The Sopranos "Woke up this morning...."

Rrrrrrrright this is another post which I have taken from my tennis blog and this is a fairly big un, which will cover one of the most critically acclaimed television shows in history, The Sopranos, which follows a crime family based in New Jersey.  So with that let's get out the gun and the baseball bat and give this mother a look..... (WARNING: BY THE WAY PLOT SPOILERS IN THE SERIES ARE TO BE FOUND AHEAD!!).  I will also try and add to this post as well over time as well just to expand it a bit more as I already have added a bit more to it.  Anyway....

Soooo to start with the premise of the show, which basically is about a mob boss, Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) who starts off as a capo in the DiMeo crime family.  Tony suffers from panic attacks, which see him pass out, which leads him to go into therapy, where he meets with Doctor Jennifer Melfi (Lorraine Bracco), an Italian American psychiatrist.  At first Tony has a difficult and confrontantial relationship with Melfi, but soon after he settles into the therapy, and he takes medication for his panic attacks and depression.  The main reasons behind his anxiety attacks being the pressues of his work, and also the aggravation of his homelife, particularly his mother, Livia (Nancy Marchand), who is cynical, difficult, and almost impossible to please.  As the series progresses Tony encounters difficulty from his Uncle Corrado "Junior" Soprano (Dominic Chianese) who is in charge of the crime family, but at the end of the first series, Junior is arrested by the FBI, and put under house arrest in the second series.

Tony's crew also include his nephew, Chris Moltisanti (Michael Imperioli), who is similar to Tony in being hotheaded and impulsive (or another way to put, a real asshole) but also highly ambitious as he wants to climb the mob ladder.  Other associates also include Paulie "Walnuts" Gaultieri (Tony Sirico), one of Tony's capos, who is quite eccentric, while also sociopathic (well they all are!) but also wisecracking, and Silvio Dante (Steven Van Zandt), Tony's consigliere (Italian for counselor), who is by far the most level headed out of his crew and provides valuable advice for Tony.

For the most part Tony's crew are loyal to him, but now and then there is dissension in the ranks, as Paulie at one point in the fourth series, while in jail, out of feeling left out and paranoid tries to side with one of the New York crime family high up figures, Johnny "Sac" Sacrimento, and discloses a joke about his wife, which was told to him by his nephew, which nearly starts a mob war.  Chris also while he remains loyal to Tony, also proves to be a bit of loose canon at times, going off the handle on several occassions, particularly during his heavy period of drug abuse, and also abusing his girlfriend, Adriana La Cerva (Drea De Matteo).  Tony has other crime subordinates that include Bobby Bacclieri (Steven R. Schirripa) who is a more sensitive and big hearted than the others in his crew, and Sal Bonpensiero (Vincent Pastore), who is later revealed to be an informant for the FBI, who pinched him for selling heroin, and later suffers the consequences of his actions at Tony's hands. 

As for Tony's family, he has a difficult and strained relationship with his wife Carmela (Edie Falco), and he also has several extra-martial affairs with other women, most of which end badly.  Tony also has two children, Meadow (Jamie-Lynn Sigler), who is very intelligent (and pretty hot) and is A-grade student at her high school, and then proceeds to go off to college, where she does very wel.  And then there is A.J. (Robert Iller), who is quite the opposite, an underachieving, ignorant youngster who frequently gets himself into trouble at school.  In fact A.J. for me has to rank as one of the most annoying and obnoxious little twats I've had the misfortune to watch on television, and he is someone who you would never tire of punching in the face.  Regardless of the stress of his home life, Tony is a very loving father and he tries his best to keep his family away from the unpleasant asepcts of his work, and encourages his children to do well in their education and in life.  He also has a rather distant and stressful relationship with his older sister, Janice (Aida Turturro) who is large as life, and is also rather manipulative like her mother, but she likes to think she is a free spirit, but is really just a nutter.  

