Phil had the best arc in the Sopranos. He went into the can for some indeterminate time, came out of the closet and finally turned into a house. It was a fucking epic.
All his charges were knocked down to a moving violation and it cost him $250 in fines and court costs. He mentioned it frequently throughout the series. "$250 in fines, Butchie, not a peep...."
Phil is a really fun combination of the worst traits of Carmine’s old school mentality and Johnny’s modern yet hot headedness. Ruthless with a massive chip on his shoulder for doing 20 years in the can. And as said, that resentment as the most powerful person in a family was just leading to a war.
I really enjoyed his movie Chicago Overcoat, which used to be on Netflix. Absolutely bog standard mobster B movie, but it was fun to see Frank Vincent as a protagonist mobster living his last glorious mob days in a changing world.
Phil was a formidable opponent, his ability to turn into house gives him huge advantage over other mobsters, but in his final moment he couldnt react in time, and didnt transform
Honestly I never thought Phil was literally gay, just that he felt deeply ashamed for “compromising” in jail. This is why he grabs the sheets during Vito’s death, being turned on by the violence. Arguably this is what Chase implies by saying that the “allusions were intentional”
Yeah I don't think he's a fag either but Chase is arguably not a good source of info anymore, he constantly forgets details and Many Saints of Newark was just a reminder of that
Phil is probably my favorite character in the whole show. While he is a retread of the bitter old mobster who is behind the times, since he actually has power he becomes a much bigger threat than Richie or Feech ever were. In a way, he is Tony's ultimate test and is very arguable that Tony fails despite his experiences with his own family. It also helps that the acting is amazing and he is hilarious. The other thing I liked about Phil though is that while he is funny he is also terrifying. He flips from being sweet enough and a loving family man to cold-blooded killer more naturally the most of the cast
Sarcasm aside, Phil's fixation on Vito's homosexuality was to a big extent caused by his wife, let's not forget about that like most people do. At one point Phil calmed down a bit and almost seemed to be at peace and started leaning towards simply letting Tony take care of that issue. It was Phil's wife who then strongly pressed him that it was Phil's responsibility and pride to "take care of Vito", which meant very clearly killing him, which at least subconsciously she very well understood. Let's not blame it all on "toxic and insecure masculinity" here, or "closet homosexuality", not even conceiving that a woman could be equally homophobic in a lot of cases.
@@littlecarminelupertazzi1357the phrase is normally “I loved him like a brother,” so to say “like a brother in law” (someone you have no real relation to) to his sister to comfort her is backhanded and meaningless lol
Phil just couldn't bring himself to face the fact that he had wasted his life behind bars for a family that never cared about him. He was a bad person in the end but his motivations were kinda understandable.
Well spoken, but he had the right of it. Without people like him, everyone would turn informant, and if you aren't going to be respected when you are out and made to feel like you wasted your life, to hell with everything. He was in the right.
What a stand up guy, not one peep about the compromises he made in prison. He even had several mobsters waiting with their shineboxes outside the prison during his release.
I think Phil Leotardo was meant to show that Tony is actually a bad mafia boss. His competence and old school values (which are proven effective) illuminate Tony's incompetence and hypocrisy which are proven ineffective. Phil eliminates his enemies and does what he believes is good for the organization. Tony kills his own family members and does what is good for him. In the end, Phil dies fighting Tony, but the NY mafia wins the war and goes on while the Jersey crew is crushed and Tony gets whatever-ed in the final scene. I believe that a lot of people miss how ineffectual Tony is simply because he's the main POV throughout the show.
Wrong on all counts. His own people sold him is why he died. He took the reigns after eliminating several people higher up the food chain in the Lupertazzi family decimating it upper ranks and spent the war he wanted hiding from Tony. The man turned into a house and then tried to flee the state. Plus he was pretty much manipulated to the point of being Butchie's puppet. When his string got cut his head got squashed.
