No. 88 (2021) THE MANY SAINTS OF NEWARK OCT. 28th.

 

Film No. 88 (2021)  October 28th.  6:45 PM  EVENT CINEMAS, Cinema 1  Innaloo.

"I wanna get to college, I can't get caught with shit like this". (Young Antonio tells his uncle where life is at for him in relation to stolen goods being offered to him. It is a major turning point in where Tony Soprano is headed).

This film is going to be loved, more by devotees of the famed SOPRANOS HBO T.V. series. I am one of those who worshipped said series and it remains in my five best box-sets of all time. More importantly however, THE SAINTS will stand alone as a highly entertaining, thrilling gangster film in the realms of MILLER'S CROSSING or GOODFELLAS but never quite rivalling them.

But what is so clever about THE MANY SAINTS is the sparks which ignite the issues which slowly bubble and brew through the 86 episode dramas. Racism, mental illness, loyalty leading to treachery, violence against women, family values and the emotional claustrophobia of being trapped in a life. Young Anthony (two phases) is an onlooker for the most part of THE MANY SAINTS but there is little left to the imagination as to how he becomes the beast so easily recognised on the small screen.

Ray Liotta playing twin brothers Hollywood Dick and Sally Moltisanti along with Michela De Rossi as Dick's much younger wife are crucial to the layering of THE MANY SAINTS. Both give highlight performances and represent every spectrum of Antonio's destiny.  

And then there is the greatest example of what lies at the seat of who Tony becomes. For those enjoying the film without prior knowledge, the last 5 minutes (the reveal) is simply a twist. For us, it is a gobsmacking, jaw-dropping event.

The film plays out like a couple of T.V. episodes. Anthony's Uncle Dickie runs the gang and Anthony is mapping his every move. Dickie is thrilled by the birth of his only son Christopher but it is nephew Anthony he sees as the inheritor of all his "gifts". So the first half of THE MANY SAINTS (Episode 1) depicts Tony as an early adolescent and the second, late teens. 

David Chase (Sopranos creator) announced the idea of a prequel in 2017. Most series lovers were underwhelmed, me included. We really should never have doubted him. For me, THE MANY SAINTS OF NEWARK gives new meaning to the masterpiece that is THE SOPRANOS.  11GUMS.