The Many Saints Of Newark’s Giuseppina Is Very Important For The Sopranos

Giuseppina Moltisanti is a character from the film The Many Saints of Newark, and while it may not seem like it due to her death, she is a very important character for the story of The Sopranos. Many fans of The Sopranos overlook the significance of the characters from the prequel film, with the movie’s mixed reception leading many viewers to forget that it exists at all. However, The Many Saints of Newark‘s most important contribution to The Sopranos franchise is Giuseppina, with her being key to the entire series.

2021’s The Many Saints of Newark is a movie prequel to The Sopranos, with the film following a young Tony Soprano as he grows up with his mobster family in 1970s New Jersey. The Many Saints of Newark takes a new look at the world of The Sopranos, with many of the characters and story arcs providing further context for the HBO series. While giving a better look at younger versions of the main cast of The Sopranos is great, the most important contribution to The Sopranos is quite possibly Giuseppina.

Dickie’s Relationship With Giuseppina Foreshadows Tony Soprano

As it turns out, Giuseppina’s relationship with Dickie in The Many Saints of Newark perfectly foreshadows Tony Soprano’s arc in The Sopranos. In the film, Giuseppina is the stepmother of Dickie Moltisanti, the father of Christopher Moltisanti in the main series. Despite their familial relationship, the two start sleeping together in the film, only for Dickie to kill her after finding out that she was cheating on him.

This arc perfectly parallels Tony Soprano’s, as his relationship with his mother Livia is quite similar. Throughout The Sopranos, it is heavily implied that Tony has an Oedipal complex, although he denies this. This is even reinforced in The Many Saints of Newark, with young Livia Soprano being played by Vera Farmiga, an actress that looks surprisingly similar to Edie Falco, who plays the wife of Tony in The Sopranos. Much like Dickie, Tony also contemplates killing his mother throughout The Sopranos, with this complex dynamic being at the heart of the show.

Giuseppina’s Death In The Many Saints Of Newark Shows How Tony Learned From Dickie

Young Tony Soprano clearly took notes in The Many Saints of Newark, as the film shows how Tony learned from Dickie. While Dickie killing Giuseppina is bad enough, the fact that he does it by drowning is an interesting choice. Tony contemplates suffocating several characters throughout The Sopranos, but he actually does it with one significant character.

Christopher Moltisanti is the son of Dickie Moltisanti, which is why its so interesting that Tony killed Christopher by suffocating him. It’s almost as if the same cycle of violence that Dickie started was completed by Tony Soprano killing Christopher, showing just how well-thought-out the film was. The Many Saints of Newark is both a narrative and thematic prequel to The Sopranos, with Giuseppina and Dickie’s relationship being key to this.