Dark shadows of a life spent in crime, light breaking through a difficult path and kindling hope for rebirth. Salvatore Striano's book urges us never to surrender to fate, never to accept that our lives must follow a track already laid down. Everything is possible—even the destiny of a young man, a criminal since childhood, a hothead, a mobster, can be redeemed. He can change utterly.
During his long imprisonment, Sasà, as the author is known and as the book's protagonist, discovers himself in Shakespeare through his love of literature. He feels that Shakespeare speaks of life, hatred, vengeance, love, forgiveness. Theater becomes his redemption, his rebirth, his first taste of freedom before he walks out of prison. "The basest and vilest things, devoid of harmony, love transmutes into dignified and beautiful forms" (A Midsummer Night's Dream).
Striano is now an accomplished actor. He played Brutus in the Taviani brothers' film Caesar Must Die, which won the Golden Bear at Berlin in 2012.
Rita Massi, 2016