"The Sopranos" The Legend of Tennessee Moltisanti (1999)

User Rating:

8.7/10   

Director:

Timothy Van Patten

Writers:

David Chase (creator)
Frank Renzulli (written by) ...

TV Series:

"The Sopranos" (1999)

Original Air Date:

28 February 1999 (Season 1, Episode 8)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Plot:

The FBI begins closing in on the DiMeo family. Tony and Carmela are angry over all the attention Italians get from the authorities, while Chris fumes that he's not getting enough attention.

Plot Keywords:

Gangster | Mafia | Psychiatrist | New Jersey | Racial Slur

Cast

James Gandolfini	...	Tony Soprano
Lorraine Bracco	...	Dr. Jennifer Melfi
Edie Falco	...	Carmela Soprano
Michael Imperioli	...	Christopher Moltisanti
Dominic Chianese	...	Corrado 'Junior' Soprano
Vincent Pastore	...	Salvatore 'Big Pussy' Bonpensiero
Steve Van Zandt	...	Silvio Dante (as Steven Van Zandt)
Tony Sirico	...	Paulie 'Walnuts' Gualtieri
Robert Iler	...	Anthony 'A.J.' Soprano, Jr.
Jamie-Lynn Sigler	...	Meadow Soprano
Nancy Marchand	...	Livia Soprano
Richard Romanus	...	Richard La Penna
Drea de Matteo	...	Adriana La Cerva
Al Sapienza	...	Mikey Palmice
Tony Darrow	...	Larry Boy Barese

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Argentina:16 | Australia:MA

Filming Locations:

Astoria, Long Island City, Queens, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Brad Grey Television

Trivia:

Christopher (Michael Imperioli) shoots a bakery clerk in the foot because he perceives him to be disrespectful. In Goodfellas (1990), Imperioli's character was shot in the foot for the very same reason.

Quotes:

[after hearing bad news, Tony and Carmela need to relocate hidden money, guns and...]
Tony Soprano: All right. You'd better give me your jewelry.
[Carmela sighs with chagrin]
Tony Soprano: Hey, they know we can't produce receipts. You want 'em stealing this stuff from us?
[after Carmela removes her necklace, Tony points to her diamond ring and Carmela balks]
Tony Soprano: Come on.
Carmela Soprano: I'm not giving you my engagement ring. This isn't stolen!
[beat, then frown]
Carmela Soprano: Is it?
Tony Soprano: No!
[...]

Movie Connections:

References Goodfellas (1990)

Soundtrack:

Wind Beneath My Wings

Christopher's best moment in the first season

Of all the superb characters David Chase created for The Sopranos, Christopher Moltisanti (Michael Imperioli) has always been the most cinematic, in more ways than one: his knowledge of movies, especially gangster pictures, surpasses that of any other crew-member, his way of administering casual violence is taken from Scorsese and De Palma, and since Episode 1 he has struggled to hit it big as a screenwriter. The Legend of Tennessee Moltisanti, title taken from a line by Drea de Matteo (she calls Imperioli "My Tennessee William"), shows him at his coolest, albeit in a darkly comic way.

While he keeps writing what he thinks will be a great script, Tony has to deal with the risk of federal indictments, and is forced to hide most of his possessions in case they decide to search his house. Moreover, the negative attention Italian-Americans are getting from the press prompts him to convince his kids Italians have done loads of great things, while at the other end of town Dr. Melfi and her family have a very similar conversation.

The series was famously criticized by several anti-defamation groups for allegedly depicting all people of Italian descent as criminals. First of all, that is absolutely ridiculous (Artie Bucco was no crook, and several FBI agents that appeared throughout the show's run were Italian). Secondly, how come these groups never grasped the pure irony of a show featuring a gangster who complains about the cultural image of his fellow countrymen? The whole scene where Tony blames the media for bad-mouthing all things Italian is one of the writing team's biggest strokes of genius, a daring moment of self-referential brilliance that few programs had been willing to use since Seinfeld's fourth season. How can something like that be negative?

In addition, as Dr. Melfi's son points out, gangster movies have become part of America's legacy, in the same league as the Western genre. And that legacy is explicitly referenced in the episode's most absurdly humorous scene: Chris enters a bakery (where one of the customers is played by Joseph R. Gannascoli, who would appear as Vito Spatafore from Season 2 onwards), perceives the clerk to be disrespectful and shoots him in the foot for it. "You shot me in the foot!" the poor guy screams as Chrissy leaves the scene. "It happens" he retorts. Imperioli should know: Joe Pesci shot him in Goodfellas for the very same reason. Cheeky, clever and memorable.