Tony himself is undoubtedly a complex character, as he has so many different sides to his personality, as he is shown as a tough, ruthless businessman, and he also isn't afraid to get his hands dirty as he would gladly mete punishment himself, and does so fairly often throughout the series.  In fact Tony in certain episodes commits several murders himself, such as his cousin Tony Blundetto (Steve Buscemi), who he did as an act of appeasment for the New York crime family, but also he brutally murdered one of his unstable associates, Ralph Cifaretto (Joe Pantoliano) for killing a prize stallion horse.  But on the other hand Tony also shows in his therapy sessions that he is very vulnerable and that he is prone to anxiety attacks, and that this something that he keeps secret from his crime associates, as if they find out, it would be a sign of weakness, although later in the series, his therapy is revealed to his associates.  And yet despite Tony's tough guy image, he has also shown to be quite sensitive towards certain comments made about him, especially in the episode in Season 5 where Junior finally starts to really suffer from dementia and insults Tony for his weight by saying at school "he never had the makings of a varsity athlete".  He also was quite affected by the death of Ralph Cifaretto's horse, Pie o my (thereafter bludgeoning Ralph to death as he suspected him of destroying the horse in a fire) and in his therapy session with Dr Melfi, he suddenly breaks down in tears. 

Tony also can show signs of compassion and kindness, as he often buys things for his family and gifts for his friends and business associates, and he has a close friendship with one of his friends from school, Artie Bucco (John Ventimiglia), who is the chef of a local restaurant.  He also is shown to have an affection for animals, which is displayed in the very first episode of the series, where he is happy to see some ducks in his back yard, which he plays with, and also a prize stallion horse, which he is very fond of, but is ultimately killed in a fire by the aforementioned Ralph Cifaretto.  Even after some of his acts of violence, he is also shown to be remorseful, one example was when one of his less than bright staff Georgie, who works at his crew's local hang-out, Bada Bing, a strip club, enrages Tony, who proceeds to beat with a metal cash tray.  After the event, Tony laments and gives Paulie some money to give to Georgie and says to him that he sees that Georgie gets the best treatment for his wounds.

Tony can also be quite mean spirited and manipulative, one example of which is were, despite his warnings, he let's a gambler and childhood friend David Scattino (Robert Patrick) play at a high steaks card game, in which Scattino get's into heavy debt, and is unable to pay back Tony.  As a result Tony forces Scattino into handing over his sports and hunting store, in order to pay his debts, and as a result Scattino is left bankrupt.  Tony's constant infidelities as a husband to Carmela are also a strain, who does her best to turn a blind eye to it for the most part.  But that does change in the last episode of the fourth series, when Tony's cheating finally sends Carmela over the edge, after receiving a call from Irina, Tony's ex-mistress who tells her that Tony also slept with her sister, Svetlana as well, which leads to their separation.  And at this point you have to really say that Tony got his just deserts, his cheating went on so long unpunished that something sooner or later had to give. 

The show itself has been lauded for is writing and acting, which throughout the series is of the highest quality.  James Gandolfini's central performance as Tony is superb, and he drives the series along, playing Tony with compassion, malice, rage and humour.  James Gandolfini get's some of the best dialogue in the series as well, and one of his funniest lines is a threat he gives to the loose canon and made man, the wide-eyed Richie Aprile (David Proval) "don't give me those fuckin Manson lamps!".  There are plenty of other examples to be had as well, such as the scene in the fifth series where Tony confesses he had a panic attack earlier in his life and it takes alot out of him to remember about it and after he says "You know being in therapy, it feels like taking a shit!".  And Dr Melfi smiles and says "I like to think of it more like giving birth" and Tony says "Trust me, its like taking a shit!".  Another hilarious moment is in the episode "Funhouse" where Tony suffers a violent dose of food poisoning and he spends most of the night throwing up or having the skits.  And as Tony races to the loo and stars being sick we hear him yell "Its the fuckin chicken vindaloo!!  Those fuckin motherfuckin wogs!!!".  Or in another episode where Tony complains about recieving an incorrect Chinese food order after he asks the delivery boy if the order is right, Tony opens up the box and moans "Motherufckin chili beef!!" as he got the wrong one after all.  Tony also has other amusing moments where    

Gandfolfini also has some great dramatic moments of course in the series such as the last episode of the fourth series "Whitecaps" where Carmela confronts Tony over his infidelities.  And in the scene Tony blows up at Carmela and says regarding the girl he slept with "I could converse with her because she had something to say!".  And Carmela yells back that she has things to say and Tony roars back "Besides bringing down the fucking chairs and signing the fucking trust?!!  She was a grown woman who kicked around!  And she's been on her own and she's had to fight and struggle!".  And as Carmela yells at Tony about their lives he yells back "Well, you sit back for 20 fucking years all you did was fiddle with the air conditioning and fucking bitch and complain!  And fucking bitch, bitch, bitch to me!  To your priest!  FUCK IT!!!".  Also Tony's affair with Gloria Trillo (played by the lovely Annabella Sciorra) is played out superbly by both actors and their affair is quite intense, with Gloria's character being a manic depressive.  And later on sometime after their split, Tony learns that Gloria took her life, and she was also a patient of Dr Mefli's he becomes enraged at her for not telling Tony about her death (well it is privileged information after all!).   

