Barberia Maggio
LIM
Barberia Maggio
Along Strata Granni, the main thoroughfare of Sambuca - now Corso Umberto I - stands the historic Barberia Maggio: a place from post-war Sicily immortalized in the cinematic narrative of Palermo-born director Pasquale Scimeca, inspired by the banditry of Sambuca: "Briganti di Zabut".
Scimeca and his film: "Briganti di Zabut"
In 1997, Scimeca, considered "the realist of Sicilian directors," began filming "Briganti di Zabut," a dramatic film set in the late 1930s. The movie was shot in Sicily in the Belìce Valley, among the ruins and countryside of Santa Margherita di Belice, Termini Imerese, and Sambuca di Sicilia. The film received recognition as a work "of National Cultural Interest" from the Department of Entertainment of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers.
The film, set in Fascist-era Sicily, tells the story of Peppe Manzella, a poor farm laborer who lives with his wife in the town of Zabut. One winter evening in 1937, he writes a letter on behalf of a beggar, but the podestà intercepts it and exiles him to the island of Favignana. After the war, in the summer of 1943, Peppe returns home to find Zabut in the grip of a peasant revolt: the peasants are claiming ownership of the uncultivated lands, clashing with the feudal lords and the Mafia. In a shootout between a group of young men and the carabinieri, he kills the former podestà who had sent him into exile and goes into hiding. With Manuele, Triolo, mastro Pidduzzo, and other comrades, he forms a band with the aim of robbing the rich and fighting the Mafia, which persecutes the poor peasants. By the end of the summer, things take a turn for the worse: the Mafia and the carabinieri launch a relentless manhunt against the band. First, Manuele is killed, then Triolo. All the others are wounded and captured in a gunfight at the outskirts of the town.
Zabut, place of stories of brigandage and peasant struggles
"The story of 'Briganti di Zabut' came into my life during a period of crisis," says Scimeca, "when I was preparing my thesis on the reconstruction of the labor movement in Sicily. While browsing through the newspapers of the time, I was not interested in the strictly historical data but in the crime reports. The last thing I read before abandoning my research was an article about a gang of brigands from Sambuca and their trial. This episode became a part of me, and after many years, I felt the need to revisit those places and events." Alongside the lead actors, Franco Scaldati and Antonio Albanese, many citizens of Sambuca also participated. The film benefited from the consultation of Giuseppe Alfano, a member of the gang sentenced to twenty years in prison, who concludes the film with a touching testimony. The film was screened in front of the Sambuca community on August 25, 1997, in Piazza Vittoria, eliciting great emotion among the citizens, who witnessed the cinematic recounting of a piece of their history.
The birth of the film in the director's words and community involvement
The cycle of the Defeated by Scimeca and the opinions of the critique
On October 11, 1997, Roberto Nepoti wrote in the newspaper 'La Repubblica': "Scimeca continues his cycle of the defeated ('Il giorno di San Sebastiano') combining political consciousness with the timelessness of myth: to put it in a nutshell, somewhere between Rosi's 'Salvatore Giuliano' and Cimino's 'The Sicilian'. He uses beautiful wide shots, prolongs the shots, is didactic, but also knows how to tell us a touching second-story of impossible love between a little soldier and a small prostitute. At the beginning, quoting Pasolini, the screenwriter-director asks himself: 'But why create a work when it's so beautiful just to dream it?'. No, Scimeca: 'Briganti di Zabut', you did well to actually make it."
Barberia Maggio among the Places of Identity and Memory (LIM)
The Barberia Maggio has been included by the Sicily Region among the LIM (Places of Identity and Memory) in the section dedicated to Places of Literary, Television, and Film Narratives: physical spaces described in literary works or used as settings for renowned film or television productions, which have contributed to reaffirming and promoting the cultural identity of Sicilian landscapes. This is an invaluable heritage and the subject of a valorization project, offering an opportunity to define the development strategies for the community that hosts these places.