason why I was expectant. I was afraid because Life is a Miracle though still being quite a fascinating work already showed some signs of artistic crisis. I had at times impression that the director started to lack ideas which resulted in self-citing.Zavet was even more disappointing. It is well watchable still, has some really good moments but never comes to the point of truth, never reaches the poetical heights and freshness of Kusturica's above mentioned masterworks. what was surprising for me that even humor in this movie is quite flat. At times you feel that you are supposed to laugh but it is not funny at all. For example that flying guy from the circus canon. In the beginning it was somehow promising, I even had reminiscences of the red balloon from Arizona Dreams but after all there was no development and the end of the episode was unconvincing.Zavet can still be enjoyable experience, especially for Kusturica's fans and indeed it is well worth watching as it is a hotchpotch of the director's hallmark elements but those seeking high artistic inspiration probably won't be satisfied