Phil is in no way an old-school mobster, he may think he is but he is far from it. He killed Angelo for no reason along with Lorraine. Any mobster would know what would happen as a result...retaliation. Phil's bother getting killed would have been expected. Further, New Jersey under the DeCavalcante Family which the show is based on, was essentially a sub-family shared by both the Gambino & Luchesi crime families IRL as Jersey actually brings in more money than three of the five NY families. No way Phil could have touched ANY Jersey guy without approval from the Commission without himself getting whacked. Old school mobsters knew that, you don't mess with the money, the money is always #1. The last of the true old school mobsters was Carmine sr. who summed it up perfectly when Johnny Sac wanted to whack Ralphie. Phil taking out a big earner such as Vito, regardless of which team he was catching for, would have resulted in Phil being whacked by the Commission. The other thing I am sick about is the jail bullshit. Hey asshole, you committed a crime and got busted, that was 100% on YOU, you did nothing special by keeping your scumbag mouth shut because you caused your own situation. So tired of these clowns thinking they are special because the did NOT rat. Not ratting is supposed to be expected, not rewarded.
An amazing and accurate comment. Congratulations 👏👏👏 I think Phil and other characters' exaggerations are done to reflect the decadent mobster lifestyle in the 2000's. There was hardly a guy that wouldn't mix emotions and personal affairs with business, or without needing to kill anybody. Also, the Lupertazzi family is based on the Genovese family, which has countless operations in New Jersey and work closely with the DeCavalcantes, bringing animosity to both parties.
@@miaouew this last time I watched the show I *really* enjoyed Frankie Valli as Rusty. The character perfectly served his purpose, but it also would've been cool to see more of him.
Uh, he clearly killed Lorraine on Johnny Sack's orders and also Angelo due to an internal power struggle between Johnny and "Brainless the Second". This show's how he's old school, his boss told him to kill someone so he did it, even if that could bring blow back.
It’s also poetic. In the first episode, Tony talks about how he came into the game late and throughout the series talks about how he wishes he was in it earlier during the golden years. Yet all his antagonists are people from those years. For how much Tony doesn’t want to admit it, he’s a product of the mafia he supposedly despises. Don’t get me wrong, they all came with their baggage, but it does show how times have changed and his final enemy is Phil. The one who held the old ways closest. Edit: I commented before I finished the video, lol op did a great job of articulating it better!
Personally I think that phil is actually a secret sexual sadist rather than being gay. The fact he so clearly was getting his rocks off at the thought of watching vito be brutalized and violated sexually like he was makes him that much more frightening as a character because he actually gets his jollies from extreme acts of violence.
Agree.. Phil wasn’t homosexual. Did he engage in those kind of activities while locked up? We don’t know. But he does get off on hurting people but lots of these sociopathic types do Ralphie, Ritchie April…etc
@@DBat-sp1tp Ralphie comes off as more sociopathic because he sees violence as a means to an end along with being an outlet for whatever repressed rage he feels about whatever happened when he was young, but he doesn't really get his rocks off to hurting people. Ritchie might have some sexually sadistic traits (based on what gets him off when he's having sex) but I don't see him as the type who would get off on actually being in the room watching someone be sexually tortured and murdered. As you said, we have no idea what phil did when he was in prison but I don't see him as being gay. But he could also have a dangerous paraphilia like pansexuality which is listed in the DSM-V as an extremely dangerous form of sexual deviance which is characterized by gaining extreme sexual stimulation from violence and having an often secret willingness to have sex with anyone or anything, its actually surprisingly common in serial killers/rapists like Alton Coleman and sexual sadists like phil. Phil's psychopathy would mask it but it would definitely explain why he seems to almost become sexually aroused when he's watching vito be sexually violated and murdered.
Tony Soprano faced a lot of bitter enemies in every season: his mother, Junior, Richie Aprile and Ralphie Cifaretto . But it was Phil Leotardo the ultimate nemesis and arguably the cause of his own demise at the end
And people wonder why Tony became the irredeemable, unhinged psychopath he was in s6. After having a contact with each of these individuals no one can blame him LMAO
It's quite fitting that it was at the point where Tony was at his worst where he went into direct rival conflict with Phil, who is also a pretty despicable and aggressive character, representing the old school made guy vs the new age gangster capitalist. Excellent rivalry between an antihero turned villain and villainous antagonist.
Where I live in Staten island there are a lot of current mob guys in my neighborhood. When I was a kid growing up they were very active in the community and did things out in the open . Nowadays they are pretty much relegated to underground schemes. most of them aside from the top top guys struggle to make money . The heydays are definitely over but they are still a large presence in the NYC area . Still having strong ties in labor unions , gambling and drugs .
Great analysis on both Phil’s character and the show. Very in-depth while also encased in a short and simple 11 min video! We need more analyses like these.
