Every day when he opened his eyes, he put on a white bathrobe at will, dragging the body like a Russian brown bear to deal with a few bites of pizza. When he heard his call, he knew that he had to go to a pork shop or a striptease bar to handle the fight and arrange work.
The rest of the time, he is either in the bed of his mistress or basking in the street. This is the day of Tony Seprano, the boss of the American drama "The Sopranos". There is no elegant violent myth in the legendary gang, but instead the greasy desires of middle-aged men.
But this drama has been judged by countless critics: it opened up a new era of mafia film and television dramas. And the ultimate secret of its success may lie in telling the story of a gang boss around the American people. This story is not in the temple but in the market for the first time.
Divine drama at the turn of the first century
Unlike classic mafia movies such as "Once Upon a Time in America" and "Good Guys," the main story of "The Sopranos" takes place in northern New Jersey, rather than New York where the Mafia families are concentrated in the traditional sense.
Therefore, when we try to find out which of the five Mafia families in New York is the actual prototype of the actor Tony in the play, we will find that it is always difficult to match.
Of course, the more important reason lies in the original shooting purpose of creator David Chance. After Chance created the most original script of "The Sopranos", he planned to make it into a movie about the mentally problematic Mafia boss and the emotional entanglement between his mother and his mother, and this mother-child relationship was born out of Qian. Si's past reality, it is naturally difficult for us to find the reality prototype of Tony's boss.
However, when Chance’s story was approved by HBO executives and the original feature film was changed to a 13-episode TV series, it meant that he had to outline more about the Mafia in the original family ethics drama. Clues to crime and violence.
Mental illness, family troubles, and mafia, these three elements make "The Sopranos" not only different from the previous mafia film and television dramas, but also elevated family ethics drama to unprecedented heights. The whole show focuses on multiple aspects of the mafia boss Tony Seprano.
On a personal level, he suffered from panic disorder for a long time and would faint inexplicably from time to time. In order to treat this disease, he had to ask a psychologist for help. As the mafia boss, he had to bury this matter deep in his heart so as not to be known to the outside world. Influence majesty.
At the family level, due to Tony's endless love affairs, his relationship with his wife Carmela has been strained, and in the face of a pair of children who are in adolescence, he has to hide his mafia identity so as not to affect the growth of the child. In addition, he also cares about his selfish and indifferent mother and his cunning and sinister uncle. At the mafia level, Tony wants to balance the power of the gang and at the same time mediate the struggle with the New York Mafia.
As a result, "The Sopranos" uses Tony as a character to expose the mafia, a mysterious criminal organization, to the fullest. Compared with the legendary epic masterpieces such as "The Godfather" and "Once Upon a Time in America", this drama does the opposite, reflecting the most daily and private side of the Mafia members.
For example, their inner fears, their ambiguity towards homosexuality, and their unique way of getting along with their families. Even many serious literary critics value the depth of the play and compare it with Russian novels.
The private space of the second gang boss
If the encyclopedic mafia show has not surpassed the content of "The Sopranos" so far, then using the form of private spaces such as psychology and dreams to dissect the character of the gang boss, it is unique. Tag of.
In the 86 episodes of the six seasons of the whole show, a large number of dreams and surreal episodes appeared, and some episodes were even composed of Tony's dreams, such as the second episode of the sixth season. And this whimsy, thanks to the creator David Chance.
Chance suffered from depression when he was a teenager, and he had to sleep more than 18 hours a day in high school. This pain has been with him throughout his life.
At the same time, the films of Italian director Fellini had a profound influence on his artistic creation, especially the "Eight and a half" full of dreams and fantasy.
So Chance took local materials and grafted his life experience to Tony, letting many unspeakable behavioral logic and motivations, as well as the fragile and sensitive aspects of the characters, be treated with dreams. In the 12th episode of season 1, Tony's fantasy of Italian beauty reflects his desire for the perfect combination of sexuality and maternal love; in season 2, episode 9 of Christopher's dreams, it is to elicit Poly's inner fear; episode 2 and 13 , Tony eats bad stomach and has nightmares, a metaphor for his inner suffering before the execution of Pucci; and in the second and third episodes of season 6, the dreams of these two episodes are different from all the previous ones.
