Information AboutThe Sopranos |
''The Sopranos'' was an American Television Drama Series created by David Chase and originally broadcast on the HBO network. The show revolved around New Jersey Mafia Boss Tony Soprano and the difficulties he faces as he tries to balance the often conflicting requirements of his home life and the Criminal Organization he heads. The series stars, among others, James Gandolfini , Lorraine Bracco , Edie Falco , and Michael Imperioli . The series aired on HBO from January 10 , 1999 to June 10 , 2007 , spanning Six Seasons And 86 Episodes . The show has also aired in Dozens Of Other Countries . A major critical and commercial success, ''The Sopranos'' is widely considered to be a great work of contemporary American Fiction 12 and is often credited for bringing a greater level of artistry to the television medium and paving the way for many successful drama series that followed.3 The show has won numerous awards, including eighteen Emmys and five Golden Globes , and has been the subject of much Parody and analysis. Due to its popularity, ''The Sopranos'' has spawned Video Game s, Book s, high-charting Soundtrack Album s45 and a large amount of assorted Merchandise . CHARACTERS See Also: List of characters from The Sopranos Anthony "Tony" Soprano ( James Gandolfini ) is the quick tempered and fierce boss of the New Jersey -based DiMeo Crime Family and patriarch of the Soprano household. After years of stress over his "business" and a horrible upbringing from his parents, Tony begins to have panic attacks and seeks treatment from Dr. Jennifer Melfi, played by Lorraine Bracco. Adding to Tony's complicated life is his wife Carmella (Edie Falco). Their relationship revolves more around distrust and resentment than love and compassion. Carmella is aware of Tony's cheating and hates the things he does for a living, but also knows that those "evils" he commits gives her the extravagance that she wants and has had for years. Sometimes she hates herself for her love of money as much as the source of the money, and even Tony himself. Tony's extended family includes his mother Livia ( Nancy Marchand ), sisters Janice ( Aida Turturro ) and Barbara ( Nicole Burdette and Danielle Di Vecchio ), uncle Corrado "Junior" Soprano ( Dominic Chianese ), and cousins Tony Blundetto ( Steve Buscemi ) and Christopher Moltisanti ( Michael Imperioli ). Livia is a shrewd manipulator and has emotional problems of her own. Livia is incapable of showing love or compassion of any kind. She cleverly transfers contempt for herself and others onto those who interact with her, creating substantial personal and professional complications for Tony. Junior, who frequently spends time with Livia, has seniority over Tony in their criminal empire and strives to maintain power. The dominance struggle between these two unbendable figures, coupled with Livia's manipulative influence over Junior, lead to a fudged assassination attempt on Tony in the first season. As a result, the relationship between Tony and his uncle Junior is strained throughout the series. Janice, who has had a child in Quebec , ran off to Seattle at a young age, but returns to New Jersey decades later and gets into disruptive relationships with some of Tony's colleagues. Barbara has moved away to start her own family. Blundetto grew up with Tony, but was convicted of armed robbery in their youth. He is finally released from prison in season five of the show. Christopher is Carmela's second cousin, but Tony considers him his Nephew and Protégé in the crime family, helping him rise through the ranks. Tony's close circle within the DiMeo crime family includes Silvio Dante ( Steven Van Zandt ), Paul "Paulie Walnuts" Gualtieri ( Tony Sirico ) and Salvatore "Big Pussy" Bonpensiero ( Vincent Pastore ). Sil is Tony's Consigliere and best friend. Paulie and Big Pussy are longtime soldiers who have worked with Tony and his father. Also in Tony's family are Patsy Parisi ( Dan Grimaldi ) and Furio Giunta ( Federico Castelluccio ) Patsy is another aging soldier with a talent for bookkeeping. Furio is imported muscle from an associated Naples Crime Family . Other significant characters in the DiMeo family