Auteur archieven: Jeppe Kleijngeld

The Verdict: Wise Guy: David Chase and The Sopranos

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

As a devoted fan of The Sopranos – my all-time favorite show – I thought there wasn’t much left for me to discover. But HBO’s new two part documentary Wise Guy: David Chase and The Sopranos offers fresh insight, focusing primarily on the mastermind behind the series, David Chase (1945), especially in its first half. Chase is a compelling figure: intelligent, introspective, and a natural storyteller. Director Alex Gibney (Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room) places Chase in a metaphorical psychiatrist’s chair, allowing him to speak candidly about his upbringing, his eccentric mother, dreams, death, and how these themes shaped The Sopranos. Chase recalls his time in college down south, which he disliked, though he was exposed to European cinema by directors like Godard, Bergman, and Fellini. “I saw 8½, and I don’t think I understood it, but it blew my mind”, he reflects. This experience ignited his desire to become a filmmaker, leading him to study at Stanford’s film school. The documentary even shows part of his student film – a gangster story with an attempted Godard flair, which is amusing in its ambition. While Chase’s destiny wasn’t in film directing, he found his calling in television. He worked on successful shows like The Rockford Files and Northern Exposure, but his true breakthrough came when HBO greenlit The Sopranos in 1998. The series became a cultural phenomenon, and Chase infused it with deeply personal elements, including therapy sessions and his tumultuous relationship with his mother. Other talented writers like Robin Green and Terence Winter also contributed significantly to the show’s depth. In The Offer, a recent series about the making of The Godfather, we learn that Coppola saw the film as a commentary on capitalism. Similarly, The Sopranos carries an underlying critique of America’s decline. As Chase puts it, “Americans have gotten so materialistic and selfish that it made a mob boss sick.” That vision, combined with Chase’s storytelling genius, is part of what makes The Sopranos so enduringly powerful.

Wise Guy: David Chase and The Sopranos is now available on HBO Max

The verdict: to stream or not to stream? To stream (especially Part 1)

Double Bill #11: The Truman Show & The Matrix

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

Two masterpieces from the late ’90s, The Truman Show (1998) and The Matrix (1999), both revolve around protagonists who discover they’ve been living in an artificial reality. In The Truman Show, Truman Burbank (Jim Carrey) realizes that his entire life has been a carefully orchestrated television show, where everyone around him – his wife, parents, and best friend – is merely an actor. Similarly, in The Matrix, Neo (Keanu Reeves) learns that humanity is trapped in a simulated reality controlled by artificial intelligence, with people’s minds imprisoned while their bodies serve as mere power sources. In Truman’s case, the man behind his imprisonment is Christof (brilliantly portrayed by Ed Harris), a visionary television producer who will stop at nothing to maintain control over Truman’s life, ensuring the continued success of his wildly successful show. Neo, on the other hand, faces a more intangible and insidious enemy, namely rogue artificial intelligence. In the first film, this AI is represented through sinister agents, with Hugo Weaving delivering an unforgettable performance as Agent Smith. Both films captivate as they depict the journey of discovery – watching Truman and Neo slowly unravel the truth about their worlds is nothing short of enthralling. The moment of revelation in each film remains awe-inspiring, evoking goosebumps even after repeated viewings. Truman’s world, we learn, is enclosed in an enormous dome, a massive set visible from space, while Neo’s reality reveals him as a human battery in a sprawling field of organic towers, where infants are cultivated as power sources for the AI’s machinery. Interestingly, both films imbue the protagonists’ names with deeper significance. Truman is the only ‘true man’ in his artificial world, while Neo is an anagram of ‘ONE’, symbolizing his status as the singular anomaly within the Matrix, with the potential to bend its rules. Neo’s discovery of his unique abilities leads to some of the most iconic moments in cinematic history. In the end, both The Truman Show and The Matrix conclude with their heroes breaking free from their respective confinements, delivering an exhilarating sense of liberation. It’s a triumphant and cathartic experience for the audience, as well – leaving us with the best feeling in the world.

Read also: The Matrix And The Awakening To True Reality

Dungeon Classics #34: Dark City

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

FilmDungeon’s Chief Editor JK sorts through the Dungeon’s DVD-collection to look for old cult favorites….

Dark City (1998, Australia, USA)

Director: Alex Proyas
Cast: Rufus Sewell, Kiefer Sutherland, Jennifer Connelly
Running Time: 100 mins.

A man with memory loss is being hunted by both the police and a group of scary looking bald guys. The police suspect him of murdering prostitutes, and the bald men want him for the special gift he appears to possess: the ability to alter reality with his mind. Slowly, the man begins to unravel the frightening truth about the dark city he lives in and the creatures who govern it, creatures who – like him – are able to ‘tune’ and change this world at will. Alex Proyas (The Crow) has directed a very atmospheric and fascinating film that looks beautiful. It preceded The Matrix by a year, which has a similar mind bending plot, a surprise revelation half way, and a chosen one with special powers. But it is still distinct in many ways. The Matrix is very much a sci-fi action film, while Dark City is closer to a film noir detective movie. It features great performances by lead man Rufus Sewell, a sniffling Kiefer Sutherland, an engaging Jennifer Connelly, and a sympathetic William Hurt. It also features impressive special effects for what doesn’t feel like a mainstream film at all. Highly recommended.