‘Wise Guy’ Director Alex Gibney on the Legacy of ‘The Sopranos’ and Lovable Bad Guys
Alex Gibney is the Academy, Grammy and Emmy Award-winning director, writer and producer of “Taxi to the Dark Side,” “Enron” and “Going Clear,” among many other films and countless awards.
Gibney’s latest project, a two-part documentary, “Wise Guy: David Chase and The Sopranos,” about the making of HBO’s hit show “The Sopranos,” is now streaming on Max. The film is a compilation of interviews between Gibney and “Sopranos” creator David Chase.
I spoke with Gibney about his connection to the show a week before the documentary aired and why he thinks the show is so special to so many people.
“It was a three-way relationship between two real people and a fictional character. And that was David Chase, Jim Gandolfini and Tony Soprano,” Gibney explains. “They had this weird three-way relationship that was very deep and sometimes a little uncomfortable for everyone. But it did something extraordinary for the show itself because it made Tony a really, really, really extraordinary and rich character.”
That was the magic of Tony Soprano: you loved the way he loved his family, even though he was a violent con man; the way he valued loyalty, even though he was loyal to no one; the way he showed up for his men when they needed him, even though he wouldn’t hesitate to put a bullet in their head. Viewers never thought they could love someone so complex and so obviously evil, but we did, and we loved the show for it.
Gibney and I discussed the complicated history of “The Sopranos,” the challenges of casting such a dynamic series, and why we may never see another show like this legendary show again.
Gibney and I discussed the complicated history of “The Sopranos,” the challenges of casting such a dynamic series, and why we may never see another show like this legendary show again.
