Kevork Djansezian-USA TODAY
The Sopranos creator David Chase recently confirmed that iconic director Martin Scorsese, whose New York mob films paved the road for The Sopranos, didn’t like the show.
According to David Chase, who was speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Martin Scorsese couldn’t relate to the idea of a mafia show being set in the suburbs with ‘trees and big houses.’
The Sopranos, of course, was heavily inspired by Scorsese’s work, particularly his iconic 1990 film Goodfellas, with Chase citing the scene where they go to visit Tommy’s mother (the scene with the painting) as a major inspiration for the series.
“Chase says, ‘Marty Scorsese doesn’t like the show. He said, ‘I don’t get it – it’s like all these trees and s—.’’”
“Chase goes on to postulate that the Goodfellas director couldn’t identify with a mafia epic told in the sprawling, wooded suburbs of New Jersey, as opposed to one set in the urban jungles of New York City, where Scorsese grew up.”
“On the podcast, I bring up the moment, asking Chase, ‘Was [Scorsese] really not a fan of The Sopranos? Did he ever go on the record to say that?’”
“‘Yes, he did,’ Chase replies.” [via The Hollywood Reporter]
Chase is certainly right about Scorsese being on record about not being a fan of The Sopranos, as he elaborated on his opinion on the show during an interview with Sight & Sound in 2019.
“I think I only saw one episode … because I can’t identify with that generation of the underworld. They live in New Jersey with the big houses? I don’t get it… They use language – four-letter words – in front of their daughters, at the dinner table? I don’t get that. I just didn’t grow up that way,” Scorsese explained.
Despite not having the approval of Scorsese, The Sopranos has ultimately wound up as significant a contribution to the mafia genre as anything else, as it’s widely considered to be the greatest TV show ever made.
Content shared from brobible.com.