Remember When: The Sopranos’ Best Moments (2)

Posted on 7 december 2025 by Jeppe Kleijngeld

Remember when in Covid times, I published the Top 100 of the most memorable moments from The Sopranos? I was going through my FilmDungeon archives the other day and found a number of great scenes that didn’t make the cut to that memorable feature. The Sopranos is so brilliant that even when you rate the best top 100 moments, there are easily a hundred more. So hereby the best moments from the show that the previous feature didn’t include:

Ungrateful

Episode: Full Leather Jacket (SE2, EP8)
Characters: Carmela, Richie, Polish maid and husband

That look on Richie’s face when he sees his leather jacket on the husband of Tony’s Polish maid, who has come to pick up a TV set (“in Poland he was a mechanical engineer”). Richie had given the jacket to Tony to make good for the problems between them. He was real proud of it too, since he’d taken it off Rocco DiMeo, the cocksucker with the toughest reputation in Essex County. And now, in the blink of an eye, it’s all washed down the fucking toilet.

Law Enforcement

Episode: The Knight in White Satin Armor (SE2, EP12)
Characters: Pussy, Christopher, Tommy Mack and 7/11 Clerk

Pussy’s dilemma about betraying his friends is over. Now he’s suffering from Stockholm syndrome; he thinks he’s an FBI agent. Despite his FBI contact telling him not to, he follows Christopher and an associate who are out to rob a shipment of Pokémon cards, all the while talking into a walkie-talkie like he’s in Jake and the Fatman. But he malfunctions behind the wheel, hitting a 7/11 clerk before bumping into a parked car. The central message here is that Pussy has gone truly delusional.

The Deer Hunter

Episode: Pine Barrens (SE3, EP11)
Characters: Paulie and Christopher

In Pine Barrens, Paulie and Christopher are like the Mafia’s Cheech and Chong. In this sequence, Paulie loses his shoe and Christopher shoots a deer in a pathetic attempt to kill the Russian they lost. “Four years in the army, kid”, Paulie told Christopher a little earlier. Well, it shows.

Vipers

Episode: The Ride (SE6, EP9)
Characters: Tony, Christopher and bikers

Thrillseekers Tony and Christopher have an old school bandit experience when they rob a few crates of wine from a bunch of bikers (the Vipers), who are stealing it from a store. It ends up in a shoot-out and Christopher manages to shoot one of the bikers. You can feel the sensation of the moment, which is the whole point of this episode, called The Ride. Yiiiiyyyaaaa!!!!!!

There Has Been an Accident…

Episode: Kennedy and Heidi (SE6, EP18)
Characters: Tony and Carmela

Some of the greatest acting in The Sopranos comes from Edie Falco in this scene, in which Tony calls Carmela to tell her Christopher is dead. She really makes the pain and the shock so very tangible. A terribly realistic and heartfelt scene. This is dramatic television at its best.

Die Hard

Episode: Mayham (SE6, EP3)
Characters: Paulie Gualtieri, Cary DiBartolo and Colombian drug dealers

Paulie Walnuts shows us why he is one of the heaviest hitters in Tony’s crew. During a drug warehouse burglary, he and an associate take out three Colombians. Paulie sticks a knife in one as if it’s a daily routine. He does take some damage though; a knee in the testicles. But it’s worth it since they walk away with close to a million bucks.

Curto Rats!

Episode: Proshai Livushka (SE3, EP2)
Characters: Raymond Curto and FBI-man

Pussy’s body hasn’t sunk to the bottom of the ocean yet, or a new FBI-rat is revealed. This time it’s senior mobster Raymond Curto. The Sopranos is full of surprises. It has already been said many times in this series; mobsters don’t have room for the penal experience anymore, so they turn government witness. One out of every five guys is a rat, according to Tony. Curto appeared old school, but he’s singing to the feds anyway; a true soprano this one. He even seems to do his side job with much enthusiasm.

Curto Dies!

Episode: Members Only (SE6, EP1)
Characters: Raymond Curto and Agent Robyn Sanseverino

Right after Tony cries that he can’t catch a lucky break, he catches one without even knowing it. Raymond Curto, who was revealed to be a snitch in Season 3, dies of a heart attack in his FBI contact’s car. This is one of these great Sopranos surprises; Curto was the last known rat the feds had, so it could definitely be expected that he would play a major role in the final season as a threat to Tony. But no, the writers always go for the unexpected and succeed.

Mr. Brownstone

Episode: The Ride (SE6, EP9)
Characters: Christopher, Corky Caporale and stray dog

When Christopher meets his doped-up buddy Corky Caporale to pay him for the hit on Rusty Millio, he relapses and shoots some skag. He then spends the night completely high with a stray dog. The song ‘The Dolphins’ by folk artist Fred Neil that plays throughout the sequence is perfect.

Tracy and Hepburn

Episode: Whitecaps (SE4, EP13)
Characters: Carmela and Tony

In their second major confrontation in Whitecaps, long-buried grievances resurface, as so often happens in a marital crisis. Tony reminds Carmela of the time she told him he was going to hell while he was awaiting his first MRI. Carmela fires back by confessing that she was in love with Furio, prompting Tony to punch a hole in the wall. He retaliates by saying he was drawn to Svetlana because she had ‘substance’, and he mocks Carmela with a pointed ‘poor you’, echoing Livia’s old refrain. Tony is unmistakably the crueler party in this exchange, and it’s hard not to feel some sympathy for Carmela. Yet she, too, has spent years refusing to see the truth. Tony has never really changed; he simply concealed his worst instincts behind a veneer of roguish charm. Now, that veneer has worn thin, and everything is more transparent than ever.

