Where I Read Way too Deeply Into the Food From My Favourite Movies and Co. Nam Woon Kim is a film geek and a food freak and here he takes us on a brief, but intimate, look at some of his favourite food moments from films and series. Food can mean so much to so many of us and it can be the same for many of our favourite characters. Whether painting a portrait of who a person is, or reaching out from that screen to find a commonality with its audience, food and film are an unrivalled match.
Tony Soprano’s spoon and fork
through a tub of ice cream one spoon at a time. Food is much more than set-dressing when it comes to scenes with Tony.
The willpower used not to make this piece entirely about the Sopranos is not the same restraint exercised by the man himself when it comes to dining on the food of the show. There's been plenty said about the food in this show, whether it's memeing the infamous gabagool or psychoanalysing the relationship Tony has with food as a source of intergenerational trauma.
During his most vulnerable moments watching his comfort show of choice - usually World War 2 documentaries - he's swirling his way to the bottom of a bowl, spoon in hand. Tony, and the midnight desserts he’s seen with throughout the series, portrays a real and ordinary man - a key element of what makes the show so great. On the other hand, pass him a fork and Tony the ruthless mob boss comes to life. When Tony exerts his power, his trusty fork is right there with him. He stabs and scrapes the plate during meetings with subordinates he’d clearly rather not have. As if he wasn’t intimidating enough, Tony will obliterate the food in front of him. A clear dichotomy that the directors rarely draw attention to, trusting the audience will pick up on it.
But, not enough attention is given to the humble forks and spoons that leading star James Gandolfini uses to flesh out the character. How Gandolfini approaches the neverending meals the production team churns out is up to the writing of the scene and which side of Tony we’re meant to be seeing. When he's not eating cold cuts by hand out of the fridge first thing in the morning, he's either forking through what's on his plate or going
(I promise this next one is about actual food).