include Bobby "Bacala" Baccalieri ( Steven R. Schirripa ), Richie Aprile ( David Proval ), Ralph Cifaretto ( Joe Pantoliano ), Eugene Pontecorvo ( Robert Funaro ) and Vito Spatafore ( Joseph R. Gannascoli ). Bobby is a subordinate of Junior's whom Tony often bullies. Bobby later marries Janice. Cifaretto is ambitious, but he is a top earner who often makes life difficult for Tony. Richie Aprile is released from prison in season two and immediately becomes an adversary for Tony. Pontecorvo is a young soldier who becomes a made man alongside Christopher. Spatafore works his way up through the ranks as his superiors die, but has a secret that is not revealed until late in season 5. Friends of the Soprano family include Herman "Hesh" Rabkin ( Jerry Adler ), Adriana La Cerva ( Drea De Matteo ), Rosalie Aprile ( Sharon Angela ), Angie Bonpensiero ( Toni Kalem ), and Artie ( John Ventimiglia ) and Charmaine Bucco ( Kathrine Narducci ). Hesh is an adviser and friend to Tony, and served in this role under Tony's father John "Johnny Boy" Soprano . Adriana is Christopher's long time girlfriend; the two have a tempestuous relationship. Rosalie is a close friend of Carmela's, not to mention the widow of the former boss of the family, Jackie Aprile, who stays tied to the organization. Angie is Salvatore Bonpensiero's wife who later goes into business for herself. Artie and Charmaine are school friends of the Sopranos and owners of the popular restaurant Vesuvio. John "Johnny Sack" Sacrimoni ( Vince Curatola ), Phil Leotardo ( Frank Vincent ) and "Little" Carmine Lupertazzi, Jr. ( Ray Abruzzo ) are all significant characters from the New York -based Lupertazzi Crime Family , which shares much of its business with the Soprano organization. Although the Lupertazzis' and DiMeos' interests are often at odds, Tony maintains a cordial business-like relationship with Johnny Sack, preferring to make deals that benefit both families. Phil Leotardo, however, is more difficult to deal with, ambitious and not hesitant to use or order violence against Tony's crew. PLOT SYNOPSIS AND EPISODE LIST See Also: List of The Sopranos episodes See Also: The Sopranos timeline See Also: List of deaths in The Sopranos series The series begins with Tony Soprano collapsing after suffering an Anxiety Attack . This prompts him to begin Therapy with Dr. Jennifer Melfi . Gradually, the storyline reveals that Tony's Mother was manipulative and possibly psychotic, his children have troubled futures, someone in his organization is talking to the FBI , and his own Uncle is plotting his death. Tony's Uncle Junior had been installed as boss of the family while Tony controls things from behind the scenes. Furious at Junior's plan to have him killed, Tony responds to the attempt on his life with a violent reprisal and confronts his mother for her role in plotting his downfall. She has a psychologically triggered pseudo-stroke. Junior is arrested by the FBI. At the beginning of the , Richie Aprile is released from prison and proves to be uncontrollable in the business arena as well as starting a relationship with Tony's sister Janice . Tony's friend "Big Pussy" returns to New Jersey after a conspicuous absence and Tony realizes he is an FBI informant. Tony then personally kills Big Pussy. Janice kills Richie in a violent argument before Tony is forced to deal with him. The , Tony murders Ralph in a violent rage because he believes Ralph killed their racehorse Pie-O-My in a stable fire. Ralph's behavior up to that point had become increasingly erratic and senselessly violent, including the murder of one of Silvio Dante 's working girls. Tension between Tony and , Tony's cousin Tony Blundetto is released from prison alongside other mob figures. Carmine dies unexpectedly and his failure to nominate a successor leads to a power struggle in New York. Despite trying to avoid returning to organized crime, Blundetto gets involved in the conflict against Tony's orders. When Blundetto kills the brother of Phil Leotardo , Johnny demands that Tony turn him in. Refusing to do so provokes the New York faction, and eventually Tony elects to kill Blundetto himself rather than hand him over to be tortured. Christopher