Splitting Enemies

Episode: The Knight in White Satin Armor (SE2, EP12)
Characters: Junior, Bobby, Richie and Jackie Jr.

He may be old, but Junior is still a strategic expert. When Richie comes to tell him that Ally Boy Barese is out in setting up a hit on Tony, he acts all disappointed. But as soon Richie is gone he weighs his long term interests. “The loser. He couldn’t fucking sell it. He’s not respected. We’re better off with Tony.” Since Junior wanted to whack Tony himself in the previous season, this wasn’t the expected outcome. That’s the thing with these wiseguys; you never know who is gonna get whacked next, but once they make up their minds, it’s gonna happen really fast.

Call Me Superstitious

Episode: Made in America (SE6, EP21)
Characters: Tony and Paulie

After a dark sixth season, it is nice to see the series return to its lighter roots in the finale. Paulie and Tony talk about superstition, which is always an entertaining subject between the two of them. The cat adds to the fun. It is also a bizarre sight to see these guys sitting outside Satriale’s with nothing but empty chairs. The place used to be crowded with mobsters. Now Paulie and Tony are basically the only old school guys left. Strange.

Living on a Thin Line

Episode: University (SE3, EP6)
Characters: Ralphie and Tracee

In the list, the ups and downers all come by and this is a definite downer, like the entire – terrible – episode University. It gives us insight into the dark lives of Bada Bing strippers; having to give blow jobs to horrible men, pieces of shit like Ralphie. Tracee, who’s pregnant with his baby, makes a mistake here and hits Ralph, who’s high on blow and a major psycho to begin with. He then begins to beat poor Tracee to death. It is horrible to watch, but this is the type of people these wiseguys are. This was made clear many times before, but in this scene you really get it in your face. It’s very, very ugly.

Crushed

Episode: Made in America (SE6, EP21)
Characters: Phil & Patty Leotardo, their grandkids, Walden Belfiore and Bystanders

New Jersey defeats New York on one single blow. Phil’s death reminds of a scene straight out of Six Feet Under. His head gets crushed under the wheel of his own SUV after having been popped in the head by young associate Walden Belfiore. He had it coming with his constant complaining. This is the final kill in the series. One of Tony’s worst antagonists is no more.

A Little Pain

Episode: Long Term Parking (SE5, EP12)
Characters: Tony and Christopher

After Adriana’s death, Christopher is watching ¡Three Amigos!. He admits to Tony that he snored a little H because he couldn’t handle the pain. He really loved her, he says. Tony is tired of his bullshit and kicks the living hell out of him. A grim ending of the Adriana story thread.

Three O’Clock High

Episode: From Where to Eternity (SE2, EP9)
Characters: Christopher and Paulie

In this episode, Christopher had a near death experience and visited hell. Over there, he got a message from Mikey Palmice for Paulie and Tony; three o’clock. Now, is this for real or was Chrissy just high on morphine? Tony thinks it’s the second option, but Paulie is freaked out by the whole thing. In this scene he is convincing Christopher, or actually himself, that Chris did not visit hell, but only purgatory. “Just a little detour on our way to paradise.” This might give Christopher a little piece of mind, but certainly not Paulie.

Class of 2004

Episode: Two Tonys (SE5, EP1)
Characters: Tony, Janice, Bobby and Sophie

Tony and Bobby are watching a news item. What better way to start a new season of a mob show than to introduce four new Mafia characters who are about to be released from prison? Even better; the four characters are all portrayed by great actors that earned their stripes in gangster films. Steve Buscemi plays Tony Blundetto, Frank Vincent is Phil Leotardo, Joe Santos portrays Angelo Garepe and last but not least; Robert Loggia plays Michele ‘Feech’ La Manna. This promises to be another awesome season.

Fried Chicken

Episode: Members Only (SE6, EP1)
Characters: Eugene Pontecorvo and Teddy Spirodakis

Eugene Pontecorvo wants to retire from the mob, but in the Mafia, there is no such thing as retirement. In an attempt to please the bosses, Eugene whacks a gambler in Boston for not paying his gambling debts. In the end, this pretty brutal murder gains him nothing; just another bad deed for a soldier in the mob, for whom there eventually is only one way out…

Crime and Punishment

Episode: Watching To Much Television (SE4, EP7)
Characters: Tony, Irina and Ronald Zellman

Never mess with the former goomar of a mob boss, even if it’s been years since their break-up. The corrupt assemblyman Ronnie Zellman already had a feeling he would get punished this episode, he told his equally corrupt business partner earlier. His feelings prove to be correct in this hard-to-watch scene. Tony gives him a truly humiliating beating with a belt. It may be for entirely the wrong reason, but he definitely had it coming.

Safe House

Episode: The Blue Comet (SE6, EP20)
Characters: Tony, Paulie, Carlo, Silvio (cardboard version), Dante ‘Buddha’ Greco and Walden Belfiore

The perfect ending to a perfect episode. These makers sure know how to set the mood. Tony in that room with the machine gun Bobby gave him for his birthday is both unsettling and tense. Perfect set-up for the final episode Made in America. How is this gonna end?

The Contract

Episode: The Weight (SE4, EP4)
Characters: Silvio, Christopher, Lou ‘DiMaggio’ Galina, Frank Crisci, Chris Galina and Rose Galina

Lou DiMaggio and the Atwell Avenue Boys. That is where Silvio and Christopher are sent to put out a hit on Johnny Sack. The old hounds are already introduced through a frightening story by Uncle Junior (the DiMaggio legend). Their appearance, some weird chromosome dysfunction around their eyes, makes them all the more creepy. Interesting detail: Richard Bright who played Al Neri in The Godfather is one of the hitmen in this scene.

