Contraband

Contraband (original title: Luca il contrabbandiere) is a 1980 Italian poliziottesco directed by Lucio Fulci. Set in Naples, it centres on Luca Di Angelo (Fabio Testi), who smuggles cigarettes with speedboats alongside his brother and enjoys a comfortable life from the trade. After a consignment is lost, his brother is murdered before his eyes and the city's other smugglers are systematically eliminated. Luca soon discovers that a ruthless newcomer known as 'the Frenchman' intends to bring drugs into Naples and will stop at nothing, including wiping out anyone who stands in his way. A violent confrontation between the two sides becomes inevitable. The film pits Fabio Testi against Marcel Bozzuffi and is notorious for its explicit violence, which led to it being confiscated in Germany until 2018. During production, the budget ran out in the second week of a ten-week shoot, and real Neapolitan smugglers stepped in with funding, even influencing the story and the title.