Many saints in Newark commented: The Sopranos’ prequel movies are mainly for fans

Every prequel is a sequel-especially All Saints of Newark, A movie advertised as “A soprano story. ”The movie was released in theaters and HBO Max at the same time, with the background set in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and Sopranos, This groundbreaking TV series helped HBO become a powerful cultural force.This movie happened decades ago Sopranos, But if there is no TV series, it may not exist. Although its story is independent, it is mainly aimed at fans of the show, reinterpreting the ideas and themes explored by writer and producer David Chase in six seasons. It is both the end of the show and the prologue.

Then whether Many saints The work as a film may depend on the investment level of the audience Sopranos. This is a beautiful and interesting movie, but many of its meanings stem from the audience’s care for the few TV characters they may or may not know.

For those who have never watched the show, All Saints of Newark It may appear bloated and strangely unfocused. The story told is mainly about a non-soprano Role: Dickie Mortisanti (Alessandro Nivola), a charming New Jersey gang trying to escape from his domineering father “Hollywood Dick” Mortisatti (Ray Liotta) Decoration) shadow. In the course of the movie, Dickie struggles between his love for Italian immigrant Giuseppina (Michela De Rossi) and other responsibilities, mainly about his organized crime family and his reality. Family, which includes a newborn son.

exist SopranosDickie is a distant legend, people remember that he is the late father of the next generation of gangster Christopher Mortisanti (played by Michael Imparioli, who is also the narrator of the movie) and his nephew Tony The hero of Soprano (James Gandolfini), who became Christopher’s boss and mentor. All Saints of Newark It is shown that Dicky helps Tony (Michael Gandolfini, James’ son), but it is more about Dicky’s efforts to become a better person than the liar before him. As part of this effort, he worked closely with Harold McBrel (Lesley Odom Jr.), a black gangster whose paranoid Italian-American colleagues feel deeply distrustful.

The first half of the film is roughly set in 1967, focusing on the relationship between the two men and spending a lot of time with Harold because he weighed the possibility of leaving the Italian and running his own team. Chase (wrote the script with Lawrence Konner) and director Alan Taylor will contrast the conservative culture of the old mafia soldiers who still wear suits and listen to Frank Sinatra with the changing culture around them, where acid rock and political activism have taken root. Tensions boiled over the Newark race riots in 1967, which eventually broke the bond between Harold and Dickie.

Chase said that the origin All Saints of Newark Earlier than Sopranos, And he always wanted to make a movie set in the Newark riots.He eventually folded this idea into one soprano Project, once he is satisfied with the idea of ​​revisiting these roles—and soprano Prequels are easier to sell than completely original historical dramas.

But in Many saints‘The second half was set around 1972, and the themes of racial tension and social change began to fade, because Chase and his company gave the teenage Tony, his rough mother Livia (Vila Famiga) and his brutal The father of Johnny (Jon Burnser) more screening time).This is the place for any newcomers Sopranos It may start to get confused because Harold has become a less important character, and the story turns to the relationship between Dickie and Tony. In the end, it’s more like a proper prequel, explaining how Tony Soprano became the anxiety and nostalgic mafia he appeared on TV.

Photo: Warner Bros.

To this end, Chase provides a large number of soprano Fan service. Young versions of most of the main characters of the play appeared, and the actors basically imitated the original. (The most successful: Corey Stoll played the teenage soprano, capturing the essence of Dominique Giannis’s teenage performance, playing a complaining man and manipulating people on the sidelines.) The film is also spread. soprano For Easter eggs, the most striking thing is the choice of locations in New Jersey, many of which are very important in the TV series.

real, All Saints of Newark More like two soprano The flashback episode is a real movie than it is.But in the end the most important thing is they OK Flashback plot.

The time Chase left the franchise did not diminish his ability to compose lively dialogues for these thugs and their families, nor did it diminish his mastery of details. This movie is full of weirdness, soprano-Typical moments, such as a criminal giving another stolen TV to pay off a $300 debt, or Dickie casually telling Tony that he does not know that Jews existed in the Middle Ages, Tony replied, “Um… the Bible…”

Although Chase did not properly deal with the Newark race relations story he originally intended to tell, he, Connor and Taylor did an excellent job of getting to the core of one of them. Sopranos‘Subject: The feeling that the golden age has passed.There are two main recurring themes All Saints of Newark: Large Italian banquet, old friends gather at the seemingly delicious food platter and funeral, these friends say goodbye to those who pay for these dishes.

The film’s initial contrast is between Dickie and Harold, who is trapped in the gang tradition, and the latter makes him exhausted. Later, Tony regarded his uncle as a magician who could get whatever he wanted, and Dicky paid the price for this power. Always, All Saints of Newark It is clear the actual cost of this life.

Photo: Barry Witcher/Warner Bros.

In his 1995 prose film Personal Journey of American Cinema with Martin ScorseseScorsese talked about the concept of “smuggling” by old Hollywood filmmakers in their works: artists like Jacques Tourneur, Fritz Lang, Anthony Mann, and Douglas Sirk, who produced elaborate, audience-friendly These films also feature some cunning comments on human nature, social order, and American materialism.

Given the following circumstances, it may be feasible to call Chase a smuggler Sopranos It has always been a show with rich themes, open to its more literary and film conceit.But with All Saints of Newark, He did take something he knew people wanted—more soprano —— and use this as an excuse to roam in his own memory and attention.The result may not be fully satisfied soprano Fans, or non-fans, for different reasons. But even in its lumpy and incompleteness, this movie gives people a vivid feeling.

All Saints of Newark It’s now in theaters and played on HBO Max.