Yabahonda

Yes, there are inconsistencies as other User Reviewers pointed it out, nevertheless the movie holds your attention and the main characters are well drawn. The complexities of the main female character are particularly interesting and touching. The first impression that she is a slovenly drug dependent slut is gradually replaced with the realization that she is capable of tender feelings and caring.

If near recent life in a school and life in rural Alabama is depicted accurately in this film, then we have all something to worry about. Actually I found this possibility (perhaps probability) more depressing than the tragic story line which is depressing enough.

My grown-up kids keep objecting to my taste for foreign, French and Italian movies, in particular. I keep telling them that main stream Hollywood movies are rarely subtle... they hit you on the head on all fronts, visual and musical etc. etc. A good example of that is Photo. It is not a bad film but after the first 10 minutes you know where it is heading and from there on there is no escaping the stock characters, the stock situations and the stock explanations. Too bad because there is good acting and clever sets. Also, the last minute redeems the movie a tad because the ending, while using a rather hackneyed explanation for the hero's behavior still leaves us puzzled as to what the final resolution of this story is. This is not a bad thing as it gives the viewers further entertainment and mind stretching as they write their own scenarios after the curtain has fallen and the movie is discussed over coffee....

As a concentration camp survivor I can confirm the factual accuracy of Primo's depiction of camp life under the Nazis. This production however is much more than that, it is also a reaffirmation of the ultimate supremacy of humanity at its best, over the banality of evil at its worst.

I thought that I'll be bored listening to a monologue lasting close to 90 minutes. Far from it! It is moving and riveting from beginning to end. Furthermore, it is more than a monologue. Simple but powerful special effects and gorgeous cello music accompaniment rounds out Anthony Sher's superb acting as Primo Levi, our raconteur from hell.