Edie Falco is also great as Tony's long suffering wife, who is a good mother to her children, and aspires to be moral and upstanding, and is occassionally conflicted with her lifestyle, but she is also shown to be quite manipulative at times, and occassionally in the series she is seen flirting with some men that she fancies, such as Furio (Frederico Castelluccio), one of Tony's ruthless crime associates (although she might think twice about him if she saw some of the violent acts he commits!).  Carmela also during her separation from Tony,  for the first time in the series has a brief affair with a high school teacher (played by David Strathairn) and she clearly shows a degree of manipulation in getting from the teacher what she wants, while they have sex, she uses him in a way to get her son a higher grade for his poor essays.  But Carmela is later accused by the teacher of her manipulating him into changing the grade, after which she angrily breaks up with him.  Carmela also briefly warns the teacher to watch his step, but she does show some moral character by not saying anything about it to Tony, because obviously there would be horrendous repercussions on both sides. 

Michael Imperioli, despite the fact I do not like Chris Moltisanti at all as a character, as he is an obnxious nasty prick, also gives an excellent performance throughout as Tony's loyal but troubled associate, through his own brashness and violent impulsive behaviour, get him into a whole lot of trouble.  And despite the fact that Chrissie is mostly a despicable character you also admire the skill of Michael Imperioli's performance and portayal of such a bad guy.  Although in the later series, Chris does mellow a bit, as he is no longer as outright abrasive and rash as he was earlier on in the series, especially towards the end where he settles down and gets married and has a baby (his wife that is!).  However at this point Chris still dances with danger having an affair with a recovering (or not so recovering) heroin addict, Julianna Skiff (played by the saucy Julianna Marguiles) and re-establishing his heroin habit, albeit for a brief time. Chris also like Tony occassionally is shown to be quite sensitive about when he is made fun of, especially in the season 5 episode where Tony and his cousin Tony Blundetto make fun of Chris's nose and other things.  Chris tries to hold back his feelings in front of the men, and the next day he drives off home, and we see he is nearly in tears, deeply hurt by the comments the two Tony's made. 

Lorraine Bracco also deserves special mention as the Dr Melfi, Tony's psychiatrist, as she plays her with a level headed calmness, even in the face of Tony's anger, and he is frequently angry in his therapy sessions with her.  Dr Melfi often has many entertaining exchanges with Tony, who is most of the time is quite defensive when she is trying rationalise his fears and thoughts.  In fact one of my favourites is when Tony angrily says to Dr Melfi that he has been trying to control his anger, as he went out to a broken down slum area with his son and he confronted by some crackheads, but rather than get angry and start something, he let it go.  So Dr Melfi replies "so I would expect you to give me the same courtesy that would give to a crackhead!". 

Of some of the other main cast, Dominic Chianese is also terrific as the crime boss, Junior Soprano, who spends most of the series under house arrest, or awaiting trial, and later on in the series, starts to suffer from dementia.  But Junior provides some of the most entertaining moments in the series, with some of the dialogue he has, one of my favourite scenes is where he flirts with a nurse who applies an oxygen mask to his face, and she says "I'll be back later", and he says "I'll be counting the beats!".  There are plenty of other examples of Junior's hilarious wit but I'll probably cover them a bit later.