There were way too many gay innuendos in Phil's scenes. They didn't do that for nothing. It was kind of overkill of you were paying attention.. Even after Vito died.
Great plot, some great performances. Robert deniro was simply too old to play frank sheeran. The wide angle shot of him beating up the greengrocer was unforgivable. A technical failure that bought me completely out of the movie.
1:10 That's true, but my favourite Sopranos theory is that Phil did approximately 20 years in prison. There are a few hints that suggest that the number was somewhere between 15 and 25 years and David Chase also said in an old interview, off the record, that he had always had in mind precisely that number when creating the character of Phil. But I agree, it's all speculation at this point.
There was some dissagreement about what would be the most effective time frame for the character. Both 15 and 25 years had strong arguments, but in the end they compromised.
You only get to be as formidable as Phil if you spent some years in the can, say 20 years and not said a peep. Although not sure how long Phil himself spent in the can.
Absolutely awesome commentary about one of the characters who I don't think gets enough respect on the series. That scene that starts with him stirring his espresso and issuing a final takeout of the soprano crew is my absolute favorite of the series. I felt like that was the inevitable end to the series given all of the discord between he and Tony. In the end they both got what they had coming to them!
I don't believe Phil was gay. He may have been uncompromising, but in my opinion he was right. I do think he got to power hungry and arrogant once Johnny Sac died, but he was very old school.
I did a personality test for work and was like ESTJ, at the end of the test to showed characters with the same type and it was Tony Soprano. I rewatched the show after that and its so accurate in regards to hating 'silly' rules and not caring about someone being gay as hes more focused on the end goal.
honestly Phil's death was a bit anticlimactic and unextraordinary for who he became in the show. its kinda like they fast forwarded to a quick whack with not much build up or chase to find him and I think someone as vile and big as phil in S6 shoulda gone out with a more wild out. Sure his head was crushed but that's about it, it was almost comedic and too easy the way they got him. Sil taking out Adrianna was way more impactful for example. I recall after they got him feeling like...oh, that was it? alright
Not sure if im late to the party to notice but i really enjoy the editing for this video. I thoroughly enjoy that you use some clips with the actual audio; a prime example of showing rather than telling.
The monologue at the start about Tony coming in at the end is actually so beautiful because its true. By the end of the series the guys try shaking down a Starbucks barista (or w/e coffee shop) and it didn't go over well because times have changed. Everything is run by corporations. No more small mom and pop shops to shake down and offer protection to. It's kind of sad to think about like that.
People say Phil was too obssessed with Vito but the guy was married to his daughter and was cheating on her with randos on construction sites and gay bars. Like what do you expect a housewarming party and note saying you humiliated my family and broke my daughters heart so 2 points on a vig and 3 no shows and we're good? Also he didn't get the satisfaction of torturing and killing Tony B so there was residual hatred there.
Awesome breakdown of his character! At the end of the day, almost every single person in the show is a massive hypocrite; trying to uphold the pseudo-macho ideals found in the old ways of the mafia, while not fully following them themselves. Even in the context of Tony’s crew going to Italy; they all like to boast about their heritage but then end up feeling so foreign and far removed from actual Italian culture when they visit. A lot of people look at the sopranos at surface value and only see it as another dime a dozen mob drama without realizing the context of how trailblazing it was. It doesn’t glorify the way of life in organized crime besides a few instances, its main purpose is to show the human condition and how the so-called “glory days” of mob life were coming to an end in the late 90s early 00s, and that they never really were glorious to begin with. Most of if not all the major characters suffer serious insecurities as a result of living the lies.
I think Phil’s closeted homosexuality goes one of two ways. 1: Phil is gay, and deeply repressed that part of himself to fit into the mafia lifestyle and culture. Additionally, his hatred of Vito comes from the fact that he feels that Vito should have tried harder to fit into a heterosexual lifestyle like he did and avoid homosexual encounters. 2: Phil isn’t a homosexual, but did have gay sex while in prison. His hatred of Vito comes from his own self-hatred for having compromised in prison by having sex with men.
