Bob Harris: television writer, radio personality, and political pundit writes the very best analysis I’ve read about the Sopranos series finale.
He opines that not only did Tony Soprano die, he practically received a funeral. It’s a long read so here are some highlights that I’m overtly stealing:
So, starting with the two most blatant clues and working outward until we stumble into what may be Tony’s own weirdly implied funeral rites: The sensation of imminent death “you probably don’t even hear it when it happens, right?” was now-famously discussed in an episode called “Soprano Home Movies.” This same episode was reportedly repeated, out of sequence, re-airing “you probably don’t even hear it when it happens, right?” the week before the finale. And the same exact scene “this same discussion of how death would be experienced “you probably don’t even hear it when it happens, right?” was also apparently excerpted in flashback in the second-to-last episode.
This is called hitting the audience in the face with a two-by-four, hoping they’ll notice. We have been instructed as to what to expect from first-person death, as clearly as any self-respecting dramatist would likely allow.
[Update: The song titles given close-ups on the jukebox also point directly to "Soprano Home Movies." And now I am informed that for the next episode, they're repeating "Soprano Home Movies," out of sequence, yet again. You are now being hit in the head with a truckload of lumber.]
Another strikingly obvious bit of information: shortly before his death, David Chase very briefly frames Tony in a shot that visually quotes the Last Supper (one-point perspective; special holy light from above (more obvious in the footage than the grab); a long horizontal base supporting triangular composition, human forms on both sides of the subject; etc.)
Hardly surprising that the entire family is wearing black at the end. [Additionally,] Tony’s shirt isn’t just black — it’s the exact same design he was wearing when he was shot the first time. This looks to be another reference back to “Members Only.”
The episode actually opens with a harbinger of Tony’s funeral, plain as day. Remember, David Chase personally directed for the first time since the series premiere. And David Chase’s very first shot in eight years is of Tony Soprano lying flat on his back, viewed from above, much as if we are looking down on him in his coffin.
So give his article a read. You may be convinced.
