Episode 08- The FBI Invade

The episode starts at a wedding where everyone learns the FBI is going to crack down on the mob. Spring cleaning immediately takes place (I mean immediately as in all husbands’ grab their wives and leave the wedding in that second). This is not your normal spring cleaning, in the mob world spring cleaning means that everyone hides their weapons, money and jewelry.

There’s a lot of discussion from Dr. Melfi’s family and the Soprano family about what it means to be Italian. The episode gets a little preachy and seems to be beating in the idea of what is the real Italian. Chris feels jealousy that his friend gets mentioned on TV while he doesn’t get any notice for being part of the mafia. Overall, there were interesting themes but a dull episode in the end. It just fell a little flat. It did try to show the conflict someone like Melfi might have dealing with Tony, which is a question I believe needed to be asked and looked at but could it have been done a bit differently? I like the idea of her talking with her family about her mob patient but eventually found the dialogue forced and unnatural.

The best scene in my mind is a tie but both have the grandmother in it. I find every scene she’s in to be downright fascinating. I absolutely loved Carmela trying to get the grandmother to go to lunch with her so that Tony can plant his hidden goodies in her retirement home. And the other, is the scene where Livia sits with Junior at a monstrously bad stand-up comedian act and plants the information that Tony is seeing a psychiatrist. She knows exactly what she’s doing and yet she plays it off as if a wrong has been done to her.

Episode 07- Tony Remembers His Childhood

AJ is diagnosed with ADD, which makes Tony begin to question if he’s doomed his son, through his nature and through nurture.

Memories of his father and mother and his life as a boy come back through flashback sequences.The sequences, which reminded me of the early scenes in Goodfellas or A Bronx Story, were a nice change a pace from all episodes so far.

The question of if he was predestined to end up a gangster or if he had had a choice comes up. Grandma learns that Tony has been seeing a psychiatrist and trouble really starts brewing. It all comes down to his mother again. The human side of Tony really comes out at the end of the episode. Here he simply is the family man; playing Nintendo with his son or making an ice cream Sunday by spraying half a can of whipped cream in his mouth.

The mob stuff doesn’t take center stage in this episode; instead it really focuses on fatherhood. The whole episode helps to see where he came from and what makes him tick. It also poses an interesting question for Tony; why did he become a gangster? Did he ever really have a choice or was his fate sealed the moment his father didn’t get out?

Episode 06- Tony Loves Dr. Melfi

Junior becomes boss and already trouble is brewing. Junior’s not stupid but he’s just not able to handle all the difficult personalities around him. A mob boss needs finesse, sensitivity and the ability to be one step ahead, all of which Junior is incapable of. Junior’s biggest fault is that he cannot separate his personal grievances and his pride from the job of being the boss. When it comes down to it, he’s not Tony. Unfortunately for Tony, Junior’s not taking his position lightly and is already mixing it up within the organization. And, on top of it all, Livia sticks her hand into the mobster’s business, yet again, convincing Junior to charge a tax to Hesh, Tony’s longtime friend and adviser.

So, while all this is going down, Tony is also facing other challenges. These challenges lie in the bedroom. A few fantasies later and Tony believes he’s in love with his therapist. In a wonderful scene at the therapists, Tony admits to Dr. Melfi that he’s in love with her only to be shot down when she explains that it’s simply a byproduct of therapy. The dialogue is so good in this scene and Lorraine Bracco gives a wonderful performance here. She has to show Melfi keeping cool and yet you can see how hard it is for her. As he tells her she remains tightlipped with her usual neutral gaze. It’s as though you can imagine Dr. Melfi putting on an act in that moment, desperately trying to not show any emotion and carefully choosing her words. Most likely she’s been trained for moments like this but it seems that with Tony there is a greater danger. (I mean, if there was one single patient you wouldn’t want to piss off and belittle it would be Tony Soprano)! She treads lightly with her words but stands her ground when he reacts to his bruised ego. It is a wonderful, brutal scene.

And lastly, the tender scene that follows Tony’s confession where Tony and Carmela lounge by the pool strikes a totally different chord. In the previous episode Carmela’s strange and tempestuous night with the priest has led to her recognition that she has a lot of guilt and sadness because of her acceptance and at times gratefulness of Tony’s job and behavior. This all leads to her shocking confession in this episode that she accepted and even welcomed Tony’s ‘goomahs’ in the beginning of their marriage.
The one woman who has finally made her jealous is the one who is finally helping her husband face his demons; a role she is not able to fulfill. Her confession of this to Tony is one of the first moments where the connection between Carmela and Tony first shines. Their marriage will become more and more central to the series as it goes and in this episode you’re given a real chance to see that even with everything they really do care about each other.

Episode 04- A.J. Learns the Truth and Episode 05- A College Visit to Remember

The Godfather, Goodfellas, Donnie Brasco and so on and so on. The mob story has been done so often that a six and a half year-long series might seem to be unoriginal or even unnecessary. While the themes and basic ideas remain the same, The Sopranos is anything but a retelling of a story already told.

