The Many Saints of Newark 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		4.0

The Many Saints of Newark 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 21, 2021

Considering the controversy that erupted when the final episode (or perhaps more accurately, the final few minutes) of The Sopranos: The Complete Series aired, some fans of the long running HBO megahit might have been pining for a sequel rather than a prequel, but after a mob life sabbatical of a few years, David Chase and his team have returned with The Many Saints of Newark, which offers a look at a young Tony Soprano (William Ludwig as a boy, and then original star James Gandolfini's son Michael as a teen) in the sixties and seventies. The Many Saints of Newark is probably unavoidably going to resonate most with those who got hooked on The Sopranos, and part of this effort's interest is in getting acquainted (and/or reacquainted) with a bunch of characters at earlier stages in their lives than what was depicted in the original series. But the focal character in The Many Saints of Newark is actually a kind of audacious choice: Dickie Moltisanti (Alessandro Nivola). While a number of comedy series through the years have featured characters who are often talked about, and even occasionally heard, but never seen, like doorman Carlton in Rhoda, or Niles' wife Maris in Frasier, it might be a bit more of a challenge to come with a list of similarly "invisible" characters in drama series. That said, fans of The Sopranos will be familiar with the name and at least some elements of the story of Moltisanti, who serves as a kind of father figure and mentor for young Tony.

1967 is often cited as the so-called Summer of Love, and in fact it's referred to by that very sobriquet in The Many Saints of Newark, though as the story makes clear, if flower toting hippies were all the rage in San Francisco, there was rage of another sort fomenting all across the nation, with incredibly destructive riots destroying block after block of several major American cities, including Newark. This is just one element in this tale which seems sadly relevant to what those of us in the United States have experienced over the past year or so (though certainly not limited to that time frame, of course). And in fact simmering "race relations" are rather interestingly one of the central aspects of the film, as a black cohort of Dickie's, Harold McBrayer (Leslie Odom, Jr.), figures prominently in the story.

The "race riots" of 1967 offer a roiling subtext to the early time period documented in The Many Saints of Newark, though before they erupt the film has already introduced Dickie and a very young Tony as they arrive at port to greet Dickie's father "Hollywood Dick" (Ray Liotta, in one of two parts he plays) and Hollywood Dick's new (and much younger) Italian wife, Giuseppina (Michela De Rossi). The early scenes document Hollywood Dick's overbearing personality, which is directed variously at Dickie and/or Giuseppina, and which leads to one of the more viscerally effective moments in the film, after Hollywood Dick pushes Giuseppina down the stairs, and Dickie decides to teach his father a lesson. Suffice it to say that the upshot is that Liotta is only consigned to playing another character for the rest of the film, Hollywood Dick's twin brother Sal, who has been incarcerated for years for killing another "made" family member.

Perhaps attempting to assuage a guilty conscience, Dickie begins visiting Sal in prison, and while I can't say for certain whether this was an intentional "homage", at least some of the quasi-therapeutic discussions between the two, while barbed and not necessarily "healing", may remind some of the one of the central conceits in The Sopranos and the trials and tribulations of an adult Tony. In the meantime, Harold, who has had to take off for a while, returns and decides he can be his own capo of his own black gang. Also in the meantime, in one of the less surprising plot machinations the film offers, Dickie and the widowed Giuseppina begin an affair, though even that relationship ultimately offers yet another viscerally disturbing scene involving Dickie's penchant toward rash behaviors.

One of the really interesting things about The Many Saints of Newark is that, much like The Sopranos, this is basically a "family soap opera" that just happens to be situated in the world of (at times not all that) organized crime. It's the family relationships that drive the story, and which give Tony's "coming of age" tale near novelistic context. That said, this film's tag line, Who Made Tony Soprano, is probably most relevant in terms of understanding the film's content if the emphasis is put on that "who made" rather than "Tony Soprano". While it's almost unavoidably emotional to see Michael Gandolfini doing his own take on one of his late father's most memorable portrayals, it's really the performances of Nivola, Vera Farmiga as a younger Livia, and Corey Stoll as a younger Junior that tend to generate the most energy.

The Many Saints of Newark 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Note: Screenshots are sourced from the 1080 Blu-ray.

The Many Saints of Newark is presented in 4K UHD courtesy of Warner Brothers Home Entertainment and HBO with a 2160p transfer in 2.39:1. The film was shot with the Arri Alexa LF and finished at a 4K DI. The 4K presentation is able to capitalize upon the resolution of the source material brilliantly with regard to practical fine detail like textures on fabrics and crags on faces, but the one place where I felt it came up a little short was in its depiction of the sometimes kind of gritty digital grain that has been added. Keep your eyes peeled, for example, on the very opening scene as a camera tracks through a cemetery and look at the almost billows of swarm like digital grain in the gray skies. While that's a perhaps extreme example, I just found the blackened grittiness of the look in this increased resolution to be not especially pleasing, let alone "filmic". In all other ways, though, this is a really great looking transfer, especially in terms of the palette. Interestingly the differences in highlights and even overall temperature is noticeable right from the get go with the slightly tweaked looking Warner Brothers logo, but there are a number of rather interesting differences in this presentation, including an emphasis on teal tones that is quite striking. Some of the buttery yellows of the 1080 presentation can attain a slightly more orange appearance.

The Many Saints of Newark 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Many Saints of Newark features a nicely expressive Atmos track that may frankly not offer a ton of verticality but which nonetheless is often vibrantly alive with surround activity, especially with regard to what is a veritable jukebox of source cues. There are some interesting placements in the Atmos track in the riot scenes in particular, not just with regard to the clamor of the rioters, but even to the background crackle of fires. A couple of later scenes involving some gruesome or at least disturbing also offer good placement of effects, with one outdoor sequence in particular offering nicely immersive ambient environmental sounds. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English, Spanish and French subtitles are available.

The Many Saints of Newark 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

No supplements are offered on the 4K UHD disc (hence the lack of a score above). The 1080 disc also included in this package has the supplements detailed in our The Many Saints of Newark Blu-ray review. Additionally, a digital copy is included.

The Many Saints of Newark 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Aside from the no doubt intentional emphasis on a previously unseen but much talked about character, there's also a certain audaciousness in the character actually narrating this film, which won't be spoiled here. This is obviously going to appeal mostly to fans of The Sopranos, and if this film understandably can't come close to attaining the almost mythic heights of that series, it's an often interesting and at times surprisingly emotional experience. Technical merits are solid, though I found the increased resolution of this 4K UHD version to not be especially kind to the presentation of digital grain. Recommended.