Hey Kino & fellow fans, here's a list of all the Soprano's character who died by something other than being whacked. Some are gangsters, some aren't. Ya know, just in case someone says all characters are whacked out. Gigi died of a heart attack while on the toilet. Carmine Lupertazzi died of a stroke. Johnny Sac died of lung cancer. Jackie Aprile died of stomach cancer. Detective Vin Makazian committed suicide. Livia had a stroke while sleeping. Febby Viola died of cancer. Bobby Baccalieri Sr. died of asphyxiation on his own blood in a car crash. Karen Baccalieri died in a car crash. Gloria Trillo committed suicide by hanging. Furio's father died of cancer. Raymond died of a stroke in the FBI's car. Dick Barone died of Lou Gehrig's disease. Eugene hung himself. Aunt Dottie (Paulie's real mother) died of natural causes after suffering Alzheimer's. Hesh's girlfriend Renata died in her sleep from a stroke. Paulie's stepmom Nuccia had a massive stroke while on a bus. You're welcome.
The death of tradition is even shown in the way Phil was executed. Back in the day, you would never have been whacked if you were out with your family. But Phil was whacked right in front of his wife and his baby grandchildren in the back of his SUV.
Nailed it, kid. New mobsters are corporate; short term profiteers. As for Philly, whatevea happened there, he's an old fashioned guy; very allegorical.
There's literally no evidence that Phil is gay. It's absurdly overstated and would require David Chase to be an actual child to write it in. The fact Phil was standing in a dark closet for hours waiting for Vito to come home is already goofy. Even the evidence in this is whack. I assume it's a joke.
Yeah, soprano theories are hit n miss and often become redundant - Phil was Tony’s greatest nemesis, one of the coldest characters besides the memes. Definitely a silly theory
Phil being secretly gay is a reach, Phil wasn't gay at all. He's old school mafioso and they despise gays. He was gripping the bed because he was watching someone he was close to get beat to death, and Vito was a made man being killed without permission.
Sino, this is your most perfect video. Your argument is spot on & you covered every bit of evidence for it. That's not an opinion, that's my position & I'm sticking to it.
Only problem with this video i had was not bringing up Phil's wife, she was extremely homophobic and most likely gave Phil the idea to kill Vito which contrasts him staying quiet about the situation when he's at home.
"We're from alcoholics anonymous"
"What's your name?"
"Well we're anonymous"
Best line.
Now where’s ya son ya fooking twat
That shit had me dying
😂 one of the best deliveries in the show
and "I'll take that disc man, and I'll ram it up your box!!!"
Not quite as good as, I loved him like a brother in law, but close.
Phil's a real mobster. Unlike that animal who killed his 46 year old kid brother, I can't even say his name.
Phil please 🙏🏻 Don't even bring that animal up you know how you get
He was just a kid...
Whatever happened there
@@abdelrahimmohammed1814beat me to it
WHATEVER HAPPENED THERE?!?
Phil had the best arc in the Sopranos. He went into the can for some indeterminate time, came out of the closet and finally turned into a house. It was a fucking epic.
you know who had an arc? Jamal Ginsberg, the hasidic homeboy
@@neut9270 He was the strong, silent type, like Gary Cooper.
Indeterminate? He did 20 years in the can eating grilled cheese off the radiator. 😂
@@Aint_no_senators_son Christ, he missed his kid brother Billy's late 20s to late 40s then. Poor guy, that was Billy's whole childhood right there.
@@Aint_no_senators_son*RATiator
“Let me tell you a couple of three things” is easily a top 5 line for me.
Tree things, not three lol
@@whiteeyes3743 tree tings, not things. “Lemme tell you a couple of tree tings”
@@garrom5652 well he sure liked trunks and botanical gardens. nothing wrong wit that
@@garrom5652 true lol
Lemme tell ya a coupla tree things
The Sopranos is the greatest show of all time despite us never learning how long Phil spent in prison.
All his charges were knocked down to a moving violation and it cost him $250 in fines and court costs. He mentioned it frequently throughout the series. "$250 in fines, Butchie, not a peep...."
my favorite part is when they go to Naples thinking to be accepted as italians and most people are like "ma chi sei? che vuoi?"
Or what he did in lieu of manicotti.
Some things are just better left unsaid
Whatever happened there, guess we'll never know
Phil must've crawled under that tire for warmth.
The tire was a made man and Phil wasn’t. They just had to take it, real greaseball shit among the Italians.
LMFAO
Lol!!! Good Christopher call back
His final compromise 😢
very nice. well done. 😂
“When Vito gets here you are gonna ducktape him while ima hide in the closet. It’ll be like a metaphor”
“If I start jackin off into a tissue just go with it”
Very allegorical
@@KoDi82the hetero and the homo
@@KoDi82the sacred and the propane
That Phil turned himself into a house joke never gets old.
