Broken Promise (Unrated)

Filled with historical incident, factually accurate and just a little dull, Broken Promise is precisely the sort of foreign-language film festivals were made for — not quite strong enough for general release but deserving of attention anyway. Based on the autobiography of Martin Friedmann-Petrasek (who appears briefly before the credits, looking pleased), the movie opens in a picturesque Slovakian village in which the young Martin (Samuel Spisak), the son of a Jewish poultry trader, prepares for his bar mitzvah, plays soccer with his friends and enjoys his large, boisterous family (he’s one of nine kids).

But things start to change in 1939, after his country sides with Hitler’s Germany, and the persecution of Jews begins — subtly at first, but then quickly more flagrant and disruptive. By 1942, after several of his brothers and sisters have been forcibly transported to Poland, and Jewish shops in the village are being “Aryanized,” Martin defies the complacency of his parents and flees to nearby Sered.

Thus begins a long, formative journey that follows the young Martin (well played by Spisak) as he constantly avoids shipment to Auschwitz — at one point he is rescued by his soccer skills — and ultimately lands in the midst of a group of military Soviet resistants. Even so, the anti-Semitism never stops.

Director Jiri Chlumsky gives the modestly budgeted Broken Promise a polished, big-screen look and pulls off some engrossing sequences, such as Martin’s harrowing bout with pneumonia and his ensuing recovery at a sanatorium where he must hide his Jewish heritage. But the movie would have benefited tremendously from tighter editing and fewer scenes of the philosophizing of Martin’s father (Ondrej Vetchy).

Broken Promise ultimately feels more like a cautionary history lesson than a dramatic story, but the lesson is fascinating, and this bit of history will be new to many viewers.

Cast: Samuel Spisak, Ondrej Vetchy, Andrej Mojzis, Roman Luknar.

Director: Jiri Chlumsky.

Screenwriter: Jan Novak.

Producer: Iveta Cerna Ivanova.

Running time: 129 minutes. In Slovak and Russian with English subtitles. Adult themes. Plays at 8:30 p.m. Saturday at Intracoastal.