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The truce (La tregua) - John Turturro, Rade Serbedzija, Massimo Ghini, Francesco Rosi

Threat advisory: High - High risk of entertaining activities

Movie propaganda

I would like to believe in something,
something beyond the death that undid you.
I would like to describe the intensity
with which, already overwhelmed,
we longed in those days to be able
to walk together again
free beneath the sun.
Primo Levi, 9 January 1946.

Based on Primo's account of his liberation from Auschwitz and long journey home through a Europe caught between war and peace. The truce is not only an account of hardship and the rediscovering of humanity but of the relief, exuberance and comedy in a momentous journey after the most gruesome period of modern history.

Theatrical propaganda posters

Target demographic movie keyword propaganda

Film Italy Italian World War II Auschwitz return

Persons of interest

John Turturro .... Primo Levi
Rade Serbedzija .... The Greek
Massimo Ghini .... Cesare
Stefano Dionisi .... Daniele
Teco Celio .... Colonel Rovi
Roberto Citran .... Unverdorben
Claudio Bisio .... Ferrari
Andy Luotto .... D'Agata
Agnieszka Wagner .... Galina
Lorenza Indovina .... Flora
Marina Gerasimenko .... Maria Fyodorovna
Igor Bezgin .... Yegorov
Aleksandr Ilyin .... The Mongol
Vyacheslav Olkhovskiy .... Lieutenant Sergei
Anatoli Vasilyev .... Dr Gotlieb
Tatyana Meshcherkina .... Irina
Primo Levi .... Author
Tonino Guerra .... Screenwriter
Sandro Petraglia .... Screenwriter
Stefano Rulli .... Screenwriter
Francesco Rosi .... Screenwriter
Francesco Rosi .... Director

Cinematic intelligence sources

Awards and film festivals:

Cannes 1997: In competition
David di Donatello awards: Best film, best director, best editing

Intelligence analyst

Special Agent Matti

Theatrical report

Food for thought, which was more food than the survivors of World War II lived on.

The truce deals with the very end of the war (beginning with the liberation of Auschwitz by the Red Army) and covers the things we never think to think about. The deprivation of a continent ravaged by human violence, the starvation, the guilt, the incomprehension of crimes against humanity. The rediscovery of one's own existence. A round-about way of saying that the war didn't end on VP Day. Thankfully this film builds on the world's knowledge of the concentration camps, so we aren't overwhelmed with images of emaciated bodies in grey pyjamas.

It's hard to think of a Holocaust movie without imagining lots of violence and bleakness, but that's not what this film is about. The growth of the released prisoners as they struggle through their physical, emotional, and spiritual journeys is enormous, unsurprising given what they've been through, but subtly and well portrayed by the actors. If I have a problem it is that sometimes it's a bit too subtle [That's a problem?! - Director of Intelligence], but overall it's a rewarding watch, especially if you have an interest in human suffering.

It's also good for students of history and art film buffs.

Security censorship classification

M (Adult themes, low level coarse language)

Surveillance time

118 minutes (1:58 hours)

Not for public release in Australia before date

Film: 8 October 1997 - Sydney (special benefit première for the Sydney Jewish Museum)
Film: 16 October 1997 - Melbourne, Sydney
DVD rental: 17 November 2004
VHS rental: 17 November 2004