The Truce (La tregua)

Francesco Rosi directed La tregua (The Truce), a 1997 drama and war film. It is adapted from Primo Levi's autobiographical account of the same name, a book that won the Campiello Prize. Shot in Italian, the film runs about 125 minutes and is known as Rosi's last film. John Turturro stars.

The film recounts Levi's journey back to Italy in 1945, after the Red Army liberated the Auschwitz concentration camp at the end of the Second World War. The survivor crosses a devastated Europe by a long and winding route, meeting others who have come out of the camps, and the journey becomes an inner recovery as much as a physical return. Alongside Turturro the cast includes Massimo Ghini, Rade Šerbedžija, Claudio Bisio, Andy Luotto, Teco Celio, Stefano Dionisi, Franco Trevisi, Roberto Citran and Lorenza Indovina.

Rosi wrote the screenplay with Stefano Rulli and Sandro Petraglia, and Tonino Guerra prepared the story treatment. The co-production between Italy, France and Germany, with Switzerland also named among its partners, filmed in Turin and Ukraine. Capitol Films and 3 Emme Cinematografica are among the production companies. The film was part of the official selection at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival and won the David di Donatello awards for Best Film and Best Director.