The Given Word

Movie

1962

1h 38m

Portuguese

Drama

User Score:

8.1

Critic Score:

The Given Word

Movie

1962

1h 38m

Portuguese

Drama

Zé is a very poor man whose most prized possession is his donkey. When his donkey falls terminally ill, Zé makes a promise to Saint Bárbara: If his donkey recovers, he will carry a cross - like Jesus - all the way from his city to Saint Bárbara's church, in the state capital. Upon the recovery of his donkey, Zé leaves on his journey. He makes it to the church, but the priest refuses to accept the cross once he discovers the context of Zé's promise.

WATCHMODE

8.1

IMDB

CRITIC SCORE

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Cast

Zé do Burro

Rosa

Padre Olavo

Bonitão

Dedé

Reporter

Mestre Coca

Galego

Marli

Zealot

Policial

Inspetor

Coca's Friend

Detetive

Sexton

Auntie

Editor

Bishop

Bishop

Zealot

Zealot

Capoeira

Ignácio de Loyola Brandão

Garibaldo Matos

Directed By: Anselmo Duarte

Written By: Anselmo Duarte (Screenplay), Dias Gomes (Screenplay)

Featured Comments/Tips

Fernando Monteiro says...

2 years ago

A sensational story, the film is just not perfect because some details could be better and the acting is not great

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soonertbone says...

3 months ago

Beautiful movie about a simple believer who is just trying to help his donkey. The steady building of chaos and stress reminded me of the opportunism of Ace in the Hole, but the commentary here felt sharper, perhaps because it was so directly targeted at the church. The ending was a bit obvious, but overall this took me by surprise and I loved it.

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Jay Shuai says...

2 years ago

Meh, pretty boring. Seems to be the Brazilian answer to Dryer, Bergman and Bresson in terms of its subject matter and a lot of its dialogue. But far less stylistically interesting than any of those. Cant really consider this anything more than another 90 minutes of my life wasted on a ‘classic’ film. Nothing of interest here. 3.5/10

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Maarten Delfgou says...

3 years ago

The original title of the film is O Pagador de Promessas. The title translates literally as The Payer of Promises, but the film has been known by several other names in the English-speaking world, such as Keeper of Promises, The Given Word and The Promise (Wikipedia).

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