The Happy Wanderer

Episode: The Happy Wanderer (SE2, EP6)
Characters: Tony and Dr. Melfi

This session is something of a sequel to ‘The Strong Silent Type’ in Season 1. Now the theme is ‘The Happy Wanderer’. Tony feels like a loser despite having the world by the balls. He resents Melfi for making him feel like a victim, yet he admires the Gary Cooper type. So now he wants to smash her face into hamburger like all the clear-headed types he sees walking down the street. She once again explains the realities to him: his parents made it impossible for him to experience joy. So now he has no choice but to join the rest of the douchebags in therapy.

Blackmail

Episode: Sentimental Education (SE5, EP6)
Characters: Carmela and Robert Wegler

Carmela finds out what being married to the mob really means when her new boyfriend Mr. Wegler accuses her of “strong-arming him with pussy”. The way he says it is way out of line, but the point he makes is not so strange. She is used to getting what she wants…

Pimping Out Ralphie

Episode: Christopher (SE4, EP3)
Characters: Ralphie and Janice

We already sat through Richie making love to Janice at gunpoint in Season 2. Two seasons later Janice is dating another major creep; Ralphie (brilliantly played by Joe Pantaliono). David Chase decided it was time to throw another disturbing image at us; Janice making love with Ralphie from behind using a vibrator. “How much did you make today, slut? Only three hundred? I’ll put you back on the street, ho. Make you work that ass.”

Crazy Horse Murder

Episode: Long Term Parking (SE5, EP12)
Characters: Matush, Kamal, Gilbert Nieves and Adriana

The Sopranos goes CSI. The entire episode Long Term Parking is filled with memorable moments and this is one of them. A highly realistic murder in The Crazy Horse over a drug dispute. Ironically, this stabbing turns out not only to be fatal for the victim Gilbert Nieves, but for Adriana as well.

Make-up Sex

Episode: From Where to Eternity (SE2, EP9)
Characters: Tony and Carmela

It has been a rough time for Tony and Carmela’s marriage. He has been cheating on her and she wants him to have a vasectomy (snip snip) to prevent his goomar becoming pregnant. God forbid, Tony should have a bastard child. After giving her a hard time, he agrees, but Carm has changed her mind. She may want a third kid… Tony and Carm make love for the first time in the series and it’s the perfect ending to a great episode. Otis Redding provides the soundtrack.

Use Your Head

Episode: Whoever Did This (SE4, EP9)
Characters: Tony, Christopher and Ralphie

In the episode Whoever Did This, the series briefly turns into a horror film, when Tony and Chris put Ralphie’s head and hands in a bowling bag. This could be a scene from American Psycho or The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Very chilling stuff.

1184

Episode: Two Tonys (SE5, EP1)
Characters: Tony, Paulie, Christopher, Silvio, Carlo Gervasi, Johnny Sack and Raymond Curto

“Jesus, I’m stuffed. I can’t remember the last time I ate this much.” The boys are out for dinner and the newly made guy Christopher has to pick up the tab. It’s the reason for another fight between Christopher and Paulie, who likes to rub it in. “My friend here would like the check. Hehehehe 1184. I gotta play that number.” Later in the evening, they make up by whacking the waiter together. Now that’s bonding between friends.

Big Mouth Billy Bass

Episode: “To Save Us All From Satan’s Power” (SE3, EP10)
Characters: Tony, Carmela, A.J. and Meadow

Tony gets the perfect Christmas present from Meadow; a Big Mouth Billy Bass. This is a singing fish that sings; ‘Take Me To The River’ from Al Green. This thing freaked Tony out before and the same thing happens now. All episode long, Tony has been dealing with guilt over killing Pussy – who was singing to the feds – and this is the perfect reminder of his deeds. He earned it. Pussy the Fish will continue to haunt him forever.

Return of the Legend

Episode: Two Tonys (SE5, EP1)
Characters: Tony, Feech La Manna, Bobby and Junior

“You know what’s the biggest change for me? Broads shaving their bushes. I went over to Silvio’s; it’s like the girl scouts over there.” Feech La Manna, the legendary mobster who we have heard about before, is back! He is portrayed with great intensity by Robert Loggia. What an eyebrows, what a voice. There are lots of wisecracks and jokes in this scene. There is also immediate tension between Tony and Feech which promises trouble for the season to come.

Rat Trap

Episode: I Dream of Jeannie Cusamano (SE1, EP13)
Characters: Christopher, Silvio and Jimmie Altieri

Lovers of the violence in this series will appreciate this whacking. Mob informant Jimmie Altieri is lured into a trap by Chrissy and shot through his head by Silvio. His brains are splattered all over the wall. A civilian later finds him with a rat in his mouth.

Acting Boss

Episode: Mayham (SE6, EP3)
Characters: Silvio and Gabriella Dante

With Tony in the hospital, Silvio steps up as acting boss. ‘Acting boss’ is the appropriate title. Silvio is acting like boss, but does he feel it? While his wife flatters him, Sil remains level headed. He’s better as number two. Strategy. Advice. This is the first time we really see Silvio in the dynamics of his own household and it’s an entertaining look. His wife keeps on tempting him to fill the void Tony will leave when – god forbids – he dies. She is thinking about a bigger pay day as well. Silvio tells her he was considered as boss in the past, but it wasn’t for him. Still, he wouldn’t sneeze on it, would he?

True Friendship

Episode: All Happy Families (SE5, EP4)
Characters: Tony, Paulie, Vito, Silvio, Tony Blundetto, Feech La Manna and other gamblers

“What do you get when you cross an accountant and a giant jet airplane? A boring 747.” After a remark by Carmela about the truthfulness of his friends, Tony observes them more closely and guess what? They laugh a little too hard at his not-that-great accountant-joke. That slow-motion shot of these laughing faces is genius.