His head turned into a watermelon
It has
@@ratedr7845hasn’t *
He wanted to turn into a shinebox but he compromised and turned into a house.
@@brettpatterson404Now get of his stoop! 😅
I loved Phil like a brother-law 😂
And the cocksucker fucked me in the ass.
In wasnt In him because he felt it in him
"Brother-in-Law, can you help me? I'm stuck in the dryer."
@@TheSmark666 ok sure in law
@@TheSmark666 "What are you DOING step bro?!?!?!"
Phil is a really fun combination of the worst traits of Carmine’s old school mentality and Johnny’s modern yet hot headedness. Ruthless with a massive chip on his shoulder for doing 20 years in the can.
And as said, that resentment as the most powerful person in a family was just leading to a war.
He did 20 years in the can?
@@panchh9228he doesn't talk about it much
How long in the can?
All I got to say is he compromised, and I never got him looking like the shah of Iran
The 20 years was fine, it was the jerking off into the grilled cheese that made him bitter.
Phil was a huge asshole. But the guy who played him was supposed to be a super friendly guy! What a fine actor!
I really enjoyed his movie Chicago Overcoat, which used to be on Netflix. Absolutely bog standard mobster B movie, but it was fun to see Frank Vincent as a protagonist mobster living his last glorious mob days in a changing world.
Both he and Joe Pesci used to be a comedy duo together, which makes it extra funny when you think of their scenes in Casion and Goodfellas
Yeah bro, it's called acting.
Billy bats played him. He didnt die in goodfellas, he just got a new name and relocated into jersey as part of wit pro.
I wanted more Frank Vincent movies. I compromised...
Phil was a formidable opponent, his ability to turn into house gives him huge advantage over other mobsters, but in his final moment he couldnt react in time, and didnt transform
Ya know, Quasimodo predicted all this
Who?
@@RexSonic The quarterback of Notre Dame.
Nice Bobby Baccallieri quote😂
@@RainBird88x😂😂
Honestly I never thought Phil was literally gay, just that he felt deeply ashamed for “compromising” in jail. This is why he grabs the sheets during Vito’s death, being turned on by the violence. Arguably this is what Chase implies by saying that the “allusions were intentional”
Yeah I don't think he's a fag either but Chase is arguably not a good source of info anymore, he constantly forgets details and Many Saints of Newark was just a reminder of that
He's not gay per say, but he had gay experiences in the joint. That's what Kino means & what Chase confirmed.
Ohh whatever happened there
@mrd3016 what episode is this expressed in?
He literally comes out of the closet in that scene, ha. If that’s not blatant symbolism, I don’t know what is.
Phil was also a master chef who created the “Grill Cheese a la Leonardo” which is now a staple of every Italian restaurant
Do they heat it on the Radiator?
@@RM-306Rad-e-atoor
It's great how he restored his name for the dish. Not like those bastards at Ellis Island.
But I heard Rasta’s had a lock on that too
Phil is probably my favorite character in the whole show. While he is a retread of the bitter old mobster who is behind the times, since he actually has power he becomes a much bigger threat than Richie or Feech ever were. In a way, he is Tony's ultimate test and is very arguable that Tony fails despite his experiences with his own family. It also helps that the acting is amazing and he is hilarious. The other thing I liked about Phil though is that while he is funny he is also terrifying. He flips from being sweet enough and a loving family man to cold-blooded killer more naturally the most of the cast
Frank Vincent has a couple of lines in Goodfellas, but was a huge presence in the movie. And not just because of that awful smell from being moved.
@JonnyKay-co4xc i loved him like a brother in law
@dutyaccountabilitymediaI loved phil! Couldn’t Stand Tony and his hypocrisy!
Everything you said about Phil also applies to Tony.
Tony got Phil first, though.
@@bretmaverick9434 Huh? Tony is not "a retread of the bitter old mobster that is behind the times". Where do you get that?
You wanted to talk about the real value of Phil Leotardo, but you compromised and recorded this video. Great as always
Twenty years in the can, and not a peep! 💪
I didn’t know Phil Leotardo did twenty years, did he ever mention that?
Because he liked it there...
