The Ottoman Lieutenant (bottom) repudiates The Promise
BY BÉRJ BERAMIAN
There are clear indications that the The Ottoman Lieutenant (TOL) movie was made by a Turkish production company to repudiate The Promise (TP), financed by Kirk Kerkorian. My assertions below are based on research available on the internet and IMDB.com. Both films tell a love story that takes place during the Ottoman Empire. However, The Ottoman Lieutenant sets the story under the guise of World War I as a means to justify the atrocities suffered by Armenians as a consequence of war, while The Promise sets the story during the Armenian Genocide committed by the Ottoman Turks during World War I.
When a release date of December 2016 was announced for The Promise, the makers of The Ottoman Lieutenant also posted a release date of December 2016 on IMDB.com for consideration of an Oscar nomination – a wishful goal. Since the producers of The Promise announced release of the picture on April 21, 2017, the producers of TOL changed their release date to March 10, 2017 on IMDB.com. It is clear that the producers of The Ottoman Lieutenant are trying to confuse American audiences with their story by releasing their film before The Promise. Furthermore, they want to monetize not only from an American audience but also from the Armenian diaspora.
There is an even more interesting observation to be made with both movie posters: Even though the fonts of each movie title are slightly different, both are capitalized in a yellowish-gold hue against a black background. It is clear the producers of The Ottoman Lieutenant are trying to confuse American audiences by making a poster that resembles the poster of The Promise.
It is also surprisingly “coincidentalâ€