Tony’s Analysis

Episode: Stage 5 (SE6, EP14)
Characters: Tony and Dr. Melfi

Tony is genuinely hurt about Christopher’s portrayal of him in Cleaver. “After all I did for this kid, he thinks I’m some asshole bully.”
The relationship between Tony and Chris is going down the hill even further than it already was.
“Is it possible you are reading into this too much?”, asks Dr. Melfi.
Tony: “I’ve been coming here for years. I know too much of the subconscious now.”

Silent Treatment

Episode: He is Risen (SE3, EP8)
Characters: Tony, Ralphie, Christopher and Paulie

Tony shows his managerial excellence once again. On advice of Dr. Melfi, he read ‘The Art of War’ by Sun Tzu and finds it very useful in his daily gangster management. When Ralph Cifaretto becomes a problem, Tony puts the strategic lessons from the book into practice. ‘Annoy your enemies’, is the approach in this scene. Ralphie comes to apologize for “disrespecting the Bing and the girl’. Tony lets him crawl. He hardly says anything and doesn’t even let Ralphie sit down. When Ralph makes his apologies, all he says is; “anything else?” Even though Ralph is a bastard, this scene is hard to watch.

Warning: Danger!

Episode: Irregular Around the Margins (SE5, EP5)
Characters: Tony and Adriana

‘Danger’ is all over this scene. Tony is about to have sex with Christopher’s fiancée which would be a disaster relationship wise. The discussion between the two is about Adriana’s secret FBI friend Daniele. On top of that, there is the physical danger: Tony swerves to avoid a raccoon on the road and flips his SUV on its driver’s side. The beauty of this incident is that you immediately start to worry. What will they all think of this? Will they think….? Yes, they will soon after.

Blind Spot

Episode: The Ride (SE6, EP9)
Characters: Carmela and Liz La Cerva

“Carmela Soprano, how’s your daughter?”, begins Adriana’s mother Liz when she meets Carmela at the annual feast of Elzéar of Sabran. Then after Carmela’s “Fine”, she says: “well, mine is dead.” Goosebumps. Carmela is faced – again – with Adriana’s faith, but she just doesn’t see it. In Season 6 she completely accepted her faith as, what series creator David Chase calls: housewife-whore.

An Unfriendly Drink

Episode: Walk Like a Man (SE6, EP17)
Characters: Christopher, Paulie, Tony, Patsy, Bobby, Silvio, Carlo, Walden Belfiore, Jason Molinaro, Dante ‘Buddha’ Greco, Benny Fazio and Anthony Maffei

“To good times”. The way things are brewing now they will be over soon. Chris has a few drinks too many with Paulie to make up for the feud they recently had. Then he has to take a whole lot of insults that even include his daughter. Everybody laughs at Christopher, including the diabolical Tony. Chris seems to take it well, surprisingly enough. But under the surface things are happening that aren’t so healthy.

Forced Retirement

Episode: The Test Dream (SE5, EP11)
Characters: Phil Leotardo, Billy Leotardo and Angelo Garepe

The Leotardo brothers take out Carmine Lupertazzi’s old consiglieri Angelo for cooperating with Little Carmine against Johnny Sack. The trunk murder is a reference to the death of Billy Batts in GoodFellas, who is played by Frank Vincent (Phil Leotardo).

The Groom Feeds the Bride

Episode: Mr. and Mrs. John Sacrimoni Request (SE6, EP5)
Characters: The entire New York and New Jersey families (except Rusty Millio)

One of many great moments at Allegra Sacrimoni’s 400.000 dollar wedding. The atmosphere at the wedding is delivered perfectly. It’s like you are standing there yourself. This is how you do production design in a Mafia series; the music, the people, the traditions, it’s all there and all great.

Story Arc

Episode: Walk Like a Man (SE6, EP17)
Characters: Christopher and J.T. Dolan

A drunken Chris visits screenwriter T.J. who has functioned as the mob’s bitch ever since he borrowed cash from Christopher. The poor slob doesn’t realise how dangerous Chris is at this point. After Christopher starts spilling his guts about Adriana and Ralph Cifaretto, T.J. blows him off which leads to his killing. He quite literally made his Law and Order deadline.

Prone to Depression

Episode: The Second Coming (SE6, EP19)
Characters: A.J., Tony, Carmela and Dr. Richard Vogel

A.J.’s family therapy after his attempted suicide is absolutely hilarious. It is great to hear them discuss all these memorable events from the past. Like Livia telling A.J. “it’s all a big nothing”, or Carmela calling A.J. an animal for smoking marijuana at his confirmation. And all the time you hear A.J. mimicking Tony, who in turn is mimicking Livia. Then Tony finds Coco’s tooth in the fold of his right pant leg… Oh jeez.

Ambushed

Episode: Whitecaps (SE4, EP13)
Characters: Christopher, Benny Fazio, Petey LaRosa, Credenzo Curtis and Stanley Johnson

After the hit on Carmine Lupertazi is cancelled, Tony tells Chris that nobody can find out it was ever considered. Chris ensures the silence of the contracted hitmen by having them whacked by associates Benny Fazio and Petey LaRosa. This is how it’s done in the shady underworld these characters inhabit. Dirty ‘n mean.

Watchman

Episode: Two Tonys (SE5, EP1)
Characters: Tony

This is just an image really, but a powerful one. Tony holding guard for the bear in Two Tonys is the perfect final image of this episode. The cigar, the assault riffle; there is only one Tony and this is him. The heavy rock music makes it even better.

