A sprawling, well-appointed epic directed by Eric Barbier , “Promise at Dawn” both exudes and critiques self-regard. The charitable view is that Romain Gary , the author of the book it is based on, led a life extraordinary enough to warrant the grandiosity. Beyond his literary accomplishments, he was a World War II aviator, a diplomat, a filmmaker and the husband of Jean Seberg.

The book has been taken as a fictionalized memoir in which the less-than-trustworthy Gary credits his success to his determined mother, Nina (played by Charlotte Gainsbourg , speaking French and Polish). Through toughness and clever bluffing, she removes him from the drabness and anti-Semitism of Vilna to a life of comfort in Nice, always, always reminding him that his mission is to become a great writer.