40 replies to this topic

[texastwostep]

Sil deserves his own thread after last night. Going from a throwaway Springsteen lyric to doing in Adriana. I was actually impressed with Little Stevie's acting skills last night - Sil does concerned yet cold so well.

[Professor K]

I just watched the Ade/Sil scene in "Long Term Parking" again. Silvio has a hard look about his eyes the entire time; when I saw that face, I knew Ade was fish food (considering the woods, maybe bear food).

I've always liked Sil and hated the rumor that Sil will bite the dust soon . But I think that scene showed how cold & calculating he can be. Maybe he will betray Tony.

[pomme de terre]

Silvio did a quality job counseling Fat Tony last night. It takes some major stugats to tell the Boss what he doesn't want to hear, and I thought Sil did it as diplomatically as possible.

I now have this weird desire to see a scene in which Silvio Dante has dinner with Leo McGarry from The West Wing and they commiserate about the struggles of being the guy behind the guy.

[Ashlified]

Silvio shutting down Chrissy was priceless. He had a lot of great lines last night.. "Should I get into specifics?"

[caitlin1184]

Bwah! ITA, Sil is about as level-headed as a mobster could get. I wish we got to see more of Sil's life outside the mob, the way we see Tony's life.

[Make It So]

I didn't see the ep, but I thought it said something that Tony used Sil for the Adriana job. He could've used any grunt, but out of respect he used one of the top guys. (He probably wanted to make sure it was done, too.)

Sil seems the most loyal to Tony out of the crew, but I'm not so sure if it's loyalty to him as a person as it is to 'that thing of theirs' and to the greater good of the crew. Sil seems to be one of the few guys that adhere to the old school values. Tony - as much as he preaches - doesn't, and neither do the rest of the capos. Sil is like the Tom Hagen character in The Godfather.

[HappyKitty]

The actor who plays Silvio was on TV the other night. I only saw a tiny bit. I think it was Jay Leno (what a tool that guy is, but I won't go into it, I'm trying to stay on topic). Anyway, the guys who plays Silvio surprized me very much. His RL character is nothing like his Soprano's character. He was fatter seeming and unimpressive with his slovenly dress and rock-n-roll demenor. NOTHING like Silvio. I kept wanting to see the Silvio head-bob. It didn't happen. I guess the guy's got a radio show of some sort.

[franabanana]

I guess the guy's got a radio show of some sort.

Silvio is played by Steve "Little Stevie" Van Zandt who is way more famous for being a musician than for acting. In fact, I don't know what else he has acted in other than the Sopranos.

Anyhow, he has played in Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band for 25 years. Plus he's done his own band. Plus, he has a radio show that features kind of cool fun rock:
http://www.littleste...oundgarage.com/, which is probably what he was talking about on Leno.

[ejluther]

unimpressive with his slovenly dress and rock-n-roll demenor.

For folks like me who know of Little Steven from way back, this really made me smile for some reason! Probably because it took me quite a while to stop thinking of him as "Little Steven" when I first started watching the show - I guess he'll always be a rock star to me!

http://db.allmusic.d...n_1988_0001.jpg

Did you all know that Little Steven was originally brought in to read for the role of Tony Soprano? It's true...

[HappyKitty]

Good Gravey! Thanks for the edumacation. Wholy ingornace Batman!

I have a newfound respect for Little Steven.

Dang, some people are sooooooo coooool.

[franabanana]

it took me quite a while to stop thinking of him as "Little Steven" when I first started watching the show - I guess he'll always be a rock star to me!

Big WORD to that, ejluther!!!! When I first started watching the Sopranos, I was like, "There's little Stevie again." And I'd start hearing music in my head.

[texastwostep]

If they ever show Sil with a goomar, you know she has to be played by Patti Scialfa.

[public defender]

If they ever show Sil with a goomar, you know she has to be played by Patti Scialfa.

Snerk. That would be classic, although I hope, like Little Stevie, that her acting is better than her singing.

Good Gravey! Thanks for the edumacation. Wholy ingornace Batman!

Am I the only one who had the "The More You Know" star swoosh go through their head after reading this? Just me? Okay.

[ejluther]

If they ever show Sil with a goomar, you know she has to be played by Patti Scialfa.

And, just to spread a little more trivia, Little Steven's real-life wife plays Silvio's wife on the show...

[jetmatt]

I wish that he could have pronounced "consigliere" correctly. The "g" is silent. I know, that's picky.