Witness to the Mob (1998)

Posted on 13 september 2025 by Jeppe Kleijngeld

Directed by:
Thaddeus O’Sullivan

Written by:
Stanley Weiser

Cast:
Nicholas Turturro (Sammy ‘The Bull’ Gravano), Tom Sizemore (John Gotti), Debi Mazar (Deborah Gravano), Michael Imperioli (Louie Milito), Abe Vigoda (Paul Castellano), Frankie Valli (Frank LoCascio), Katherine Narducci (Linda Milito), Arthur J. Nascarella (Bruce Mouw), Frank Vincent (Frankie DeCicco), Vincent Pastore (Mikey De Bat)

Sammy ‘The Bull’ Gravano is remembered as one of the most notorious informants in mob history. He betrayed the Dapper Don, John Gotti – whom he believed had first betrayed him. Before making that fateful decision, the story flashes back nineteen years to his childhood in Brooklyn. There, he and his best pal Louie (Michael Imperioli) begin their careers in organized crime as part of the powerful Gambino family.

Gravano rises quickly through the ranks. His willingness to follow orders to the letter – and to kill without hesitation – earns him the respect of higher-ups. Before long, he’s made an official member by boss Paul Castellano himself.

Around the same time, John Gotti (Tom Sizemore) is on the rise as well. When Castellano begins to break the mob’s code of honor, Gravano and Gotti conspire to take him out and seize control. Gotti becomes boss, while Gravano becomes his second-in-command. But Gotti’s flashy lifestyle draws unwanted attention from the press, the public, and the FBI – setting the stage for a conflict that will bring everything crashing down.

This made-for-TV film was released just two years after HBO’s Gotti. Both screenplays are based on the real Gravano–Gotti saga, and the similarities are striking – not only in story but also in style. Several familiar faces from The Sopranos and Goodfellas (Tony Sirico, Frank Vincent, Vincent Pastore) appear in both films. The key difference is perspective: Witness to the Mob is told through Gravano’s eyes, while Gotti presents Gotti’s side of the story.

Still, there’s something about Witness to the Mob that doesn’t quite ring true. Despite the strong ensemble, the interactions don’t always feel believable. Nicholas Turturro (brother of John) lacks the presence and charisma needed to carry Gravano’s role, and most of the actors have delivered stronger mob performances elsewhere. That said, fans of mob movie clichés – the talk, the mannerisms, the hits – may still enjoy Witness to the Mob. It has plenty of all that, even if it never quite rises above the familiar.

Rating:

Quote:
JOHN GOTTI: “So the boss of bosses is dead?”
SAMMY GRAVANO: “He lived a long life. His maid is gonna miss him.”
JOHN GOTTI: “His wife won’t.”

Trivia:
Arthur J. Nascarella plays FBI special agent Bruce Mouw, who is in charge of breaking up the Gambino family. In The Sopranos, his character Carlo Gervasi eventually betrays mob boss Tony Soprano.

My Sopranos Obsession: Final Analysis

Posted on 2 november 2021 by Jeppe Kleijngeld

By Jeppe Kleijngeld

In 1999, a mobster walked into a psychiatrist’s office and changed television history forever. The Sopranos was a revolution because it taught us that television can be just as good as cinema. Many of the 86 episodes that would eventually be produced are as brilliant as the best five star movies.

The show’s creator, David Chase (an Italian-American originally named DeCesare), wanted to achieve a number of things with the show. It had to be entertaining; he and his friends would have to enjoy it. It had to be set and filmed in the state he grew up in: New Jersey. And it would have to feature local Italian-American actors to make the portrayals as real as possible. Thematically, the show was mostly about realising the American dream and achieving happiness in the modern era. A time in which many Americans feel that the best is over.

At the centre of the Sopranos-universe Chase placed a character that might never be surpassed in how three-dimensional, how larger-than-life and how monumental he would be written and performed. The late James Gandolfini made Tony Soprano the anti-hero of all anti-heroes, and the most memorable lead for any tv-show before or since. James Gandolfini really delivers a Marlon Brando/Vito Corleone kind of performance. The beauty is: this is 86 episodes, so the depth he is able to create for this character is nothing less than astonishing.

Chase had always been a big fan of gangster movies like The Godfather, GoodFellas and the old James Cagney classics, and decided it would be interesting if the main character – originally named Tommy Soprano – would be a New Jersey wiseguy. This had never been done before. Gangster films are mostly set in New York, L.A., or Chicago, so this would be a big differentiator of the show. The Jersey suburbs and wastelands would form a very interesting canvas against which the characters would perform their outrageous, damning and often hideous acts. Beyond every envelope Tony receives from one of his underlings, there is a story of pain and suffering. Like the time when mobster Paulie suffocates an old lady with a pillow to get his hands on some cash.

Not only would the main character be a mobster, he would be a mobster in therapy. Tony starts going there from the pilot onwards to deal with panic attacks, a condition that resulted from growing up with a wiseguy father and batshit crazy mother. Chase’s own mother, a terribly negative and dysfunctional woman, formed the inspiration for Tony’s mother Livia. Fantastically portrayed by Nancy Marchand, Livia would become the most famous villainous mother character in television history. She would also be key to one of most incredible storylines of the show, the one in which Livia – together with Tony’s uncle Junior – tries to have her own son whacked for putting her in a nursing home. This is a comedy. But a very intelligent one.

It is no surprise that The Sopranos instantly became my favorite tv-show ever, if you know that GoodFellas is ever since its release my all-time favorite movie. The Sopranos is – in a way – 86 episodes of GoodFellas-style quality viewing. But it is by no means a rip-off. What the two productions have in common is that they portray the lifestyle of the street level wiseguy. And in both cases it becomes quickly apparent that there is nothing remotely glamourous about these lifestyles. The Soprano family in New Jersey make their money by offering ‘protection’ to businesses (mostly the garbage industry) against other gangsters looking to rip them off. They also lend money to gambling addicts at ridiculous interest rates. And they always make their money through (the threat of) violence.