So what makes it so remarkably fresh? In all reality the success of the show is probably a number of things- smart writing, a strong cast of actors, a mixture of humor/drama/psychological thriller; but that’s the same formula as the previous mobster flicks I’ve listed. There is one simple factor which makes The Sopranos stand out on its own. That factor is the character Tony. With Gandolfini’s whole embodiment of the character, Tony’s many facets and complexities bring to life one of the most remarkable characters to ever be scene on a TV. The show really is at its best when it contrasts the two conflicting areas of Tony’s life; the mob world and the real world.

In The Sopranos the mundane continually intersects with the extraordinarily violent world of the mafia, making the viewer constantly unsure how to understand this wonderfully complicated anti-hero. In these two episodes the effects of Tony’s job on his children takes center stage.

At age 13, A.J. begins to figure out what his father really does when he gets special treatment during a playground fight. At the end of the episode the young boy’s full realization of the world he’s been brought up in is depicted in an elegant scene.
In a cemetery, A.J. watches as his father stands around with his ‘uncles’ at the former mob boss’s funeral while government agents manically take photos of every person at the sacred gathering. A feeling of pride, wonder and confusion come across the boy’s face. Distanced and standing across from Tony and the other mobsters, he sees what his father really is and then, in a split second, his father looks at him and winks. It’s a wonderful moment when we the viewers’ share the same perspective as A.J. We are outside of the dangerous world of the mafia looking in but with one swift glance and blink of an eye we are brought in, connected and fascinated simply through the charm and charisma of Gandolfini’s Tony. He may be dangerous, but you can’t help get swept away by him.

The next episode is Meadow’s turn to confront what she’s already known for a while, that her father is in the mafia. Tony and Meadow get some quality time when Tony is given the task of driving his daughter to college visits around the East Coast while Carmela lays home in bed sick. Tony as a father is strict and demanding; continually trying to make his children understand and follow his sometimes archaic values. But, at the same time, he is also a gentle, caring, normal dad. He is a man who can’t get over what a beautiful and intelligent young woman his daughter has become at a dinner and all the while planning how he will manage to kill an ex-mafia member.

The inner conflict Tony has to deal with really comes head to head in this brilliantly written episode. Tony drives his daughter from campus to campus but then spots a man he thinks ratted out many of his friends to the feds. Tony dines with his daughter and has a heart to heart with her about his career but cannot really tell her the truth; only a half truth. Tony whisks his daughter away to hang out with some college kids so he can investigate the ex-mafia member further but before he can make a move he has to lovingly assist his drunk and stumbling daughter back to their hotel room.

Tony’s two worlds have never come so close to colliding as is shown in this episode. It is obvious that Tony will eventually have to face some consequences for his actions, maybe not now (some noisy neighbors distract the gunman from shooting Tony as he helps Meadow into the room), but it is obvious that in the future there is going to be no hiding who he really is and no hiding his family from the danger of his job.

Episode 03- Business Crosses Cultures

This is an episode with a lot going on for every member in the family.

Tony has to deal with the business of a Jewish family and with his friend, Jackie Aprile, dying of cancer. Carmela has a silent auction at the home. She asks family friend Artie to cater the event but ends up treating his wife, her ‘friend’, as a servant. Charmaine gets back at her in a great scene that is unexpected and bitter. Meadow has trouble handling everything she has to handle in high school so she goes to extremes to get through it.

The best parts of the episode are two scenes. The first involves Tony trying to help his dying friend with the only way he knows how, a dancer from his club. It’s a humorous and sad attempt to help a friend. It shows just how lost Tony is with how to help his friend but at the same time how much Tony cares for his friend. It proves that, in his own way, Tony truly has a heart. Tony may be a brute but he is no Golem as the Jewish father has suggested.

The other great scene is straight from The Godfather, a montage of violence and peace. It all begins with Livia, the conniving grandmother. More and more we see just how much power she has over the whole mafia. Manipulative and vengeful, it is obvious how detrimental her words can be as she advises Junior to scare Chris and kill Chris’s friend. What follows is a carefully crafted scene in which a moved Tony watches his daughter’s choir sing an angelic song as the violence blessed by Livia occurs. It’s a brilliant homage to one of the most famous scenes in cinema.

Sopranos

When I saw James Gandolfini had died my heart sank. The days following his death I read post after post, article after article about how upset people/critics/actors were about his passing. It was really interesting to me because when he was alive he didn't seem to be one of the most well-known or often talked about actors around. Essentially he had one role which everyone remembered so fondly that in his death people felt they'd lost a friend.


So, my way of paying tribute was to watch his one great role again. The first time I saw The Sopranos was four years ago. I had left my job at a high school and was waiting to start my next at a new school. My boyfriend (now my husband) was working long hours at a catering company. Being alone in a foreign country where I didn't speak the language meant I had a lot of time on my hands. I had never really watched a long running hour-long TV drama before and thought I'd give this one, which I'd heard so much about, a try.


At first, I attempted to watch the series with Tomas but finally couldn't wait for him to come home on the weekend or one night a week to get to the next episode. Pretty soon I was doing what so many others have done with these types of shows, living it. When I reached the last episode I felt even more alone than when I started it. I lived, breathed and solely thought about The Sopranos.