Whatever happened there…
I different kind of peep for sure
I think Phil might have served roughly 2 months to maybe 300 years in prison. It’s very subtle but the clues are there. David Chase is a genius
I'd narrow that down I think even further to between 3 months and 299 years
Sarcasm aside, Phil's fixation on Vito's homosexuality was to a big extent caused by his wife, let's not forget about that like most people do. At one point Phil calmed down a bit and almost seemed to be at peace and started leaning towards simply letting Tony take care of that issue. It was Phil's wife who then strongly pressed him that it was Phil's responsibility and pride to "take care of Vito", which meant very clearly killing him, which at least subconsciously she very well understood. Let's not blame it all on "toxic and insecure masculinity" here, or "closet homosexuality", not even conceiving that a woman could be equally homophobic in a lot of cases.
That's a great analysis, i'm sure you didn't come up with it yourself.
@@sergio_josewhy would you say that?
@@baremangus3576 Lol it's a joke that references Phil's answer to his wife about the priest, who said "There is nothing gay about hell".
Phil’s wife seems like the straw, perhaps on some level, Phil even unconsciously sympathized with Vito, given his experiences in da can.
@@hexagonproductions2019 20 years in the can.
I wanted to fuck a woman.
I compromised.
I fucked a man 🤌🍆
Phil accomplished an almost perfect "Meme's-per-spoken-sentence" ratio on the show as well, a metric few have mentioned.
They took a a respected Italian name, and turned it into a ballet costume.
But in ballet they wore tutu's
I loved him like a brother in law is one of the greatest lines in TV history😂😂😂
Why is that line so funny?
@@littlecarminelupertazzi1357the phrase is normally “I loved him like a brother,” so to say “like a brother in law” (someone you have no real relation to) to his sister to comfort her is backhanded and meaningless lol
Phil had had the best one liners on the show.
Phil just couldn't bring himself to face the fact that he had wasted his life behind bars for a family that never cared about him.
He was a bad person in the end but his motivations were kinda understandable.
Speaking of family, his wife Patty is my absolute least favorite character in the show. Lady was worse than Livia!
Phil was in prison?
@@chinchilla415 he understands the plight of women.
makes a mean radiator sandwich at least
Well spoken, but he had the right of it. Without people like him, everyone would turn informant, and if you aren't going to be respected when you are out and made to feel like you wasted your life, to hell with everything. He was in the right.
Me: I wanted to watch a Kino video…. I compromised… I watched cineranter…
Kino: you get a pass for that.
They're both a bit of a poseur, you ask me.
@@TooLooze very allegorical.
The show really went to another level with the introduction of Phil.
Great antagonist. 20 Years. Not a word.
What a stand up guy, not one peep about the compromises he made in prison. He even had several mobsters waiting with their shineboxes outside the prison during his release.
I think Phil Leotardo was meant to show that Tony is actually a bad mafia boss. His competence and old school values (which are proven effective) illuminate Tony's incompetence and hypocrisy which are proven ineffective. Phil eliminates his enemies and does what he believes is good for the organization. Tony kills his own family members and does what is good for him.
In the end, Phil dies fighting Tony, but the NY mafia wins the war and goes on while the Jersey crew is crushed and Tony gets whatever-ed in the final scene.
I believe that a lot of people miss how ineffectual Tony is simply because he's the main POV throughout the show.
Wrong on all counts. His own people sold him is why he died. He took the reigns after eliminating several people higher up the food chain in the Lupertazzi family decimating it upper ranks and spent the war he wanted hiding from Tony. The man turned into a house and then tried to flee the state. Plus he was pretty much manipulated to the point of being Butchie's puppet. When his string got cut his head got squashed.
Phil is in no way an old-school mobster, he may think he is but he is far from it. He killed Angelo for no reason along with Lorraine. Any mobster would know what would happen as a result...retaliation. Phil's bother getting killed would have been expected. Further, New Jersey under the DeCavalcante Family which the show is based on, was essentially a sub-family shared by both the Gambino & Luchesi crime families IRL as Jersey actually brings in more money than three of the five NY families. No way Phil could have touched ANY Jersey guy without approval from the Commission without himself getting whacked. Old school mobsters knew that, you don't mess with the money, the money is always #1. The last of the true old school mobsters was Carmine sr. who summed it up perfectly when Johnny Sac wanted to whack Ralphie. Phil taking out a big earner such as Vito, regardless of which team he was catching for, would have resulted in Phil being whacked by the Commission. The other thing I am sick about is the jail bullshit. Hey asshole, you committed a crime and got busted, that was 100% on YOU, you did nothing special by keeping your scumbag mouth shut because you caused your own situation. So tired of these clowns thinking they are special because the did NOT rat. Not ratting is supposed to be expected, not rewarded.
