Raider Nation
Devil's Advocate
Pretty damned interesting Washington Post article:
Holy
And check out the photos in this link!I get it!
Or, to quote the jubilant Tony Soprano in the desert dawn, after waking
next to his own Little Miss Sunshine: "I GET IT!" I've heard the Word,
and the message is: Tony dies.
How do I know? Because one single image from last week's finale of "The
Sopranos" had dogged me, pestered me, miffled me for days: The shot from
the final scene immediately after Tony enters the eatery -- as the
jump-cut allows us to view this father at a table, surrounded by a dozen
or so diners.
That extreme horizontal framing. That central figure bathed in light.
Those four framed rectangles in the background, with people all around.
Finally, it hit me like a bolt from the black. (As capo Bobby Bacala
said on the boat this season: You probably won't even see/hear it
coming.) Series creator David Chase, like Coppola and Scorsese and other
great religion-steeped directors, was invoking a centuries-old painting
that depicts a biblical scene.
That's right. His Last Scene is . . . The Last Supper.
Doubting my own eyes for a minute (hel-lo, Paulie Walnuts), I asked two
other people to compare the painting and the screen image, and they --
eerily -- saw it, too. Eureka.
The Chasean catch: His shot looks less like da Vinci's depiction and
much more like the 15th-century "Last Supper" painting by Andrea del
Castagno, right down to the red-frocked person immediately flanking the
central figure.
Once the viewer makes that connection, all the religious references,
like tumblers, click into place. Of course, we must be mindful of
Chase's earlier caveat that everything is upside-down in the dark and
dying world -- or rather, Underworld -- of "The Sopranos." Tony Soprano,
the God/Father, has lorded over a crew of disciples, he's just endured a
betrayer (Carlo), and now he sits at the table of corruption, having
converted his children for good.
Rough beast slouching toward Bethlehem, indeed. Herewith, the show's
Twelve Cinematic Clues:
1. In a previous scene, Tony mocks Paulie Walnuts for seeing the Virgin
Mary at the Bing. (Fun unrelated touch, btw: "Italian Sausage" sign is
partially obscured to read: "Italian USA" -- a whole other show-theme.)
2. In another walk-up scene, the wife of Silvio lovingly tends and
tidies her comatose husband's feet (nice Mary Magdalene moment).
3. Immediately before entering the diner, Tony's identity is denied by
his Uncle Junior. (Tony: "You don't know who I am, do you?")
4. Tony then enters Holsten's diner (swell allusion to famed Swedish
theologian Holsten Fagerberg, he of the Lutheran confessions).
5. To start the family's literal last supper, Tony orders a
bread-and-wine Eucharist "for the whole table" (though the "made in the
USA" version: onion rings and soda).
6. After looking at such song titles as "Magic Man (Live)" -- twice --
on the tabletop jukebox, Tony selects "Don't Stop Believing."
7. Wife Carmela (perfect name) enters and asks him: See anything that
looks good? (Sound the trumpets of Genesis.)
8. Tony tells Carmela that his betrayer, Carlo (the one earlier seen
eyeing the roast pork at the wake), is "going to testify."
9. Over Tony's shoulder, we clearly see a name on the wall: Phillip
(name-checking one of Christ's disciples, naturally -- make whatever you
will out of "Super Dave.").
10. The menacing Mystery Man in the Members Only jacket walks in after
we've heard the third bell; Chase has acknowledged that his Members Only
reference (also an episode title this season) is symbolic of being a
member of the mob -- that is, one of the Godfather's disciples.
11. Each of Tony's children are "finally" career-corrupted in this
episode: the parking-challenged Meadow, after many moral stops and
starts (switching from healer to future defender of mob-connected folk);
A.J. after agreeing to produce the would-be Antichrist's script,
"Anti-Virus." And, significantly, they arrive at the table separately,
of their own volition. (Carmela the Realtor -- she was once tempted by a
priest -- of course earlier cashed her last moral chips by selling her
not-built-to-spec house with help from Tony; minutes earlier, we'd seen
her looking over a home brochure.)
12. And Chase -- as HBO confirms -- originally wanted to conclude the
series with a full three minutes of cut-to-black screen. As in, the
three minutes of silence commonly observed to mourn a victim -- and
perhaps representing the three days before Christ's rising as the Bible
describes.
So textured. So layered. So Coppola. And (if one pathetically can't
recall his art history for days), perhaps so damned subtle.
So render unto David DeCesare Chase what is his: A delicious last meal
of a scene stuffed and battered with religious imagery. Only here, at
the center of the table of underworld conversion, Chase has cast a
rough, end-times beast who fatally pinched Christopher (again, perfect
name).
So to connect the dots: If the Last Supper was on the eve of Christ's
arrest and imminent death, then Chase is indicating that Tony Soprano's
death is imminent, too.
So there you have it. For those who cared most about that ultimate plot
point, we have rendered sure cinematic judgment: Tony dies. (Do you care
to deny us, Mr. Chase?) Now, the only remaining question: Will Tony be
risen on the big screen?
Holy
For some reason I saw that name and thought "Adriana". You suck.
Hit ME with some Sopranos trivia, tough guy. :X
Hit ME with some Sopranos trivia, tough guy. 
Hit ME with some Sopranos trivia, tough guy. 
Hit ME with some Sopranos trivia, tough guy. 