Moltisanti discovers that his girlfriend Adriana is an FBI informant and tells Tony. Tony, with Christopher's understanding, orders Silvio to kill Adriana. Tony eventually manages to convince Carmela to take him back. With one succesful reconciliation achieved Tony approaches Johnny to put an end to the bloodshed between their families and get back to business. As they meet Johnny is arrested by the FBI. At the beginning of The Sixth Season , Tony is shot by the now senile and confused Uncle Junior. Following the shooting, Tony has numerous vivid dreams while in a coma. These change his outlook and he tries to change his ways. However, he is faced with more problems in his business life. Vito Spatafore is outed as a homosexual and Tony is urged to deal with the problem by Phil Leotardo, now acting boss of New York with Johnny Sack in prison. When Tony fails to act, Phil intervenes and kills Spatafore. Tony's crime family commits a reprisal murder and once more it appears that the families are on the verge of all-out war. In the Second Part Of The Sixth Season , themes of legacy and succession are darkened by Tony's vindictiveness and paranoia. Tony, having virtually abandoned his new philosophy, considers killing several of his associates for relatively minor infractions. Christopher is unable to leave the mob, deflecting his problems by relapsing into drug addiction and killing his old narcotics anonymous sponsor. He is then seriously injured in a car accident that he causes while driving under the influence of narcotics. Tony, the sole passenger, is unharmed and suffocates Christopher to death. AJ Soprano is dumped by his fiancee and slips deeper into depression, culminating in a suicide attempt in the backyard pool. Dr. Melfi is convinced by friends that Tony is making no progress and may even be using talking therapy for his own sociopathic benefit. She drops him as a patient. Johnny Sack dies from cancer while imprisoned and Leotardo consolidates his position in the Lupertazzi family. He has his opposition for leadership killed and then officially takes over. In a resumption of their past feud Phil won't compromise with Tony on a garbage deal. When Tony assaults a Lupertazzi soldier for bothering Meadow on a date Phil seizes a chance for revenge. Phil orders the execution of Bobby Baccalieri , who is shot to death, Silvio, who ends up comatose, and Tony, who goes into hiding. A deal is brokered where the rest of the Lupertazzi family agree to ignore the order to kill Tony, and give Tony an opportunity to go after Phil. An FBI agent informs Tony of Phil's location and Tony has him killed. With Phil’s death, the threat from New York is extinguished and Tony, Carmela, Meadow, and AJ meet for dinner. THEMES AND CHARACTERISTICS ''The Sopranos'' is noted for David Chase 's multifaceted, Symbolism -heavy style of writing and the series has consistently been the subject of feverish analysis.6 The show operates on a rich number of levels. Chase and his co-writers have addressed a large number of Psychological , Philosophical and Political themes throughout the series' run. Italian culture and immigration Italy is referenced as "the old country" or "the other side" by mobsters or family members. Furio Giunta represents links between Italian and American Mafia . The show delves into, explains, and erodes some of the Italian traditions brought to America. The most prominent of these traditions (which include the mafia rules of behaviour including honor, a blood oath, Omerta and machismo) is Italian cooking, by mobster's wives or Tony's friend Artie Bucco in his restaurant. Tony says many times that Italians determined their own fate when they arrived in America, and did their best to survive as a strong, independent community. In a scene where Father Intintola invites a writer to his parish who says to Italian-American women that they should be proud of their heritage, and that they should talk about Rudy Giuliani when instead they talk about John Gotti , and the stereotypical Italian Mob . Carmela Soprano , Rosalie Aprile and Gabriela Dante are very upset. Throughout the series, it is revealed that Tony thinks Italian-Americans have abandoned many of the