In Pauile's book, you get points for stayin' OUTta the can!
An amazing and accurate comment. Congratulations 👏👏👏
I think Phil and other characters' exaggerations are done to reflect the decadent mobster lifestyle in the 2000's. There was hardly a guy that wouldn't mix emotions and personal affairs with business, or without needing to kill anybody.
Also, the Lupertazzi family is based on the Genovese family, which has countless operations in New Jersey and work closely with the DeCavalcantes, bringing animosity to both parties.
Kill a woman? Come on.
@@miaouew this last time I watched the show I *really* enjoyed Frankie Valli as Rusty. The character perfectly served his purpose, but it also would've been cool to see more of him.
Uh, he clearly killed Lorraine on Johnny Sack's orders and also Angelo due to an internal power struggle between Johnny and "Brainless the Second". This show's how he's old school, his boss told him to kill someone so he did it, even if that could bring blow back.
You kinda have to admire Phil. It’s not all talk with him; It’s also tissues, radiators, and shineboxes.
It’s also poetic. In the first episode, Tony talks about how he came into the game late and throughout the series talks about how he wishes he was in it earlier during the golden years. Yet all his antagonists are people from those years. For how much Tony doesn’t want to admit it, he’s a product of the mafia he supposedly despises. Don’t get me wrong, they all came with their baggage, but it does show how times have changed and his final enemy is Phil. The one who held the old ways closest.
Edit: I commented before I finished the video, lol op did a great job of articulating it better!
Phil is a stand up guy
Right?! I mean he did 20 years in the fucking can.
He’s real allegorical
He's my favourite character in The Sopranos because he ate grilled cheese off the radiator, what a man.
Vito was always a come from behind type of guy
Is this a gay joke? It worked lol.
Personally I think that phil is actually a secret sexual sadist rather than being gay.
The fact he so clearly was getting his rocks off at the thought of watching vito be brutalized and violated sexually like he was makes him that much more frightening as a character because he actually gets his jollies from extreme acts of violence.
Agree.. Phil wasn’t homosexual. Did he engage in those kind of activities while locked up? We don’t know. But he does get off on hurting people but lots of these sociopathic types do Ralphie, Ritchie April…etc
@@DBat-sp1tp
Ralphie comes off as more sociopathic because he sees violence as a means to an end along with being an outlet for whatever repressed rage he feels about whatever happened when he was young, but he doesn't really get his rocks off to hurting people.
Ritchie might have some sexually sadistic traits (based on what gets him off when he's having sex) but I don't see him as the type who would get off on actually being in the room watching someone be sexually tortured and murdered.
As you said, we have no idea what phil did when he was in prison but I don't see him as being gay.
But he could also have a dangerous paraphilia like pansexuality which is listed in the DSM-V as an extremely dangerous form of sexual deviance which is characterized by gaining extreme sexual stimulation from violence and having an often secret willingness to have sex with anyone or anything, its actually surprisingly common in serial killers/rapists like Alton Coleman and sexual sadists like phil.
Phil's psychopathy would mask it but it would definitely explain why he seems to almost become sexually aroused when he's watching vito be sexually violated and murdered.
Phil was actually a rare Shineboxsexual
Thats what i thought too
Thank you, that was what I thought too.
Tony Soprano faced a lot of bitter enemies in every season: his mother, Junior, Richie Aprile and Ralphie Cifaretto . But it was Phil Leotardo the ultimate nemesis and arguably the cause of his own demise at the end
And people wonder why Tony became the irredeemable, unhinged psychopath he was in s6. After having a contact with each of these individuals no one can blame him LMAO
It's quite fitting that it was at the point where Tony was at his worst where he went into direct rival conflict with Phil, who is also a pretty despicable and aggressive character, representing the old school made guy vs the new age gangster capitalist. Excellent rivalry between an antihero turned villain and villainous antagonist.
Where I live in Staten island there are a lot of current mob guys in my neighborhood. When I was a kid growing up they were very active in the community and did things out in the open .
