That is partially because of the fact that Bogdanovich himself started out part of his career (and managed to continue it well into old age) as being an interviewer/film critic, so he was relatively used to things like that. Check out any of his old interviews with filmmakers back in the 60’s and 70’s…
david Chase st 16:00 "the joke is that life in America had become so self centered that it even depressed a mob boss. he couldn't take it anymore." HA that is funny
Fuck, and this was before the advent of social media and smart phones. Imagine the Soprano family in this fucking day and age. Meadow wouldn't be as smart as she was, she'd be even worse than how she was in Season 1.
@@virginiaplain100 At least video games and chat rooms can be educational and interaction based on interests. Social media by and large is just a bunch of ppl humble bragging and pretending their lives are incredible.
The scene that best exemplifies this is when there's a car accident in front of Satriale's and Tony casually chats with the FBi agents as the camera pans
There were so many great minor characters in the Sopranos, and his was certainly one. Elliott, the smug, water bottle-toting psychiatrist who secretly pines for tabloid gossip on Melfi's infamous patient.
I like that active viewing that Chase said. In the Sopranos, nothing was spoon-fed and chewed for the audience. Instead you had to pay attention, think and remember what was that, was it said before, who is this guy, why they do this... You don't watch this show while browsing on your phone. This becomes more evident and rewarding when you watch the show again and again. You always spot things like "oh this is now mentioned in the 1st season and storyline closes later in the 4th" (for example). For me at the 1st time watching when it was aired on TV, it was really hard to remember some minor characters and minor, yet important clues and hints. Show aired once a week and you saw some guy maybe in 5-6 episodes of a season. I now watch the series annually, and despite you know how it turns out, it's still so enjoyable and rewarding to watch. Then there's the jokes (that also re-occur), the music, the photography, the food, the feeling and Paulie Walnuts. The best.
@@shannonswift2233why does this need explanation though? You want explanation, that’s fine, but that doesn’t make it a fault of the writing. Sometimes things are better left not explicitly explained or they just don’t need to be explained. Christopher was like all the mafia guys and had women all over the place. It doesn’t seem crazy that in the background he had a semi-serious thing with what appeared to be a sex worker in Vegas that he took peyote with. His wife, I think, was intentionally NOT given much screen time. You’re supposed to kind of be like “wait, who… who is this lady? He married her?! What?” Because Chris is in mourning and he’s completely fucked up by his guilt over what he did to Adrianna, a woman I think the show shows he did actually love in a real way, but he’s also a complete sociopath like most of the mob guys/their wives and kids. He loved her but he loved Tony/the mafia life more. He’s trying to shove out all those good but painful memories and thoughts with the first girl that came along after Ade got got. He’s using again worse than ever. The same way Tony can’t cope with what he does and has panic attacks Chris can’t cope with what he’s done and latches onto Tony and drugs and the rest of his life, his wife and kid, are this background noise to him. Blurry to him and to us as viewers. Purposely kept only on the edges of our view. There’s also the mirroring of Chris’s father Dicky is assassinated because he was incompetent (basically)when Chris was a baby. Now Chris has been murdered, in part due to his own stupidity like his dad, when his own child, another only child btw, is so young they won’t remember their dad either. The cycle continues basically. The destruction of these people, their families, and every poor fucker caught in their whirlwind are destroyed
Infairness Chase is a genius. We wouldn’t have arguably the greatest TV show ever without him, his story telling and character development is like no other.
If it were on Fox it would have been ruined, they wouldn't have had the freedom to write the subjects that they did touch on and Fox would have watered it down and then it would have been a different show altogether. HBO was riding high in the years that the Sopranos aired because it was their only shining light of their cable channel. I didn't like the other programs on HBO (early HBO had some great movies) but HBO came back to life when they aired the Sopranos.
I like how he talks about The Sopranos not being a period piece, when looking back at it now it most definitely is. It teleports you instantyl to the early 2000's
I could see now why the role of 'psychoanalyst' suited Bogdanovich. he seems immensely astute and ultra analytical...the role fit him perfectly. this is the first time i am seeing him.
tdevil101 What? Vince who? Sorry dude but The Sopranos and BB not even same league! The Sopranos, OZ, The Wire, Twin Peaks, Mad Men, Game of Thrones(s1-s5), Rome, Night Of... This are "A league" series... And... Breaking Bad, Dexter, Lost, Prison Break, Narcos, Spartacus... This are "B leauge" series...
@@cemaldindar771 If you think BB isn't as good as those shows you listed, it can never be explained to you that it's not just as good, it's actually far superior. Seriously dude. Watch it again.
This should be archived and referred to for future generations. The insight is eye widening and mind blowing. This is the definitive conversation, the last word on shooting a tv drama and movie making.
I feel like this interview is awkward because they both respect each other, while Chase knows more about writing he doesn't want to over explain. I think that respect has allowed for a really open conversation about each of their expert areas because they're teaching each other
It fascinates me that in David clearly has so much time for Bogdonavic, who’s is no doubt a friend, interested in the series (genuinely) and thus we get such a great interview, in contrast to the many interviews David has done, where he’s so cold with interviewers blessed with the chance to interview him, that are just too lazy!
David Chase: "A guy who was working there at the time, Lloyd Braun, gave me this very inspirational speech." George Costanza: "That's all I ever heard growing up is, "Why can't you be more like Lloyd Braun?"
Apparently Lloyd Braun from the show is named after a Hollywood figure that Larry David knew. So I wonder if they’re talking about the same guy (I googled and the results were inconclusive)
Would be funny if Tony walked on in his crappy terrycloth bathrobe, grabbed something out of the fridge and on his way out of the kitchen, asked the two of them, "have you guys seen Carm?" Then farted his way up the stairs.
