original title:
Benur - Un gladiatore in affitto
directed by:
cast:
screenplay:
from his theatre play
cinematography:
editing:
set design:
costume design:
music:
producer:
production:
Combo Produzioni, supported by Ministero della Cultura, Rai Cinema
distribution:
world sales:
country:
Italy
year:
2012
film run:
90'
format:
35mm - colour
release date:
02/05/2013
festivals & awards:
Sergio, a former cinema stuntman who had an accident on the set of an American film, makes ends meet by doing what he can through imaginative odd-jobs, like playing a Centurion at the Coliseum, while his sister Maria, with whom he shares an apartment, ‘works’ from home for an erotic hot-line. Two lives adrift, until one day an illegal immigrant from Belarus overturns their existence.
In order to work, Milan is willing to become Sergio’s “slave”, substituting him in the role of “Centurion” at the Coliseum. The enterprising immigrant soon becomes an idol for tourists since to beat the competition, Milan, who is an engineer in his own country, builds a chariot like the one in the film “Ben Hur”, a great tourist attraction.
The extraordinary encounter turns out to be a lucrative enterprise for Sergio and an improbable love affair for Maria, with consequences as desperate as they are comical.