aforementioned traditions. His reliance on, sometimes to his disadvantage, the blood ties of family, including the increasing load of responsibility he levels at his nephew, Christopher, and his continued faith in an ailing Uncle Junior, reveals that he values old Country traditions, but feels betrayed by them. Tony, and others in the crew, constantly lament the erosion of these values and long for better days. Dreams See also: Tony Soprano's Dreams A distinct aspect of ''The Sopranos'' is the dream sequences. Series creator , 2006 , accessed March 19 , 2007 . states of them, "We've used those dreams to further the narrative. For example, 'Funhouse' could have been a story in which Tony gets some information that Pussy's the rat and he tracks it down and we do some stultifying procedural until we have the proof in hand. And I just couldn't go through that. I can't stand that (stuff). So we just decided it would be more interesting, that on some level Tony knows this, that his friend is betraying him, and it makes him ill in combination with some bad chicken, and his subconscious erupts like that and gives him the information." The dream sequence includes Tony talking to Big Pussy as a fish and realizing his friend is an FBI informant. In the dream, Pussy (the fish) tells Tony, "You knew. You passed me over for promotion." Another famous dream is the sequence in " The Test Dream " that is over 20 minutes in length. Season six contains the longest continuous "dream" sequence with Tony as a regular man having his identity mistaken for a man named Kevin Finnerty.Dehnart, Andy. Real, dream families blend for Tony Soprano , msnbc.com, March 20 , 2006 , accessed March 19 , 2007 . In the dream, Tony is stuck in Costa Mesa , California , a city he had traveled to for business, and because of mistaken identity, he cannot travel home. Finnerty is portrayed as a salesman who lives a conservative, law-abiding life. During this sequence, he has a memorable run-in with Buddhist monks at a nearby monastery Ineptitude of mobsters The '', April 2 , 2007 , accessed May 24 , 2007 . The characters themselves are frequently oblivious to their use of Malapropism s and misunderstandings of basic history and common knowledge, greatly adding to the comedy. The gangsters' incompetence is in some way displayed in every episode of the series. Some of the more notable examples include: Some mobsters are portrayed as intelligent and well-spoken in contrast, though they appear to be exceptions to the rule. For instance, , 2004 , accessed March 27 , 2007 . References and allusions ''Goodfellas'' Chase has stated that the '', April 5 , 2001 . ''The Sopranos'' began with four starring cast members ( Lorraine Bracco , Michael Imperioli , Tony Sirico and Vincent Pastore ) who had appeared in ''Goodfellas''. Later Frank Vincent , another ''Goodfellas'' cast member, joined the cast as Phil Leotardo . Joseph Gannascoli , who can be seen briefly in the film as an uncredited Extra , joined the cast as Vito Spatafore . Recurring characters played by actors who also appeared in ''Goodfellas'' include Barbara Soprano Giglione (Nicole Burdette), Larry Boy Barese (Tony Darrow), Carmine Lupertazzi (Tony Lip), FBI Chief Frank Cubitoso (Frank Pellegrino), Albie Cianflone (John "Cha Cha" Ciarcia), Mary De Angelis (Suzanne Sheperd), Beansie Gaeta (Paul Herman), Joanne Moltisanti (Marianne Leone, also played by ''Goodfellas'' alumna Nancy Cassaro in one earlier episode), Doc Santoro (Dan Conte) and Pat Blundetto (Frank Albanese). Anthony Caso appeared in ''The Sopranos'' episode " 46 Long " as Martin Scorsese and had a small part in ''Goodfellas''. Actor Chuck Low appeared as Jewish character Morrie in ''Goodfellas'' and Hasidic hotel owner Mr. Teitlemann in ''The Sopranos''. Actors who have had small roles in ''The Sopranos'' and ''Goodfellas'' include Tobin Bell , Gene Canfield, Gaetano LoGiudice, Vito Antuofermo , Frank Adonis, Anthony Alessandro, Victor Colicchio, and Angela Pietropinto. A total of 27 actors have appeared in both productions. ''Goodfellas'' star Ray Liotta was also an early candidate to play Tony Soprano. ''The Godfather'' |
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