The Many Saints of Newark, scripted by Sopranos creator David Chase with series' contributor Lawrence Konner and directed by Alan (Thor: the Dark World) Taylor, is material I enjoy, but not the type I habitually cover for bizarrechats. Nonetheless, my blog is meant to cater to outside-the-box subjects, as long as they tie to a common-denominator thread.
Many Saints is a mob story and a prequel to Chase's acclaimed HBO series. As with the latter, it takes place in my home state, New Jersey, not far from where I reside. The locale and atmosphere resonate with me, but it's not only the ambiance that draws me. The Sopranos and Many Saints are Faustian in gist, with a reap-what-you-sow angle that has enthralled me since I was a kid.
Many Saints focuses on Tony Soprano as a boy (played as a younger child by William Ludwig and as an adolescent by Michael Gandolfini, real-life son of James, the original Tony.) Though the story focuses on Tony through his formative years, his presence orbits those events that lead to his soul-selling pact, as told from a voice beyond the grave, Christopher Moltisanti (narrated by Michael {Summer of Sam} Imperioli, a popular presence on the show).
Though Tony has a close but sometimes stressed relationship with his mother, Liva (Vera {Bates Motel} Farminga) his prison-prone father, Johnny (John {Walking Dead} Bernthal) is more out of the loop than not, but his uncle (i.e., Christopher's dad), Dickie Moltisanti (deserving-of-an-Oscar Alessandro {Jurassic Park III} Nivola) is the boy's emblematic figure, the one he wishes to emulate. Moltisanti is a man who has long succumbed to his wicked impulses, as revealed through a series of events that transpire during Newark's racial tensions, circa late 60s to early 70s.
Newark, as it's depicted in the movie's two-hour scheme, acts an entrance to Hell (a string of bad decisions and consequential violence), which carries such Sopranos legends as Junior, Paulie, Pussy and Silvio (in this prelude played respectively by Corey Stoll, Bill Magnussen, Samson Maceakiola and John Magaro). A similar dynamic characterizes the the saga's introduced personas, which include the Moltisanti twins, Hollywood and Sal, portrayed by the nuanced Ray (Hannibal) Liotta; Michela De Rossi as the love-torn Giusesppeia Moltisanti; and Leslie Odam Jr. as Harold Mcbrayer, an insider who becomes an outsider due to a philosophical shift.
Indeed, there's reason to praise this ensemble (in particular, young Gandolfini who captures his father's portrayal to an uncanny tee), just as there remains continued cause to praise the original Sopranos queue. However, beyond the deserved accolades, it's the dark desires and rash deeds (the acts some claim are saintly even though they're not) that season the story, placing it on a level that most melodramas (including even those of the horror genre) seek but fail to achieve. Many Saints flaunts the monsters that dwell within, and the vindictive nature that makes our Hydes greater than the Hydes we slay.
Many Saints reminds us that it's common play for people to sell their souls. No one forces folks to do so. Folks simply follow that sordid path, tipping the first domino so that others may fall, just as Tony does by the movie's end. Though this notion may fly in the face of what sociologists dictate, it's a stark, unavoidable fact.
I salute Many Saints (the entire Sopranos saga, for that matter) for dramatizing this concept, and it's why Chase's creation continues to fascinate not only a pop-cultural level, but a moral one.