Mobsters are capable of this vicious behaviour because they lack empathy. They don’t mind ruining a guy’s life or murdering him if that can make them a quick buck and they can get away with it. It is this psychological aspect of the gangster’s life that gets a lot of attention in The Sopranos and it’s fascinatingly done. As an audience, you’re spending a lot of time in the company of killers. The thing is, these guys are really funny and it’s extremely entertaining to see how they go about their daily business and what their private lives look like. Therefore as a viewer, you often forget what they are really about. And then, time and again, you’re confronted with savage behaviour and brutal violence often aimed at the unlucky and innocent.

The main characters of this show are thus all sociopaths capable of terrible deeds. Even their wives lack empathy. How else can they stand being around these guys for so long? The very first episode already shows us who these people really are. The young mob wannabe Christopher (Michael Imperioli), who wants to prove himself, murders a guy just to hang on to some stupid garbage scheme. And Tony purposefully hits a degenerate gambler with a Lexus and then savagely beats the crap out of him. The casual way this violence occurs should tell us: This is what these guys do, have been doing, and will forever be doing. It is really bad and will get worse. How can they cope with it and how should we as viewers? The show doesn’t judge, but just shows us these characters for what they are. We are the moral judges ourselves.

According to Michael Rispoli – who was in the running for playing Tony and ended up playing Jackie Aprile – the pilot script already had the brilliance built into it. He was therefore not surprised at all that it became a hit. There were so many ways you could go with this story. And he was right. Chase and his very talented writing and production team really went for the best cinematic quality they could accomplish.

After the pilot was shot in 1997, HBO ordered a full season which was shot in 1998 and premiered on the pay channel in 1999. It became a huge success. Audiences, in that first year 10 million viewers, loved it and became instantly hooked. The first season, which might very well be considered as a 13 episode mega movie, is an absolute masterpiece. In an early review in 1999, The New York Times wrote it may just be the greatest work of American popular culture of the last quarter century.

What was a very smart move by creator Chase – who had worked before as writer/producer on such shows as The Rockford Files and Northern Exposure – was to include elements that a wide audience would enjoy: Tony’s ‘normal’ family life with his wife Carmela (a fantastic Edie Falco), interactions with non-criminal locals in New Jersey, the modern Italian American lifestyle and the very realistic therapy scenes. But by making Tony a depressed arch criminal who enjoys beating and killing rivals, he added dimensions that make the show much more layered than the sitcom audiences were used to: The Sopranos is so rich and accomplished in its writing that you can watch it five times and still find it immensely enjoyable and discover new details every time. Even in what is considered one of the worst episodes of the series – ‘Christopher’- there are classic moments. Like the mobsters sitting on their asses in front of the pork store complaining about Native Americans. “When did we ever get anything without having to work our asses off?” says Vito dead serious. “I would like to sit on my ass all day, smoking mushrooms and collecting government checks”, says Bobbie. And this happens after the episode ‘No Show’ in which the crew gets paid for doing absolutely nothing whatsoever. These characters…..

After the extremely positive reactions to the first season, Chase and his teams went for an even better second season. When I viewed the Season 2 finale – ‘Funhouse’ – for the first time, I knew right away: this is an entirely different league than anything that I have seen before on the small screen. It can comfortably compete with the best of Scorsese, Kubrick, Tarantino and Coppola. Yes.

Rather than copying the proven formula of the previous season or successful episodes, they took the show in a new direction every time. The first season centered mostly around the power struggle between Tony and his uncertain uncle Junior (a brilliant turn by Dominic Chianese). It famously ended with Tony surviving an assasination attempt orchestrated by his mother and uncle, and then becoming the new boss of New Jersey. A major plotline in the second season is Tony’s friend and associatte Pussy’s betrayal to the feds. When his own best friends are forced to murder him in the final episode, it becomes ever more clear that they will have to make very costly sacrifices to maintain their lifestyles.

Season 3 starts with Livia’s death (due to the death of the actress who portrayed her) and the feds increasing their efforts to bring down Tony. Had Livia been around she would have played a major role in season 3. Instead, three new volatile characters are introduced: Jackie Jr., the dumb son of the deceased old boss of the Family Jackie Aprile, Ralphie (Joe Pantaliano), the craziest mobster ever, and Gloria (Annabelle Scoria), the new borderline love interest of Tony who can be considered as a temporary replacement for Livia (along with Tony’s crazy sister Janice who was introduduced in season 2).

Halfway through the season, the makers confront us with two shocking episodes. In ‘Employee of the Month’ – Tony’s psychiatrist Dr. Melfi, the only moral character apart from Charmaine Bucco, is brutally raped and due to mishandling of the evidence, the rapist is released. Rather than putting Tony on the rapist, Melfi stays true to her personal values. Not since The Godfather has the delivery of a simple “no” made such an impact. In ‘University’, like in ‘College’ in season 1, it is the audience that is getting schooled. In this incredibly hard to watch episode, we witness Ralphie beat a young prostitute – and mother to a young boy – to death because she insulted his ego. As disturbing as the act itself are the crew’s reactions to the violation (‘she was just a whore’ and ‘he disrespected the Bing’). These are the guys we enjoy so much watching. It’s like the relentless psychiatrist Dr. Kwakower tells Carmela halfway through the season: ‘You can never say you haven’t been told’.