This was originally included in the season one DVD set. Really great interview, and one of the longer and in-depth ones with David Chase I've ever seen.
Ok that’s insane that story beats like the ducks were semi random and then later on he was able to make sense of what it actually meant to Tony. It’s like fate or something. He’s expertly winging it and then the story unfolds organically from his subconscious and then what you have is a story that’s exactly what it was meant to be.
Seems like a thing with great writers that they can think they're coming up with something for no reason, but it is usually for a reason that they may or may not become aware of later. The really, really great writers like Chase are good at realizing those connections and elaborating on them over time.
you know what really got me thinking? if those ducks made sense unconciously, what about all those insane dreams etc. Chase has his own demons and I think we actually see a lot of them in the show
@@jermyhopkisn9654they just winging it, everyone can interpret something in different ways. Instead of the ducks representing Tony’s family they could represent his morality as some have theorised. Or even, the show could have made an entire backstory where Tony was actually interested in being a vet and ducks happened to be his favourite animals but the mob ripped that away from him. They basically did that when he becomes Kevin lol. I will add though, I’m not saying everyone can write a show as good as sopranos
I wonder what it must feel like to have created the greatest tv show ever. Listening to David Chase was so fascinating and a great insight into what made The Sopranos so great.
I can hear Carmela saying: "HI fellas, great interview.... I must say, I was touched... but I'm afraid I must start dinner before AJ, Med and Tony come home".... "Happy Trails"... 😂
There was nothing Peter Bogdanovich could do about it. Chase was a series creator and he wasn’t. And we have to sit here and watch it. It was among the industry execs. It was real Hollywood shit.
It wasn’t until the pandemic last year that I intentionally watched the whole series, and actually have now done so 3x. I knew it would take me a couple of times to get a could handle on all the characters and various plot lines, but I was surprised to still find some missed details on the 3rd viewing. If the series had been written on a more or less intuitive plot line, the symbolism found throughout the series is astonishing. Best written and acted series of all time in my opinion. One note on the way Dr. Melfi finally gave up on Tony as a viable or suitable patient for psychological therapy, Tony had demonstrated some progress in developing restraint on his desires and she pointed out these achievements and breakthroughs to Tony. The truth is any progress anyone of us can achieve in therapy it is in very small breakthroughs over extended periods of time. Transformation is a process over an entire lifetime not a quick and easy fix. But I believe Tony had a much greater influence on Dr. Melfi than she did on him. Sometimes the transformation we experience is not anticipated nor appreciated for what it is, but as long as it takes us to a true discovery of who we are, much progress can finally begin to take place for ourselves, Tony and Dr. Melfi, as well.
They should do an interview and doc on the hurdles he had to jump to getting execs on board and finance/support the show. I’m thinking it must’ve been very tough for this a guy/team
I'm glad to hear Chase was conscious of making sure there's callbacks throughout the series to tie it all together. Something that when it's not done in TV shows seems like a wasted opportunity.
I'm just some Canadian guy and I say that’s one reason i liked the show community so much. it feels like the show is kinda rewarding you for paying attention
As I kid I loved the Rockford Files and would watch so much that I knew show credits and Juanita Bartlett’s name stood out to me. So great to hear the ducks were in her pool first.
Yeah, I caught that too. You just know that Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld must have been working with that agency as well at some point and paid homage to that guy.
Watching this again and just realized something . David Chase says him and his dad watched the untouchables every Thursday night when he was a kid . In the sopranos Elliot mentions his father was a big untouchables fan never realized that connection
He should try to pitch that show “Almost Grown” again to HBO under a different name just move the generations up to the 80’s when they’re kids and the 2000’s when they’re adults. It sounds like a cool idea for a show
56:48 Peter is right about the 'elegiac feeling' of The Sopranos. After having seen it many times, I have noticed that 'the funeral' and death by extension, is pervasive throughout. It's so frequent and is what the characters have in common and experience together. And BECAUSE of the frequency, they have sort of become desensitized and apathetic to the ritual. It has been reduced to gossip, petty jokes, pity partying and business conversations with an air of total superficiality and indifference. Being obsessed with death myself, I love the fact that Chase is so honest when discussing and depicting it in the show, and manages to portray funerals in the most brilliant way!
Bogdanovich is one of my favorite filmmakers and he’s a wonderful interviewer. So cool that he got to be an important part of The Sopranos. It truly stands the rest of time. I go back and forth but at the end of the day I think it’s gotta be the greatest series ever made.
"That's always been my favorite kind of movie...I've always liked that kind of thing--where little clues are given to you...and that in the end it's still a puzzle even though it's over." 22:42 Hello finale.
ducks on water is also a metaphor in Catcher In The Rye, Holden Caufield has a similar affinity, "this is my people shooting hat" and Holden's general cynicsm for humanity has Soprano-esque qualities imo
Yes - Peter Bogdanovich is actually a pretty big deal in his own right -- he was part of that wave of directors (Scorsese, Coppola, De Palma) that came about in the '70s. He doesn't have the same name recognition for most people, but amongst film buffs, he's very highly regarded.
He also had personal relationships with a lot of major directors including Cassavetes and Orson Welles, and I think from there he's used as a de facto authority on film. Like a historian/academic type.
I’m really hoping Tony walks in from just waking up in robe and opens the fridge to eat a slice of some leftovers oblivious to Chase and Elliot until he turns around looks at them without saying a word and then walks off eating the food.
