The series "The Sopranos": reviews, actors, main characters, storyline

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

For six seasons, pictures of the difficult life of the Italian mafia in America unfolded before the audience. For the first time, the screen shows the everyday life of cruel criminals, who, in addition to specific work, also, it turns out, have a completely human personal life. Almost all reviews of the series "The Sopranos" are positive, although there are viewers who categorically do not accept gangsters with a "human face" even in their personal lives.

General information

A cult American crime television series that premiered in 1999 on the HBO cable channel. The Sopranos ran for six seasons and ended in 2007. In Russia, the TV movie was shown by the NTV channel in 2002, many viewers found the translation boring and too politically correct. In 2007 "TV-3"broadcast the series "The Sopranos" translated by Goblin (Dmitry Puchkov).

The target audience of the TV series is exclusively an adult, maybe even rather a male audience. In "The Sopranos", as befits a film about the Italian mafia, there are many scenes of violence, drug use and female nudity. And of course, gangsters often use rude language. As a result, many viewers felt that Losfilm's dubbing of The Sopranos was much more accurate in the spirit of the original.

Series and awards

A total of 86 episodes were filmed in the series, the first five consist of thirteen episodes, the last season of twenty-one episodes. The pilot episode was ready by October 1997, however, despite the positive feedback from friends and actors, David Chase, the creator of the project, doubted that the channel would take the series into production. He entered into negotiations with another channel, but before Christmas, HBO confirmed that they liked the pilot and ordered the first season. Filming of the first season of thirteen episodes began only a year later.

The picture invariably occupies one of the first places in various ratings for the best series of all time. In total, the series "The Sopranos" and the actors who starred in the film received more than 110 nominations for cinematographic awards and 45 awards, including the most prestigious ones - 21 television awards "Emmy" and a five-time winner of the "Golden Globe" award. And even received a medical award from the "Union of Psychiatric Organizations" forauthentic display of the relationship between patient and doctor.

Based on a true story

The script for the first season of The Sopranos was based on the true story of a mafia Italian family from New Jersey. The "godfather" Jake Amari died in 1997 after a severe illness from bowel cancer. After the death of the head of the clan, a bloody struggle for power began between the three groups within the gangster family. At the same time, each of the factions attracted allies from among the large families from New York. In subsequent seasons, the writers had to adapt borrowed stories from other gangster families to the New Jersey Sopranos or simply invent conflicts.

The creator of the project, David Chase, grew up in approximately the same areas where the series takes place. He went to school with his children, as he himself later wrote that he received all the information about the life of the mafia from second hand. One of the actors, Tony Sirico, who played the role of Peter Paul "Poly" G altieri, was associated with the Colombo crime family before starting his acting career, was arrested more than 28 times and served time in prison. Maybe that's why among the admirers who left positive reviews about the series "The Sopranos", there were real mafiosi.

New hero

The main innovation of the film was that the head of a small clan of Tony Soprano, except for the time when he is busy with "work", is shown as an ordinary person, perhaps similar to oneof your neighbors, loaded with many common family problems. It was a completely new look at the American family, the problems of the Italian diaspora and organized crime.

As HBO director Chris Albrecht recalled when he made the decision to allocate money for filming, this is a story about an ordinary guy in his 40s who inherited the business from his father. He tries to conduct business in accordance with modern conditions. He has a power-hungry mother who tries to control him, and he wants to finally gain complete independence. He loves his wife, but constantly cheats. He has two teenage children with their own problems. From all this, the hero becomes depressed and begins to attend sessions of a psychotherapist. And Chris came to the conclusion that the only difference between Tony and many of his acquaintances is that he is a mafia don.

Path to screen

David Chase before The Sopranos worked for about twenty years in television - he produced television series and wrote scripts. Projects in which he has been involved include the television films North Side, Detective Rockford's Dossier and I'll Fly Away. Initially, Chase intended to make a feature-length picture about a gangster undergoing psychotherapy sessions due to conflicts with his mother. However, his agent advised him to focus on the series. In 1995, he signed a contract with Brillstein Gray production center and wrote for them the original script for the pilot episode, adapted his own work.

The head of the center and Chase offered a pilot to sever altelevision channels. At first, specialists from the Fox Broadcasting Company became interested in the idea, but after reading the script for the pilot film, they still did not dare to continue further work. All the major free-to-air channels also abandoned it, their management worried about the large number of details, complexity and unusual pace of development of events. It was this unusualness that attracted the attention of the director of the HBO channel, who appreciated the great potential and began financing the project.