Tony Sirico is also hilarious as Paulie, one of Tony's capos, as Paulie is usually quite eccentric, and makes wisecracks often, but at the same time he can also be quite cold and paranoid.  One of Paulie's funniest pieces of dialogue is when he finds out that his mother that had raised him, in actual adopted him, as he meets his real mother later on, who was a nun, lying on her deathbed.  When Paulie enters the hospital later to see Tony (who was shot by a senile Juior prior to this time), a priest asks him "How are you doing, Paulie?", and Paulie angrily replies "Alot better than those fuckin nuns you have up there!".  Paulie also loves to tease his fellow mobster pals, and one of the funniest lines Paulie has is when he says to an associate "Do you remember your first blow job?" and the associate says "Sure" and Paulie replies "Oh yeah?  How long did it take the guy to come!" and Paulie laughs at his own joke and he reiterates it to Tony "You hear that, T?  I asked him "do you remember your first blow job?  And he says "yeah" and I say "how long did it take the guy to come?!".  Priceless.  Another favourite moment of mine regarding Paulie is in the episode "Commendatori" where Tony and his crew visit Naples and in one scene Paulie sits outside a cafe and he spots a few Italian mafioso type looking fellas chatting at a table and Paulie warmly lifts his cup of coffee to them and says "Commendatori!" but one of the men (played by the show's creator, David Chase no less) just looks at him with contempt and they ignore him carry on chatting, leaving Paulie annoyed, he says under his breath "cocksuckers!" and leaves in a huff. 

Then there is Aida Turturro (sister of the actor John Turturro) who plays the whacky Janice Soprano, which Aida plays to perfection as a manipulative, rebellious woman, who also a thing for kinky sex (one example being one of her former lovers, Richie Aprile who does her from behind while holding gun at her head!).    And then there is the late Nancy Marchand, who passed away shortly into the 3rd series, who is a great as Tony's manipulative mother, Livia, who drives Tony mad, and at one point event conspires with his Uncle Junior to have him killed.  She's a lovely woman. ;-)  At one point in the series, Dr Melfi describes Livia as having a borderline personality, meaning she is not capable of showing love, or forming relationships with anyone.  

The series also has many controversial moments in it, and also some rather shocking scenes of violence as well, the third season in particular has a very violent murder in it, where one of Tony's capos, the sleazy loose canon, Ralph Cifareto (Joe Pantoliano) beats his girlfriend, who is a stripper, to death outside the Bing.  There is also the alarming scene where Dr Melfi is raped in a car park after leaving her work by a hood.  Also the brutal murder of Fat Dom in the series 6, where Sal and one of the family's associate, Carlo, stab the big man to death  in the back of the Bing.  And one of the most surprising murders in the show (PLOT SPOILERS!!!!!!!!!) is Chris Moltisanti's where Tony and Chris are involved in a car crash, as Chris is high on drugs, and he is badly injured in the car wreck.  Tony however just has cuts and bruises and gets out to call 911, when he notices that the baby carriage in the backseat (by then Chris had a wife and a baby) has been crushed by a tree branch, which pre-empts to suffocate Chris to death.

But for all its scenes of violence, the Sopranos is about so much more than that, as it goes much deeper into looking the gangsters families, their lives outside crime, and also even from the perspective of the FBI agents and the police who are after Tony Soprano and his crew.  It also has many funny moments in it too, one of which is where after the death of Tony's mother, he is angered by his sister Janice's refusal to attend the funeral.  When Carmela's parents arrive to give their condolences, Carm's father asks "how is Tony holding up??" and then we hear in the background Tony shouting "What the fuck??! Goddamn fuckin bitch!!".  James Gandolfini also said what drew him towards the part was the humour of the show, and not the thought of playing a violent tempered bad guy, as he himself is a pacifist (although he has no qualms playing violent characters!) and had concerns over the scenes that involved guns.   

David Chase, the creator of the show also deserves no end of credit for bringing the series to our screens, and he wrote many episodes of the series, and he made the decision to ensure the cast was mostly Italian American.  Chase also throughout provides a great choice of soundtrack for the series, and he uses the music so well in many scenes.  Some examples include the scene at the end of series two "Thru and Thru" by The Rolling Stones, Elvis Costello's "High Fidelity" at the end of the first episode of series 3, which shows a shot of Tony's house.  Not to mention the memorable theme song "Woke up this morning" by Maroon 3 (which is a remix version) and one of my favourites is The Pretenders instrumental track "Space Invader".  They even use Radiohead's "Kid A" track really well at the end of one of the episodes in series 4. Chase also employs the use of some great classic tracks as well form a variety of different genres of music from folk, rock, classical, opera, ambient, electronica, and many more. 

Anywayyyyyy so that's it for my critique on The Sopranos.  Its easily the largest post I have done yet, and plenty has and will be added to it.

But that's it for now.