The upcoming documentary “Sopranos Sessions” might not be exactly what fans were looking for.
The film is a three-part documentary that features conversations between television critics, actors and creator David Chase, Kristian Fraga revealed in an interview published Wednesday by Fast Company. The film, which will be shown in theaters starting May 19, features only the conversations and no clips from the series.
Sopranos Sessions, a collection of three documentaries about Tony, Carmela, and friends, is now available on US theaters for a limited run. Two of them even feature me & @mattzollerseitz. Details here: https://t.co/Pu4HThp78M pic.twitter.com/qnvLbAEm1X
— Alan Sepinwall (@sepinwall) May 19, 2021
“I don’t have vistas or camels or spaceships,” Fraga told the outlet. “But the immediacy of the big screen and the experience of being in a theater where there are no distractions—you kind of get into the zone of the conversation.” (RELATED: HBO Max Offers First Look At ‘The Sopranos’ Prequel Along With Entire 2021 Slate Of Shows)
Fraga wanted to show how “The Sopranos” was made.
“My basic conceit was to strip everything away,” Fraga said. “There are no clips of the show. It’s just these guys and the rhythm of the conversation. I wanted to put the audience in the booth [at Holsten’s].”
“I wish someone had made this kind of show with Rod Serling [creator of The Twilight Zone]. I would have loved to have seen that,” he added. “I’m a fan of ‘The Sopranos,’ but my passion for the show comes more from the filmmaking side—how David Chase pulled this off. I wanted to dissect what it is about this show that I believe taught a whole new way of watching narrative TV. It opened up a lot of stuff that was happening on TV and kind of elevated it.”
The first part of the film features a conversation between television critics Alan Sepinwall and Matt Zoller Seitz. The second part features a conversation over dinner between actors Federico Castelluccio, Vincent Pastore, Arthur J. Nascarella and Vincent Curatola.
The third part shows Sepinwall and Zoller Seitz interviewing Chase.