''The Truce'' ( it, La Tregua) is a 1997 film directed by

Francesco Rosi Francesco Rosi (; 15 November 1922 – 10 January 2015) was an Italian film director. His film '' The Mattei Affair'' won the Palme d'Or at the 1972 Cannes Film Festival. Rosi's films, especially those of the 1960s and 1970s, often appeared to ha ...

, written by

Tonino Guerra Antonio "Tonino" Guerra (16 March 1920 – 21 March 2012) was an Italian poet, writer and screenwriter who collaborated with some of the most prominent film directors in the world. Life and work Guerra was born in Santarcangelo di Romagna. Acco ...

, based on

Primo Levi Primo Michele Levi (; 31 July 1919 – 11 April 1987) was an Italian chemist, partisan, writer, and Jewish Holocaust survivor. He was the author of several books, collections of short stories, essays, poems and one novel. His best-known works ...

's memoir, ''

The Truce ''The Truce'' ( it, La tregua), titled ''The Reawakening'' in the US, is a book by the Italian author Primo Levi. It is the sequel to '' If This Is a Man'' and describes the author's experiences from the liberation of Auschwitz ( Monowitz), whi ...

''. The film deals with Primo Levi's experiences returning to Italy in 1945 after the Red Army liberated the

concentration camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simpl ...

at Auschwitz during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. This was Rosi's final film before his death in 2015.

Plot

Although liberated on January 27, 1945, Levi did not reach Turin until October 19 of that year. After spending some time in a Soviet camp for former concentration camp inmates, he embarked on an arduous journey home in the company of Italian former prisoners of war from the

Italian Army in Russia The Italian Army in Russia ( it, Armata Italiana in Russia; ARMIR) was an army-sized unit of the Royal Italian Army which fought on the Eastern Front during World War II between July 1942 and April 1943. The ARMIR was also known as the 8th ...

. His long railway journey home to Turin took him on a circuitous route from Poland, through Russia, Romania, Hungary, Austria and Germany.

Cast

John Turturro John Michael Turturro (; born February 28, 1957) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for his contributions to the independent film movement. He has appeared in over sixty feature films and has worked frequently with the Coen brothers, ...

Rade Šerbedžija Rade Šerbedžija ( sr-Cyrl, Раде Шербеџија, ; born 27 July 1946) is a Croatian actor, director and musician. He is known for his portrayals of imposing figures on both sides of the law. He was one of the best known Yugoslav actors i ...

- The Greek (Morda Naum) *

Massimo Ghini Massimo Ghini (born 12 October 1954) is an Italian actor. Life He has worked with Franco Zeffirelli, Giorgio Strehler, Giuseppe Patroni Griffi, and Gabriele Lavia, among others. He has been married to actress Nancy Brilli, and is the father ...

- Cesare * Stefano Dionisi - Daniele * Teco Celio - Col. Rovi *

Roberto Citran Roberto Citran (born 26 January 1955) is an Italian actor. Life and career Born in Padua, Citran graduated in psychology and founded the university film club "CINEMAUNO" in his hometown. After some sporadic stage works he founded a small theate ...

- Unverdorben *

Claudio Bisio Claudio Bisio (; born 19 March 1957) is an Italian actor, presenter, voice actor, comedian, and writer. Early life Bisio was born in Novi Ligure, Piedmont, and raised in Milan, Lombardy. He attended '' scientific lyceum Luigi Cremona'' of Mi ...

- Ferrari *

Andy Luotto André Paul "Andy" Luotto (born 30 July 1950) is an American actor, comedian, musician, chef, and restaurateur. He has resided in Italy since the mid-1970s, where he is a prolific television personality, and is the owner and operator of the Lá re ...

- D'Agata * Agnieszka Wagner - Galina *

Lorenza Indovina Lorenza Indovina (born 5 October 1966) is an Italian actress. Life and career Born in Rome, the daughter of the director Franco Indovina, she studied acting at the Silvio d’Amico Academy of Dramatic Arts, graduating in 1991. She made he ...

- Flora * Marina Gerasimenko - Maria Fyodorovna *

Igor Bezgin Igor may refer to: People * Igor (given name), an East Slavic given name and a list of people with the name * Mighty Igor (1931–2002), former American professional wrestler * Igor Volkoff, a professional wrestler from NWA All-Star Wrestling ...

- Yegorov * Aleksandr Ilyin - The Mongol * Vyacheslav Olkhovskiy - Lt. Sergei * Anatoli Vasilyev - Dr. Gotlieb

Reception

Whereas the film can be seen as belonging to the tradition of the "cinema of prose," it also contributes to the "cinema of poetry," as defined by

Pier Paolo Pasolini Pier Paolo Pasolini (; 5 March 1922 – 2 November 1975) was an Italian poet, filmmaker, writer and intellectual who also distinguished himself as a journalist, novelist, translator, playwright, visual artist and actor. He is considered one of ...

. Brian Webster, writing for the ''Apollo Guide'', finds the film "a war story with little violence and virtually no sentimentality. If you're not ready for it, you might find The Truce passing before your eyes without making much of an impact. It doesn't smack you in the face with a powerful message, but instead works its way inside you more gradually." The film opened on 71 screens in Italy and grossed $414,890 in its opening weekend, ranking sixth at the box office. In the US and Canada it grossed $71,448.

Awards

This film won the David for Best Director, Best Film and Best Producer at the David di Donatello Awards. It also won the Audience Award at the

São Paulo International Film Festival The São Paulo International Film Festival ( pt, Mostra Internacional de Cinema de São Paulo), also known internationally as Mostra, is an annual film festival held in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. A non-profit event, the festival is organized ...

. It was nominated for the

Palme d'Or The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...

at the

1997 Cannes Film Festival The 50th Cannes Film Festival was held from 7 to 18 May 1997. The Palme d'Or was jointly awarded to '' Ta'm e guilass'' by Abbas Kiarostami and ''Unagi'' by Shohei Imamura. Jeanne Moreau was the mistress of ceremonies. The festival opened with ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Truce 1997 films 1997 drama films Italian drama films Films about Jews and Judaism Films about the aftermath of the Holocaust Films based on works by Primo Levi Films set in Poland Films directed by Francesco Rosi Films scored by Luis Bacalov Jews and Judaism in Italy Aftermath of World War II in the Soviet Union 1990s Italian-language films English-language Italian films 1990s English-language films Latin-language films Aftermath of World War II in Poland 1945 in Poland 1945 in the Soviet Union Jewish refugees Italian refugees Displaced persons camps in the aftermath of World War II World War II films based on actual events Eastern Front of World War II films 1997 multilingual films Italian multilingual films