The season ends with the hilarious ‘Pine Barrens’ in which Paulie and Christopher – the Maffia’s own Cheech and Chong – get lost in the woods. Two characters get a resolution this season. Tony uses mobster Patsy to end the affair with Gloria (“my face will be the last you’ll see, not Tony’s. We understand each other? It won’t be cinematic”) and Jackie Jr. gets killed after pulling an incredibly stupid robbery on a made guy’s card game. Villain Ralphie surprisingly survives the season, only to get killed off in the ninth episode of season 4 right after the makers manage to evoke sympathy for the character. That season’s final shock is the disintegration of the Soprano marriage. The final episode ‘Whitecaps’ features some of the greatest acting ever in a television show between James Gandolfini and Edie Falco who both won an Emmy Award for Best Lead in a Drama Series.

In the fifth season, things are really turning dark and the show – inevitably – becomes harder to watch. The season showed us that no one can escape Tony Soprano. Both Carmela and Tony’s cousin Tony B. (Steve Buscemi) find this out the hard way. The only character to ever pull this off is Furio, who fled the country in season 4 after losing respect for his boss because of the way he treated Carmela, the woman he fell in love with.

After Pussy had to go in season 2, another major character is killed off in episode 12 ‘Long Term Parking’. Christopher’s fiancée Adriana La Cerva (Drea de Matteo) was talked into cooperating with the feds in season 3 and in this shattering episode, she meets her tragic demise. Imperioli’s and De Matteo’s stellar acting earned them both an Emmy for this season. At the end of season 5, a war with the much more powerful New York Family is averted and its new boss Johnny Sack is pinched by the feds. Tony buys his way back into Carmela’s life by giving her a spec house. And finally, he murders his own cousin to appease the New York mob.

The first part of the final season starts off with a shock. Tony is shot by his demented uncle Junior and nearly dies. During his coma, he travels to another domain of existence in which he leads an alternative life as heating system salesman Kevin Finnerty. After his awakening, he briefly has a more positive outlook on life. But in this depraved world, we learn once again that no one, not even Tony himself, can escape it.

And so, the bulldozer Tony continues on his destructive path through Jersey leaving loads of misery (and corpses) in its path. “You’ve caused quite some suffering yourself, haven’t you?” Dr. Melfi confronts Tony at one point. But there is really no point in trying to get through to this narcissistic sociopath. No point whatsoever. At the end, Melfi realises this too and kicks him out of therapy. But not before he causes even more misery. Like his mother before him.

In Season 6 B – the final 9 episodes – Tony alienates even his closest friends and associates. Even more disturbingly, he becomes more and more like his evil mother. In the first episode ‘Sopranos Home Movies’, he enjoys telling his sister Janice a horrible story about a child drowning just to upset her (which succeeds perfectly). He also sends his brother-in-law Bobbie out to murder somebody just to get back at him for some petty beef. And he sinks even lower in episode 6 ‘Kennedy and Heidi’. In this very dark episode he suffocates his own nephew Christopher after a car crash. He may have had reasons to do so, it is still a definite damnation of his soul.

The final season doesn’t end with Tony searching for redemption like Michael Corleone in The Godfather: Part III. In fact, like Alan Sepinwall and Matt Zoller rightly observed in their terrific book ‘The Sopranos Sessions’, in the final scene it seems that everything that has transpired barely made a dent in this guy’s thick skull.

In the final season, everything is building towards that final moment in which Tony and his family are, like in the season 1 finale, in a restaurant (a final analysis of the ending can be found here). It is a quantum mechanical ending in the sense that it is all things at once. It is a death scene and not a death scene. There seems to be threats and everything seems to be cool. The family is together and not together (we never see Meadow enter). Tony got away with everything (Phil is dead), but is also in deep shit (Carlo is testifying). What will occur after the screen goes black? We can only ask ourselves. David Chase – the artist – said that he just wanted to show that life is precious and the ending can come for all of us at any time. Then he uses a quantum mechanical term: the probability that someone like Tony would get killed is of course much greater than the average person. What ending will be manifested? That is up to the viewer.

Life itself caught on to the ending in an ironic way when the ending for James Gandolfini indeed came out of nowhere. May he rest in peace. And so, the legendary show, that ended so legendary in 2007, gave us a real life shock six years later when Gandolfini departed.

It is now 2021 and the show is still ‘alive’ in every way. Two prominent actors of the series – Michael Imperioli and Steve Schirripa – started a podcast ‘Talking Sopranos’ which features many cast and crew members, including Lorraine Bracco, David Chase, Dominic Chianese, Steven van Zandt, Terence Winter and Vincent Pastore.

For those – like me – who still can’t get enough, this is a blessing. Even better, in October the long awaited prequel The Many Saints of Newark arrived in cinemas. Most television shows are quickly forgotten after release, but I am pretty confident that The Sopranos will be around for a very long time. Like the music of The Beatles or the plays of Shakespeare, it is a timeless piece of art.

In Talking Sopranos, Imperioli, Schirripa and many of their guests reflect on what a unique experience the making of this show has been for them. Never before or after, did they enjoy working on a production that much. What they describe is the magic that happened when this show got made. I immediately felt it when I started watching: this is something truly special. And now, 20 years later, I realise all the more that this was really a rare thing. That something comes together so well. Like with The Beatles, it was unbelievable that four musicians so talented found each other and were able to pull it off. In The Sopranos, the brilliant original vision of the creator found the perfect cast and collaborators to bring it to the screen, and – let’s not forget – the perfect platform in HBO to put it out there. I don’t expect to see anything like this anytime soon, but like The Beatles, I can always go back and revisit the series anytime and experience the magic once again.

