The Truce

Adaptation of the novel by Primo Levi, based on his true account of traveling home across Europe after the liberation of Auschwitz at the end of WWII. Tells the story of Levi's arduous journey home to Turin through Eastern Europe, as well as his slow rediscovery of life and hope. Has the trappings of a grand historical epic, but works best as a quiet introspective look at a man trying to reclaim his humanity after experiencing unimaginable horror. Flashback scenes in the camp are appropriately harrowing, but the film loses focus when joining Levi and his ragtag compadres on the road home, sometimes slipping into banal sentimentality or outright melodrama, two things a story this powerful doesn't need. Turturro, who committed to the project several years ago, gives the performance of his career, understated and convincing. Levi committed suicide in 1987, shortly after giving Rosi's adaptation his blessing.