• Documentary
• PRIMO LEVI'S JOURNEY

PRIMO LEVI'S JOURNEY

Synopsis

In the winter of 1945, Primo Levi, one of the century's greatest writers, was liberated from the Auschwitz concentration camp. With the war still underway, he embarked on a thousand mile journey to his home in Turin, Italy — a strange, beguiling odyssey memorialized in his book, "The Reawakening." Sixty years later, director Davide Ferrario set out to follow in Levi's footsteps. Retracing his historic trip, the film weaves a path through a modern Europe that has both changed and remained the eerily same — from democratic rallies in the East to neo-Nazi demonstrations in the West. Narrated by Academy Award winning actor Chris Cooper, Primo Levi's Journey is a comic, frightening and picaresque road trip through history.

Special Features

· Interview: Director Davide Ferrario & Screenwriter Marco Belpoliti

Film Reviews

* Official Selection, Toronto International Film Festival, 2007
* Official Selection, Amsterdam Documentary Film Festival, 2007
* Official Selection, Rome International Film Festival, 2007
* Official Selection, London International Film Festival, 2007

"Vividly impressionistic and delightfully curious!" Critic's Pick — Jeannette Catsoulis, The New York Times

"A startling, beautiful movie! A cinematic, socio-political travelogue, whose music is pitch perfect and which would have been an eloquent critique of current-day Europe even without Levi's prescient ruminations. With them, the film achieves sublimity." — John Anderson, New York Newsday

"An extraordinary odyssey! A profound meditation on the unevenness of history, reminding us - as Faulkner once remarked - that the past not only isn't dead, it isn't really past at all." — Andrew O'Hehir, Salon

"An illuminating documentary! — Mark Holcomb, Time Out New York

"Primo Levi's Journey makes a strong impression as a portrait of the halting economic and political transformation of today's Eastern Europe. Recommended." - Video Librarian

"A surprisingly uplifting and beautifully mesmerizing documentary! The best documentaries are the most personal, and that's what Ferrario has accomplished with Primo Levi's Journey. Instead of simply recounting what Levi experienced, Ferrario creates a new chapter in Levi's legacy, one worthy of the great Italian writer's work and experiences." — Steve Ramos, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel

"A haunting portrait of how Europe - and the world in general - is still contending with the complicated legacy of twentieth-century conflict. An engaging conversation piece." — Bilge Ebiri, New York Magazine

"Eloquent! In considerable measure, Primo Levi's Journey succeeds." — Stanley Kauffman, The New Republic

"A gently moving vision of people and lands struggling to reconcile the past with an uncertain present." — Jay Weissberg, Variety

"Ferrario, by creating a new narrative just as Levi did, shares common ground with the chemist-memoirist. He tells a modern version of Levi's tale that is sure to appeal to modern audiences.... Compelling!" — Menachem Wecker, Jewish Press

"For filmgoers who value something fresh and original on the big screen, the documentary delivers." — Doris Toumarkine, Film Journal International

"Illuminating! A work of poetic inquiry. Recalling the technique pioneered by Claude Lanzmann in Shoah, Ferrario supplants representation. He avoids the standard route of stills and archival footage as easy conduits to stepping back in time. The historical significance, put in specific context, establishes a stronger sense of meaning than any preexisting material." — Erik Kohn, New York Press

"Fascinating! A haunting and idiosyncratic documentary." — Miriam Rinn, Jewish Standard