The Destitutes (Gli Sbancati)

Director: Henry Secchiaroli, Writers: Henry Secchiaroli, Ermanno Simoncelli, Production: Hego Film, Distribution in collaboration with Sydonia Entertainment, Language: Italian, Italy, 125′, 126′, 88′, Series: 3 Seasons 8 x 41-48′, 2014-2019, Rights: World 

The trilogy of films The Destitutes 1 (2014, Gli Sbancati 1), The Destitutes 2 (2015, Gli Sbancati 2) and The Destitutes 1944 2019 (Gli Sbancati 1944). In the dialect of Fano (Fanesi).

The Destitutes S01
The Destitutes (Gli Sbancati) is a spoof parody crime series, during the Italian great economic crisis, set in Fano. Luigi Valori is the officer of a local bank in this period of crisis. The bank crisis puts companies and families into such financial difficulty that a group of enemies, belonging to the most disparate social categories of the city, is created around Luigi. One of these is the well- connected, building contractor Piero Felloni,  who has had his bank loans revoked and his family’s assets seized. Seeking revenge, the unfortunate Felloni, exploits the visit by Sheikh Amamen the king of oil- who has arranged to pay a large sum of dollars to a company in Fano- to organize a robbery. Not just any robbery, but…”classy”: entering at night directly into the bank’s underground vault where the oil dollars will be deposited. The bank, where this rich deposit is made, is the same where the much-hated bank official Luigi Valori works. The contractor then, involving some friends with the same economic difficulties and the same hatred for the banker, will organize the coup. Not everything goes according to plan and the gang is in trouble.

 The Destitutes S02
After one year in prison, the gang of The Destitutes is absolved for not committing the crime and is called to report by Sheikh Assad Amamen, owner of the $44 million stolen from the bank. To the amazement of the whole gang, however, Sheikh Amamen offers them a reward to find the stolen dollars and the two shrewd guys who pocketed them instead: Luigi Valori, director of the bank where the robbery took place, and Franco Scopelliti, who first joined the band of The Destitutes for the robbery and then double-crossed them by following Valori’s plan, replacing the real money with fake ones. Thus, the film begins a series of daring and amusing adventures around the province of Pesaro and Urbino in search of the two crooks, the prize: One million dollars each.

The Destitutes 1944 S03
A film divided into two parts, the first part set in 2019 where our protagonists meet for dinner after some time and the succession of some events, drawn by a fine line between irony and surrealism, magically transports them to Fano of 1944 which develops in the second part of the film. A true and dramatic story, therefore, set at the end of the Second World War.
A historical identity, that of the city of Fano, which offers many fascinating stories and anecdotes to tell on the big screen and therefore Hego Film and director Henry Secchiaroli have decided to produce this feature film to bring to light the characters and places they have made the history of the city between dramatic and ironic events. In this episode “Gli sbancati” will go back in time and will find themselves grappling with an important historical event that occurred towards the end of the Second World War and precisely on 21 August 1944 … their task this time will be to change history in an ironic way. of that moment.
As many know, on 21 August 1944, the fleeing Nazis committed one of the most infamous crimes against the culture, art and history of the city of Fano: the demolition of six bell towers, in addition to the monumental eighteenth-century civic tower of Gian Francesco Buonamici, under the order of the German commander Eberhard Fisher.
On July 20, 1944, the bishop of Fano Vincenzo Del Signore, faced with the German threat, establishes any authority, assuming command of the city with great responsibility. So “Gli Sbancati”, after an evening spent in joy recalling the old days and perhaps improperly tasting good wine, sink into the dark to wake up in 1944 … dream or reality we do not say, we leave this task to the spectator! reconstruction of the ancient city bell tower that will involve various historical associations that will help us go back in time.

Hego Film and director Henry Secchiaroli decided to produce this feature film to bring back to light the characters and places that have made the history of the city through dramatic and ironic events.

Henry Secchiaroli is currently shooting Hel, il mio nome è Francesca Mayer, previous films are Stregati dalla Bruna (2016) and Gli sbancati trilogy.

Cast

The actors are all from  the Fanese Theatre Company 

Nicola Anselmi

Simone Diotallevi

Stefano Facchini