[Make It So]

I've always thought the "g" was silent too, but I hear the "g" pronounced by quite a few mob characters in different movies/shows. I doubt if Chase would mistakenly leave a mispronunciation in, unless he just wanted to show a flaw of Silvio. Perhaps it can be pronounced both ways.

Anyhoo. Is Silvio the Underboss as well as Consigliere? If anything were to happen to Tony, would he be next in line to take the reigns? Is he also the captain of a crew? Who is Sil's counterpart in Johnny Sack's family?

[blownapart]

I don't think Sil is the underboss... come to think of it, I don't think there is an underboss. If something to happens to Tony, they would probably just get together and 'elect' a new boss. I'm sure that Sil is not the captain of a crew. As for the underboss in the NY family, I don't think there was one, seeing as as it stands now, Sack has been boss for such little time. Of course, Johnny was the underboss under Carmine.

[tomba1701]

I believe that "officially", Uncle Jun is the boss and Tony is the Underboss. Of course this is on paper, only. Sil is consigliere, although I always get the impression that Hesh fills this role as well.

[smallaxe0217]

Hesh is Jewish, so he's not "made" and I don't think he has an official role in the Soprano organization...he's more like "a friend of ours".

[jcsc]

Is Silvio the Underboss as well as Consigliere?

Sil is consigliere, although I always get the impression that Hesh fills this role as well.

So what exactly is a Consigliere?

[GimpChimp]

jcsc, what, you've never seen the Godfather? That and Goodfellas is almost required viewing, because the Sopranos characters are inspired those films themselves. Consigliere translates as 'counsellor', ie. someone whose primary role is to give advice to the boss, and is one of the very few people who gets to second-guess his decisions. Although there's the break with the Godfather model; in the Sopranos they're generally up for killing people as well.

[SuperDayv]

Just wondering, does the character Sil, or the actor who plays him have a back problem?

[thatguy01]

In the book, the consigliere is the only link between the boss and the capos.

[Bucklesnortz]

SuperDayv

Just wondering, does the character Sil, or the actor who plays him have a back problem?

And how much weight did he put on? Especially between Season 6A and 6B.
Or certainly between 5 and 6B.

[SD Dude]

Hesh is Jewish, so he's not "made" and I don't think he has an official role in the Soprano organization...he's more like "a friend of ours".

I agree that Hesch does not fill any specific role in the Soprano Family. He is a longtime business associate, confidante, and unofficial advisor to Tony (and perhaps to Johnny Boy or Junior back in the day?)

However, merely not being Sicilian/Italian would not prevent him from having a respected position. As we learned in "One", Tom Hagen, although "adopted" by Vito Corleone, was identified as an Irish boy but he still functioned in the role of consigliere. Later, in "Two", Michael replaced him as consigliere, which I think had more to do with Tom being too level-headed and not ruthless and bloodthirsty enough to advise Michael in the manner he wanted, rather than him not being a made member of the Mafia.

I've always thought the "g" was silent too, but I hear the "g" pronounced by quite a few mob characters in different movies/shows. I doubt if Chase would mistakenly leave a mispronunciation in, unless he just wanted to show a flaw of Silvio. Perhaps it can be pronounced both ways.

Well, the Italian-Americans portrayed in the Sopranos certainly don't speak Italian the same way they do in the old country. All you have to do is hear capicolla referred to as gobby-goo just once to realize that. To the extent that it is ever acceptable for foreign words to be anglicized into more english pronounciations, I suppose it can be pronounced both ways. Just not in Milan.

In a very close parallel, I had a podiatrist once name Pagliano. The name is Italian in origin, of course, and would properly be pronounced Pal-Yano. This doctor pronounced his name Pag-lee-ano. Is he pronouncing his own name wrong? yes, if he's speaking italian. No, if he's pronouncing it in english, which is primary language for both of us. Besides, I figure he probably knows how to pronounce his own name, so who am I to tell him he's saying it right or wrong?
By the same token, these mobsters may not be speaking proper italian, but who would have the stugots to correct them?

[TeresaDee]

On the show they often bastardize the Italian language, as does most of America. However, their pronounciation and use of Napoletanno (the Neopolitan dialect) is pretty well done. BTW, the "gl" sound in Italian is not truly an "y" sound--there is no English equivalent.

[rockin01]

I'm still hoping that Sil gets his "Very Special Episode". Anybody else?

[birdman]

Not really, he's always been a sidekick (and a great one he was). Additionally I don't think Van Zandt's acting could carry a whole episode, it mainly consists of having a strange expression on the face. :-)