David Chase confirms it doesn't matter what happens to Tony at end of Sopranos

[TroutMan]

Or does it? (No, it doesn’t - quit arguing otherwise.)

This Magic Moment - The Sopranos

In an interesting interview, David Chase describes what he was going for in the final scene of The Sopranos, shot by shot. And in the end, it wasn’t about hinting what happens next, but simply showing that this is their life.

I never considered the black a shot. I just thought what we see is black. The [feeling] I was going for at that point, the biggest feeling I was going for, honestly, was don’t stop believing. It was very simple and much more on the nose than people think. That’s what I wanted people to believe. That life ends and death comes, but don’t stop believing. There are attachments we make in life, even though it’s all going to come to an end, that are worth so much, and we’re so lucky to have been able to experience them. Life is short. Either it ends here for Tony or some other time. But in spite of that, it’s really worth it. So don’t stop believing.

[VinylTurnip]

Yeah, whatever. Tony got whacked.

[TroutMan]

Yeah, yeah. And the top kept spinning.

[ElvisL1ves]

It was a black screen, not a “Journey” song. C’mon, David, Tony got whacked and you were just trying to be artsy about it.

[Coriolanus]

David Chase has been asked that question more than once, which is one too many times for anyone who watched the episode.

[Just_Asking_Questions]

If that was what Chase meant to say, then I would argue that he did a piss poor job of conveying that.

But what does he get out of bringing this up time and again? Is there a huge clamor for clarity?

“…life ends and death comes, but don’t stop believing.” Yep, Tony’s life ended, and I still believe that.

[Coriolanus]

I thought people kept asking David Chase what to make of that scene? The man put it on the tape. Take it or leave it.

I re-watched that finale scene, and hadn’t noticed that Little Feat’s “All that you dream” is playing, till Tony pressed the button for that Journey song.

Cool.

[terentii]

What would have happened if Meadow had made it in ten seconds earlier and sat down next to Tony? :dubious:

[TroutMan]

The cut to black is the end of the show; nothing happens after that. You can imagine on your own what happened next, but a definitive “yes he was killed/no he wasn’t” was not Chase’s intention. He has said as much before. I found this interview interesting because this time he was explicit about what he did intend to say in the final scene, whereas before he’s simply said what he didn’t intend. And it’s interesting because no matter what he says, no one will believe him anyway (yet they keep asking him).

I want Ed Zotti to weigh in. I’m guessing he’d give the same answer he did for Inception:

@Ed Zotti

The point of the exercise is to keep you guessing. This is called ambiguity, an essential spud wrench in the modern artist’s toolkit: if the audience can’t tell what’s going on, they’ll take this as a sign of genius. It worked for James Joyce and numerous other creative giants, and Christopher Nolan, writer and director of Inception, figures it’ll work for him.
…
[Everybody] thinks there’s an answer. This is the sign of a shallow mind. Take it from me: there’s no answer.

[Coriolanus]

@terentii

What would have happened if Meadow had made it in ten seconds earlier and sat down next to Tony? :dubious:

It was when she walked in the diner bell last rang. If she was early, she does not get shot. The guy was a hitman.

Hit man entering diner (in front of A.J.)

So you might ask, what if A.J. hadn’t been such a dumbfuck? I reckon David Chase has an AJ series in the works.