This time things are much different. I have time but not so much. My husband and I are watching it together so I have someone to share it with. But I quickly realized that one thing is the same, as with all these types of shows I watch; if you watch them fast, you forget. It's one of the real downsides of watching a couple episodes a night. A week in and it all starts to blend together. So my solution was to try to keep an ongoing commentary about each episode. I figure I don't have to say much, just whatever is on my mind when we finish each.


I didn't start with the first two episodes because I didn't get the idea until the third. (I'll go back and do those two in the future). Sometimes I write a lot and sometimes I write a little. I write them fast and then add things if I think of them later.


So here's to Tony....

The Tree of Life

Anyone who has seen a Terrence Malick film knows that it will be more about the emotions the come from the long, slow, arduous shots of water running, bugs flying or a close up on a character’s face rather than about fitting into the formula which most films follow. He is not a director who rushes the pace of a film but instead builds the film slowly and calculatingly. His latest movie, The Tree of Life, has taken his signature style one step further. Dialogue becomes secondary to the ambient sound of trees rustling or birds tweeting. Dialogue barely carries the story; in fact in some scenes classical music overpowers the dialogue. While the dialogue is still audible it acts more as secondary background sound while the music of Bach and Brahms sets the tone, pace and style of the film. At times Tree is like a silent film and other times it’s like an experimental movie in a modern art gallery. Yet, every moment, no matter how pretentious they may seem, are there for a reason, setting a mood, building emotion and sending multiple messages. As with Malick’s last few films, the style takes some getting used to and is really not for everyone as my husband can attest to.

I appreciate Tree for what it wanted to do in its strange and complex way. I left the cinema unsure of my feelings, confused and a little elated. Often when I’ve seen a great film that is different from anything I’ve seen before (my first time with Ran, Raging Bull, Bonnie and Clyde) I finish the movie trying to figure out the images I have just seen and why they have spoken to me the way they have. I replay scenes over and over again in my mind; I try to remember lines and dialogue; I try to figure out the motivations behind the character’s actions. I’m left thinking and rethinking the film and in the end I find myself only more impressed with what I’ve seen. There were moments when I was watching Tree that I felt frustrated trying to find some cohesiveness from one scene or one image to the next. In other moments, such as some of the voice over’s and long shots of the creation, I was thinking, “God, this seems pretentious and unnecessary”. And then at other times, I was struck by the beauty of the images filling the screen. It seemed that once I got over the style and got into the story I couldn’t peel my eyes away. I felt so much for the characters that I was unfazed by the things which had distracted me in the beginning.

Tree jumps around in time beginning with a mother (Jessica Chastain) receiving a letter telling her of the death of one of her sons. The film then skips to the present day where Sean Penn plays an older version of the eldest son Jack. As he goes through the motions of his day the anniversary of the death of his brother sends him spiraling outside the reality of the successful world he is involved in. His mother’s voiceover continues and the film goes back in time. When I say back in time I mean way back in time, to the creation of the universe. Images of the big bang, dinosaurs and eventually humans led us up to the beginning of Jack’s life and through his childhood where the majority of the film is concentrated and where, at least for me, the film really took off.

Part of the reason it takes off is Brad Pitt. Where did this Pitt come from? His jaw protruding out and the lines around his eyes markedly visible even with his wide rimmed glasses covering them. He seems like a different person from the Pitt before. The pretty boy with the side cracked smile and cocky manner are a thing of the past in this role. In their place is a matured and a bit unsentimental character. Something has changed in Pitt, maybe it has been fatherhood, maybe it’s getting older, but whatever it is it has allowed him to turn out a character, hardened by the failures of his life and yet desiring to give love and protection to his only achievement, his children. His actions towards them, especially Jack his oldest, are brutal, tough and painful at times. His is a scary drill sergeant, controlling and commanding his home through his temperamental volcanic personality. But Pitt and Malick don’t allow this character to become a one dimensional, over-the-top bully. Moments of tenderness coexist with the hardness, allowing Pitt to create a complex portrait of a difficult and damaged man. It’s this juxtaposition of the brute and the gentle, along with life and death, right and wrong, nature and God that perplex and captivate.

The question I’m left with after seeing it for the first time is, “Was the beginning, the long set up, the images of the universe, the volcanoes, fish, ocean, etc. all necessary to put me in the mood, to give the rest of the story the impact which stayed with me long after I saw the film? Or could the film have done without it?” Malick is a 67 year old director who truly marches to the beat of his own drum and in this movie it is even more apparent that Tree is the mark of an older man, grappling with old age, the meaning of his life and the idea of an afterlife.

For me, the movie may have had one too many big ideas and life questions but as in all Malick films he doesn’t seem to care. It seems to me that Malick says everything he wants to say and makes the film for himself. It’s as if he’s saying F*** you to the rest of the world, I’m going to make a movie which expresses what I want to express. He seems to be working out all his inner conflicts, turmoil, and confusion right there on the screen and then doesn’t feel the need to explain or justify it afterwards. And for that I say, viewers let go of your premonitions and just “go with the flow”. Let the movie suck you in and even if you’re unsure of what is happening in front of your eyes, the movie will leave its mark, good or bad.