Director/Script: David Chase
Photography: Alik Sakharov
Editor: Joanna Cappuccilli
Casting: Georgianne Walken, Sheila Jaffe, C.S.A
Production Design: Edward Pisoni
Principal Cast: James Gandolfini, Lorraine Bracco, Edie Falco, Michael Imperioli
Producer: Ilene S. Landress
Executive Producers: David Chase, Brad Grey
Co-Executive Producers: Mitchell Burgess, Robin Green
Production: HBO Production in association with Brillstein Grey Entertainment
Distribution: Warner Bros. International Television Distribution
Tel: +1 818 977 5491
Fax: +1 818 977 4040
Distribution Germany: Warner Bros. International Television Distribution
Tel: +49 40 226 50 0
Fax: +49 40 226 50 259
First Broadcast: 10.01.99, 21.00 HBO
Selected Filmography David Chase: The Rockford Files (TV series, producer), 1974; Alfred Hitchcock Presents (TV series, director), 1985; Almost Grown (TV, director), 1988; Kounterfeit (writer), 1996; The Rockford Files: Crime and Punishment (TV, director, writer, producer), 1996.
The 90ies are taking a toll on us all – and the Mafia is no exception. Tony Soprano, ostensibly involved in "waste management", is increasingly suffering from attacks of anxiety. Stress with his family, his duties to the mob, ... typical for any conscientious gangster. His sessions with his attractive therapist (Lorraine Bracco from "Goodfellas") are supposed to remedy the situation. At its premiere in January 1999, "The Sopranos" was highly acclaimed by U.S. critics. The secret of its success lies in its balance between being bloody earnest on the one hand but facetiously comical on the other, between doing its own bit of Mafia stereotyping and yet committing blatant offences against the rules of the genre. To boil it all down: "No Horse Heads, but Plenty of Prozac" said The New York Times. Add to that a piercing performance by James Gandolfini ("Get Shorty") as the gangster with a heart of gold and you have all the makings of a complex and fascinating film event.