In Tony's previous dreams, there will be dead old friends, suicidal mistresses, and of course familiar faces in his daily life. But in this last "Dream of Death", all the familiar people are gone, and even Tony's identity as the mafia boss is gone. He is just an ordinary company employee and encountered an Oolong when his briefcase was taken by mistake. event.
Therefore, the shooting that made Tony almost killed was not only to make Tony and his uncle Colorado completely break, but also to expose Tony's subconscious desire in dreams: to get rid of the reality of life and identity, and to completely change the way of life.
This form of inserting all kinds of absurd dreams and allowing Tony to see the psychologist from beginning to end makes the show "pretentious" at first glance, but it is actually the most appropriate way to tell the story of the Mafia members.
For the horns who advertised the straight men of steel and could not bear the slightest weakness in the play, they would never reveal their fear or guilt to each other or their family members.
Therefore, only psychotherapy can allow Tony to show his delicate and warm side, and only in dreams can he honestly reveal those complex contradictory subconscious minds.
This technique has hardly appeared in previous American dramas. David Chance took the lead with "The Sopranos". Later, Vince Gilligan's "Breaking Bad" followed this approach. No. 3 In the 10th episode of the season, the entire episode is hitting the flies.
Three black New Jersey bones
In the chapter of "Dream of Red Mansions" in Daguanyuan's censorship, Tanchun tells the secret of the decline of the Jia family: "Hundred-legged insects, die but not stiff", you must commit suicide from your home before you can be defeated! The same applies to "The Sopranos".
In the criminal family run by Tony, he tried his best to check and balance, but as the plot progressed, whether it was his Serprano house or everyone in the Mafia, every member of Tony was exhausted physically and mentally.
The tragic development of the characters and the unstoppable social changes are used to spy on the various disillusions of the gang society. This is the reason why "The Sopranos" is still so embarrassing. When we examine the fate of the characters in the play, we will find that they are either killed or in desperate situation. His wife Carmela went from being disappointed in her marriage to despairing of her family; her son became a depressed patient who had attempted suicide; her daughter was about to marry the son of a ghost child; the former right-hand man was either betrayed or killed, and the remaining old, weak and disabled generals I just want to spend my old age ignoring the affairs of the rivers and lakes.
Of course, the most chilling thing to Tony was his nephew Christopher. From indulging in screenwriting, to drug abuse and decadence, to committing to movies, Tony's expectations were completely disappointed.
In addition to these characters who ended in tragedy, the Mafia is also facing tremendous social changes. In the sixth season, whether it is the expansion of chain shopping malls or the acquisition of real estate companies, Tony's sphere of influence has been continuously reduced.
Through these internal and external changes, "The Sopranos" disillusioned the "American Dream" of Italian immigrants from the 19th century. To a certain extent, this sense of disillusionment is an inevitable theme of mafia-themed movies and TV dramas. In the "Godfather" series, Michael Corleone's last feeling of disillusionment holding his daughter's body; "Once Upon a Time in America" Noodles' disillusionment of the passing of loyalty from the rivers and lakes all silently declare to us: The Mafia never ends well.
"The Sopranos" is different. Although Tony lost his soldiers and soldiers in the battle with the New York gang, he and his wife and children were unscathed. The end of the film even allowed a family of four to have a warm dinner.
Until the end, it was still using the superficial harmony of the family to cover the already riddled heart. Tony knew that he couldn't die well, but he still faced this helpless world with a fearless and thoughtful lazy expression, even though it was disillusioned, he still moved forward with a burden.
This kind of ending, although black, but hidden warmth. Perhaps this is the reason why we love this classic American drama so much.
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