Re: Gandolfini Funeral Set for Thursday at St. John the Divi

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I obviously can't speak for the Sopranos cast or Jim's family, and usually it's unpleasant to see a celebrity death made into a spectacle, but in this instance it does seem kind of "right" for Gandolfini's funeral to be so publicly documented. The man bared his soul to the public through this series for seven years, it's like we all know him personally on some level. It's fitting that we should all mourn alongside those who were close to him.
Taps, lights out, 2200 hours. What's missing? Give up? Television.

Re: Gandolfini Funeral Set for Thursday at St. John the Divi

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Just touching on what Fly mentioned: While the reality of his death had hit home last week. It is made incredibly more sad by seeing that picture of Edie in tears hugging someone. James and Edie had such amazing chemistry on-screen, and, based on interviews, carried over into their outside lives. It is heartbreaking.

Pit mentioned the end of Test Dream, I posted on another message board the ending of Join the Club where Gandolfini sits on the edge of a hotel bed and looks out the window briefly at the flashing beacon while Moby's "When It's Cold I'd Like to Die." Such a beautiful and poignant ending among others. It was incredibly haunting before. But now it is absolutely chilling ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Bgi3z4M-Mo ).

Re: Gandolfini Funeral Set for Thursday at St. John the Divi

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Garth wrote:Just touching on what Fly mentioned: While the reality of his death had hit home last week. It is made incredibly more sad by seeing that picture of Edie in tears hugging someone. James and Edie had such amazing chemistry on-screen, and, based on interviews, carried over into their outside lives. It is heartbreaking.

Pit mentioned the end of Test Dream, I posted on another message board the ending of Join the Club where Gandolfini sits on the edge of a hotel bed and looks out the window briefly at the flashing beacon while Moby's "When It's Cold I'd Like to Die." Such a beautiful and poignant ending among others. It was incredibly haunting before. But now it is absolutely chilling ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Bgi3z4M-Mo ).
Yes, I was thinking of the end of this episode too. My heart stopped when I heard the music. I felt this way when I first saw it and now it has an entirely different meaning. :(

was Tony jr. (Robert Iler) at James Gandolfini funeral?

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i was looking at the pictures of the various newspaper stories on the James Gandolfini funeral online from the NY and NJ newspapers and saw the Soprano's cast at the funeral but 1 i didn't see there was Robert Iler who played Tony jr. does anybody know if he was or wasn't there. seemed strange to me if he wasn't there. i know Steve Van Zandt wasn't there because he was in europe. maybe someone can answer this.

Re: was Tony jr. (Robert Iler) at James Gandolfini funeral?

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CHITOWNSAM wrote:i was looking at the pictures of the various newspaper stories on the James Gandolfini funeral online from the NY and NJ newspapers and saw the Soprano's cast at the funeral but 1 i didn't see there was Robert Iler who played Tony jr. does anybody know if he was or wasn't there. seemed strange to me if he wasn't there. i know Steve Van Zandt wasn't there because he was in europe. maybe someone can answer this.
To the best of my knowledge, he wasn't there. I read somewhere else (maybe in the comments of one of the news articles) that others had specifically looked for him in pictures and couldn't find him, and none of the articles I saw summarizing attendees mentioned him.

He apparently has not spoken to any official media or released statements directly to news outlets. But I did see in a couple of places that he had posted comments on his facebook page (though I couldn't find them when I went there, possibly because those comments aren't viewable to more than friends or possibly because he took them down at some point after.) But there were several quotes in other places that his facebook message went something like, "I haven't cried for years, and now I can't stop."

I don't know anything at all about Iler, really, but this comment tends to support my hunch that he took this very badly. The importance of his role grew noticeably in season 6, and, I can't remember where -- perhaps a DVD commentary -- but he talked about how much Jim helped him to perform in those episodes, especially Second Coming. When he spoke of Gandolfini, there was a palpable, deep affection and respect, and just seeing from a distance how the rest of the cast was affected by this, I can't imagine that it's been anything less for him than very, very sad. Apparently he just is not at a point in life where he could deal with it publicly.
Tony, his spirits crushed after b-lining to the fridge first thing in the morning: "Who ate the last piece of cake?"

Re: Gandolfini Funeral Set for Thursday at St. John the Divi

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CHITOWNSAM wrote:ok thank you Fly. in my opinion only--he should have been there since the rest of the cast showed up to pay their respects and to say sadly their goodbyes.
Yeah, his absence was notable, for sure. But I'll give him the benefit of the doubt on why he felt he couldn't attend.

Can't remember if I mentioned this before, but I also didn't see Drea De Matteo or Katherine Narducci, although I had read short but glowing tributes from both. I think Katherine had worked with him in another small film project during the Sopranos run, so their professional relationship extended at least a bit beyond the show. Don't know if she was there and I missed her or if she was unable to attend for some reason.
Tony, his spirits crushed after b-lining to the fridge first thing in the morning: "Who ate the last piece of cake?"

Re: Gandolfini Funeral Set for Thursday at St. John the Divi

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i saw a transcript of Iler's facebook status, it was something like "i can't stop crying, this has to be a bad dream, i love Jim so much". it seems like he cared. but it also seems like Iler has been gravitating away from his Sopranos reputation, and acting/fame in general, since he got arrested. probably a wise choice for a child star. his absence at the funeral may have had to do with that, the spotlight of being AJ Soprano might have gotten to him over the years. that had to be a turbulent way of growing up. to start off with that typical child star mentality, then have your character grow into a source of hate and ridicule.
Taps, lights out, 2200 hours. What's missing? Give up? Television.
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