Toto Riina – Il Capo dei Capi

toto riina mafia corleoneWell, he finally died then, one day after is 87th birthday, in his prison cell where he lived since his capture in 1993. Sentenced for life 26 times he wasn’t ever going to be free again. Salvatore Riina, better known as Totò Riina or il capo dei capi, the boss of the bosses. Riina was responsible for the torture aand murder of uncountable people. His most famous deed, the one that degusted the whole of Italy was the murder of Falcone and Borsellino. The killing of the two most important antimafia men in 1992 finally did him in. How did a simple boy from a small town in the countryside of Sicily, Corleone, manage to become the most feared man of Italy?

capo dei capi mafia riinaIl Capo dei Capi – Riina the mafia boss of all bosses

To understand that you should watch the horrible and fascinating tv-biography “Il Capo dei Capi” of 10 years ago. The tv-series tells the story of a truly ruthless man who always was one step ahead of his ennemies. He always did the unthinkable, the one thing that his counterparts could not imagine anyone doing. His brutality was limitless. The Palermo clan that was in power since forever was a kind of gentlemen’s club. It’s members did not shy away from violence or murder even, but did act according to a set of rules. Their mafia was akind of brotherhood and they thought themselves to be good christians!

Not so for Riina, he could not care less about rules and codes of conduct. Effectivity was his religion, only those deeds that resulted in achieving the goal were good deeds. The tv-series does a very good job in showing how the Palermo clan was completely overwhelmed and put aside (=killed) by the ‘Beast’ Riina. His successor Bernardo Provenzano was captured 10 years ago and is still in prison.

The role of Totò is interpreted magnificently by Claudio Gioé, known from his part in the success series Il meglio gioventù. Highly recommended!

The series can be bought as a dvd but is also available on YouTube.

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