GoodFellas (1990)

Posted on 30 mei 2010 by Jeppe Kleijngeld

‘Three Decades of Life in the Mafia’

Directed by:
Martin Scorsese

Written by:
Martin Scorsese (screenplay)
Nicolas Pileggi (book ‘Wiseguy’ / screenplay)

Cast:
Ray Liotta (Henry Hill), Lorraine Bracco (Karen Hill), Robert De Niro (James ‘Jimmy’ Conway), Joe Pesci (Tommy DeVito), Paul Sorvino (Paul Cicero), Frank Sivero (Frankie Carbone), Tony Darrow (Sonny Bunz), Mike Starr (Frenchy), Frank Vincent (Billy Batts), Chuck Low (Morris ‘Morrie’ Kessler)

GoodFellas tells the story of the 30 year lasting involvement of the Irish/Italian Henry Hill (Liotta) in the New York Mafia. It is based on the real life story of Henry Hill who went into the witness protection programme and described his experiences in the bestseller ‘Wiseguy’ by Nicolas Pileggi. Scorsese starts his movie with a most memorable scene playing in the seventies. The brutal murder of Gambino mobster Billy Batts at the hands of Hill’s feared associates Jimmy Conway (De Niro) and Tommy De Vito (Pesci). ‘As far as back as I could remember I always wanted to be a gangster’ is Hill’s classic voice-over response. Later in the film when we return to this scene, we will learn that this is the point where things are taking a downturn for Henry and his pals. Batts was a made guy and killing him could get them all whacked when discovered.

After this extremely violent scene of great impact we are glued to our seats and the film takes off at an enormous pace. We flash back to the fifties, a glorious time for the wiseguys in Brooklyn. In a sort of documentary style Hill describes his fascination with the Mafia and how he worked his way up into that world of glory, power and violence. It isn’t until long before Hill becomes an accepted and even very popular associate of the most violent crew in the neighborhood. The crew is headed by Paul Cicero (Paul Sorvino). His mentor becomes Jimmy Conway, an Irishman who like Henry can never become a ‘made guy’ because of his Irish blood. They are respected because they know how to earn, the greatest virtue a wiseguy can have. With the respect they get, they gain in power. They never have to wait in line anywhere and when they enter a club they get treated like movie stars with muscle.

After Henry’s youth is covered, there are basically three distinctive parts that follow: the glory days, in which Henry and his enterprising friends make giant scores, live the luxury life and still appear to have somewhat of innocence left. In these days Henry also meets his future wife Karen who gets a voice-over of her own, commenting on the Mafia life from the wives perspective. In the part that follows things start to slip. Sloppy and often unnecessary murders take place, largely due to psychopath Tommy. Henry and Jimmy have to face a long prison sentence and drugs make their entry. The final part consists of Henry’s paranoid cocaine trip leading to his arrest and downfall as a mobster.

The beauty of GoodFellas lies partly in its innovative use of cinematic techniques that not only help to tell the story as effectively as possible, but add to the immensely entertaining experience that watching this film is. Scorsese uses as many tricks as the running time allows him: freeze-frames, tracking shots, jump-cuts, pov-shots and extensive use of voice-over. It all fits perfectly in the narrative. Not one image feels even slightly misplaced, not one note of music mismatched, not one delivery of dialogue that doesn’t look and sounds flawless and effortless. Scorsese makes us feel what the characters feel by cleverly using cinematic language and succeeding brilliantly in making us part of Henry’s world.

Then there is the authenticity of the film that is just plain brilliance. Scorsese had the opportunity to observe the wiseguys well in his childhood and is aided by the perfect cast and production designers to bring his vision to the screen. It looks and feels so real that you can almost smell the garlic on De Niro’s breath as he is whispering something in Henry’s ear. The dark Mafia hangouts contrast beautifully with the colorful New York scene as the brutal acts of violence contrast with the family birthdays, christenings and weddings. It is like watching real Mafia footage. The inner workings of the mob are explained in great detail. A fine contribution by author and journalist Nicolas Pileggi who co-wrote the script with Martin Scorsese.

Scorsese and his team have managed to include in this movie what must be the largest number of famous cinematic finds in at least a decade; the mind-blowing steadicam shot of Henry and Karen taking the backdoor of the Copacabana, the shot of Jimmy visibly contemplating the murder of wig-man Morrie, the improvised ‘do you think I’m funny’ scene and the Layla montage of bodies of Lufthansa heist accomplices being found all over the city. Just to mention a few.

In basis, GoodFellas follows the classic rise-and-fall narrative of the gangster film, but in the process recreates an entire narrative technique breaking every rule in the book as it goes along. Storywise it differentiates itself from films such as The Godfather by strictly focusing on the street-level guys. It employs techniques to make you root for the bad guys. Just like the character Jimmy does in the movie. Where drug trade is firmly ruled against by Don Vito Corleone in The Godfather, it does indeed cause the demise of the protagonists in GoodFellas. The last half hour is one bad-ass cocaine trip experienced by Hill. Edited with enormous pace and dynamics.

It is hard to say that Pesci steals the show as hot-headed Mafioso because all the performances are so great. But Pesci certainly portrays the most relentless mobster in film history and he justly won an Oscar for the role. De Niro shines in a role more in the background. His behaviorism in the film is so detailed that only that demands multiple viewings. Liotta is the perfect leading man, charismatic and absolutely believable as the likable wiseguy Henry. Lorraine Bracco, as Henry’s counterpart Karen, gives an equally enjoyable and fitting performance.

Altogether GoodFellas really is a masterpiece. Everything about it is stylish and fascinating. It is a richly detailed look into the Italian underworld making us alternately feel fascination and repugnance for the gangsters. The atmosphere is so great that you can watch this film over and over just for the sheer joy and level of experience it lends to. It is the ultimate piece of pop cinema out there. Brilliant at so many levels and some of the finest hours of cinema in my life.

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