Film concept

The idea for the film was born during a course of psychotherapy, when Chase introduced an Italian gangster who fell into depression and signed up for a psychotherapist. When writing the script, he relied on his childhood memories and personal experience of living in New Jersey, imagined his family life in a criminal environment.

The main conflict of the film, according to reviews of the series "The Sopranos", is not between rival mafiosi, but between Tony Soprano and his elderly mother Livia (Nancy Marchand). It is actually written off from the relationship of the screenwriter himself with his mother. Then he had to use the services of a psychotherapist, which is why Dr. Jennifer Melfi (Lorraine Bracco) appeared in the film.

Originally Italian, his real name is Decesare, Chase admired the mafia from a young age and de alt with criminals more than once in real life. Chase himself was very fond of classic gangster films and series. And he believed that by showing the mafia environment, he would be able to touch upon the problems of the American family, ethnic identity andshow the nature of violence.

Goodfellas

According to the script, the action of the series takes place among American Italians, therefore, most of the actors of the series "The Sopranos" were selected from this ethnic environment. Many of them have already starred in various series and films about Italian organized crime. For example, Vincent Pastore, who landed the role of Salvatore "Big Pussy" Bonpensiero, who also played in a variety of other gangster films.

Tony Sirico agreed to play violent mobster Paulie G altieri only on the condition that his character was not a "snitch". Since, in addition to acting, he also had a great criminal experience.

Chase himself looked through most of the candidates, listening to the actors for a long time at the casting. As Michael Imperioli recalled, he was approved for the role of Christopher Moltisanti, the screenwriter sat with a stone face and constantly corrected, which is usually done when an actor plays badly. And he already thought he had failed the audition.

Other heroes

James Gandolfini was found by a casting assistant after seeing him in a small scene in True Love (1993). James got the role of Tony Soprano. Lorraine Bracco was invited to the role of his wife - Carmela Soprano, as she had already played the wife of the main mobster in the movie "Goodfellas". But in the end, the actress played Dr. Jennifer Melfi, she wanted to try herself in a new role. And the role of the wife went to Edie Falco. The role of the chiefTony's antagonist, Corrado "Junior" Soprano, his late father's younger brother, received Dominic Chianese.

Stephen van Zandt was cast by Chase as Silvio Dante, the consigliere (adviser to the head of the clan), and Mowry, his real wife, as his wife Gabriela. This was Steven's first film role, best known as the bass player for the E Street Band.

Series plot

At a family picnic, Tony Soprano, a mafia boss from northern New Jersey, suddenly faints. When examined in the clinic, it turns out that the loss of consciousness is the result of psychological overstrain. On the recommendation of a doctor neighbor, Tony makes an appointment with psychotherapist Jennifer Melfi. When a doctor finds out who the main character of The Sopranos is, she warns that she must report to the police if she learns of intent to harm a person.

The whole plot of the series is based on how the main character overcomes various difficulties associated with criminal activity and personal life. According to reviews of the series "The Sopranos", this is a real encyclopedia of gangster life, which reliably shows the bestial cruelty of the mafia environment. On the other hand, this is a complex family drama, the hero has a difficult relationship with his wife and children. And especially with his mother, who is unhappy with almost everything he does.

Tony in the last episode remains the same as in the beginning of the series, he is a liar, a manipulator, a scoundrel and a criminal. Many viewers were very unhappy with the final scene when the screen went black for a few seconds. There were manydiscussions, how the series "The Sopranos" ended - whether the hero remained alive or he was killed. Opinions were divided almost equally.

Reason for success

One of the important components of success was the demonstration of the everyday life of average gangsters, which turned out to be very similar to the life of an average American. And the creators of the series were able to insert into separate episodes a discussion of all the issues that interested the authors and ordinary residents of the country. There are episodes in the film that discuss black and white American music, talk about finding a good college for children, installing a home theater and about Hollywood itself.

At the same time, everything looks organic, there are lively reactions of Italian gangsters and family members to technological innovations and mass culture events, the characters do not speak in stereotypes or too witty, but in quite normal language.

What's new in the series

The series actually laid the foundation for a new concept of "prestigious television", which in terms of quality is not inferior to high-budget feature films. At the same time, it significantly exceeds the scope of the plot and the detail of the characters. Among the best shows, The Sopranos was the first on a pay-per-view cable channel to have more American viewers than the free public broadcast.

It also turned out to be completely new that the action takes place in small suburbs, and not in the largest metropolitan areas of the world, which gives an earthiness unusual for cinema and television. Before"The Sopranos" it was believed that such films can only be made about the most famous mafiosi from the main clans of the most criminal big cities. At the same time, it is better according to a script written on real events based on the memoirs of some authority or on the book of a journalist specializing in criminal investigations.