The Truce

Primo Levi's memoirs of life before, during and after Auschwitz are a literary treasure. With unflinching candor and objectivity, he faced, on the page, huge questions about the human capacity for good and evil. Based on Levi's 1963 book of the same name, director Francesco Rosi's film translates poorly from print. In a series of somewhat confusing vignettes, we follow a beaten John Turturro as Levi after being released from Auschwitz as he is randomly shuttlecocked to other camps and/or hostels around Eastern Europe until the chaos ends. Our protagonist's choices are not his own and he's so numbed by the brutality that it's difficult to tell what choices he'd make if he could. There are a few moving moments here, but by and large, this is like watching the arbitrary perambulations of a sleepwalker in a maze. Not recommended. (K. Allison)