Primo Levi’s Journey

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 eerily the 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, picaresque road trip through history.

Narrated by Academy Award-winner Chris Cooper

“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! The overall effect is loose, lively and imbued with Levi’s artful candor.” – Mark Holcomb, TIME OUT NEW YORK

“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

“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

“Sobering…. a convincing picture of a Europe not nearly as changed as it might be.” – George Robinson, JEWISH WEEK

“FASCINATING! A haunting and idiosyncratic documentary.” – Miriam Rinn, JEWISH STANDARD

“At times one closes his eyes and gets the impression that Sr. Levi himself is directing the action, as his splendidly translated poetic words capture the equally mournful and delightful experience of European travel the hard way. Chris Cooper’s narration is warm and sympathetic.” – Harvey Karten, COMPUSERVE

“These twin-views see the past advancing, even as the present retreats, until yesterday's wanderers, yesterday's victims, start to fuse with today's. As they do, we're made to realize how much the world has changed - and, more poignantly, how much it has not.” – GLOBE AND MAIL

“A moving documentary.” – Toronto Sun