I always say: I’m a Soprano girl. I was directly impacted by the series The Sopranos, which premiered and became a phenomenon while I was living in New York. It started and ended with nothing less than brilliance, raising the bar for quality in TV and here we are, 25 years later. The documentary Wise Guy: David Chase might seem at first like content made specifically for fans, but it’s a lesson for those who want to learn how to follow in the footsteps of a showrunner who made history.

What’s brilliant about this two-part documentary, now available on MAX, is the meeting of TWO brilliant minds: that of David Chase, creator of the series, and director Alex Gibney, who takes us behind the scenes with a sensitive narrative, brilliant editing, and a hilarious and surprising conclusion.

We open with a psychoanalytic session with Chase, whose personality – we see – is more relevant to Tony Soprano than he initially admits. His honesty about the creative process, his career, and the behind-the-scenes of The Sopranos is both educational and inspiring. The perfect and confident editing helps us follow each process, further enriching what was born a classic.

The personal archive images, the tests, and the testimonies only enhance what is still spectacular today, even more so 25 years ago. Alternating seriousness and depth, Wise Guy: David Chase is to be consumed without restraint. What Gibney manages to do is show us facts and images, like Tony Soprano, this legendary antihero is a mix of the alter ego of both Chase and his actor, James Gandolfini.

Interviews with HBO executives at the time, Chris Albrecht and Carolyn Strauss, as well as some of the authors Robin Green, Frank Renzulli, and Terence Winter, take us back in time and discover how every detail came from the imagination and bets of these people. The cast is also available to go back in time. Gandolfini, who passed away in 2013 at the age of 51, joins us with archive images and interviews.

In fact, deciphering Tony Soprano has been the focus of theses, books, and many virtual chats and is partly due to the brilliance of James Gandolfini. For a moment, I feared that they would avoid going into the historical conflicts that ranged from the fight for a better salary (he earned a million dollars per episode), the behind-the-scenes outbursts, the bad mood, and the suffering, but nothing is avoided or spared, just contextualized with affection and transparency. This is what makes Wise Guy: David Chase a documentary in every sense of the word and there are so few available that it makes you feel emotional and excited when something so good is produced.

The first part focuses on Chase and the transfer of his experiences and family to the pages of the script and then to the screen. The second part focuses more on Gandolfini. Without a doubt, the star’s shadow is as gigantic, if not more so, than the author himself, and we are often surprised and moved by this.

One of the issues that would obviously be highlighted was the controversial conclusion of the series. According to Chase, HBO pressured him for a conclusion and he had to finally confront the fact that it would have to end. In a world of crime, people die, violence does not.

In a world of passionate fans, there is never agreement on anything. Some wanted the rare opportunity for a talking David Chase to give us the chance to question more details than are being questioned, but they were enough.

And what about the surprising ending with the blackout? Everyone in the cast says they were taken by surprise (but it doesn’t make much sense because it would have to be in the script). In 2007, with the world watching the end of the series, we see Tony with his family in a diner, listening to Journey and Don’t Stop Believing, interrupting nothing when the song reaches the chorus and says “Don’t Stop”.

Was it to tell us that Tony died? That Tony’s life would not change at all? Anything is possible. When David Chase is about to tell us… the screen goes black. How about it? It’s to laugh, celebrate and yes, binge-watch The Sopranos again. Today it may seem less so, but how much has changed for the better what we see today outside the cinema! Thank you MAX and David Chase.

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