Nowadays they are pretty much relegated to underground schemes. most of them aside from the top top guys struggle to make money . The heydays are definitely over but they are still a large presence in the NYC area . Still having strong ties in labor unions , gambling and drugs .
I wanted borko; I settled for Pure Kino.
Great analysis on both Phil’s character and the show. Very in-depth while also encased in a short and simple 11 min video! We need more analyses like these.
I do not think Phil was gay. Some people just really hate that way of life and I took Phil’s hatred at face value
Any sane non zoomer understands "that way of life" is disgusting and degenerate.
Same I was born in the 90s some ppl just don’t like the life style I’m pretty sure it was just hate
There were way too many gay innuendos in Phil's scenes. They didn't do that for nothing. It was kind of overkill of you were paying attention.. Even after Vito died.
Believe it or not, Frank Vincent had a guest role in Law and Order where he played a guy who did 20 fukin years.
Not joking
did his character compromise?
"... there hsn't been another great mafia movie after the shoe ended." The irishman is pretty amazing to be honest, one of the best mafia movies imho.
Great plot, some great performances. Robert deniro was simply too old to play frank sheeran. The wide angle shot of him beating up the greengrocer was unforgivable. A technical failure that bought me completely out of the movie.
1:10 That's true, but my favourite Sopranos theory is that Phil did approximately 20 years in prison. There are a few hints that suggest that the number was somewhere between 15 and 25 years and David Chase also said in an old interview, off the record, that he had always had in mind precisely that number when creating the character of Phil. But I agree, it's all speculation at this point.
There was some dissagreement about what would be the most effective time frame for the character. Both 15 and 25 years had strong arguments, but in the end they compromised.
"Though we're never given an exact answer on to how long he's been in been in prison" made me spit me drink laughing
The no more butchy scene with the music in the background is one of the best scenes in the show
Finally a new video, I was starting to grow mushrooms out my ass!
There's an image!
You did mushroom outta his ass once.....a whole fuckin platter
That sounds like a serious medical condition!
Why do discussions about Phil's hatred for Vito always seem the ignore that his wife nudged him into it?
I've always wondered this too
Well, at least Vito had a son. He may have looked like a Puerto Rican hooer, but a son, nonetheless.
The way he killed Vito was sick.
You only get to be as formidable as Phil if you spent some years in the can, say 20 years and not said a peep. Although not sure how long Phil himself spent in the can.
Absolutely awesome commentary about one of the characters who I don't think gets enough respect on the series. That scene that starts with him stirring his espresso and issuing a final takeout of the soprano crew is my absolute favorite of the series. I felt like that was the inevitable end to the series given all of the discord between he and Tony. In the end they both got what they had coming to them!
His greatest line was when he fake-shoots Loraine: "...because next time, there'll be no next time."
That's one of the top lines of the whole series.
A new Pure Kino upload and my lunch break is always a good time!
🙌🏼
RIP Frank Vincent, gone to the great shinebox in the sky
I don't believe Phil was gay. He may have been uncompromising, but in my opinion he was right. I do think he got to power hungry and arrogant once Johnny Sac died, but he was very old school.
The writers squandered a huge opportunity not having Phil degrade Butchie over his askew eye during one of his angry tirades.
In light of recent humiliations, it's an honor to be joined by men...
I took it that Phil wasn't actually gay, but he had "compromised" and been "prison gay" and carried around a deep shame over it.
Kino your editing is Gold XD
i ate 20 fkin grilled cheese sandwiches off the radiator!
Phil, he's a come from behind kinda guy
I was JUST rewatching Sopranos clips and you upload this.
I was just thinking about The Sopranos earlier today & guess what I just watched!
I did a personality test for work and was like ESTJ, at the end of the test to showed characters with the same type and it was Tony Soprano.
I rewatched the show after that and its so accurate in regards to hating 'silly' rules and not caring about someone being gay as hes more focused on the end goal.
Tony soprano is an ENTJ lol, he always makes assumptions out of situations and people and plans according to his intuition ability.
honestly Phil's death was a bit anticlimactic and unextraordinary for who he became in the show. its kinda like they fast forwarded to a quick whack with not much build up or chase to find him and I think someone as vile and big as phil in S6 shoulda gone out with a more wild out. Sure his head was crushed but that's about it, it was almost comedic and too easy the way they got him. Sil taking out Adrianna was way more impactful for example. I recall after they got him feeling like...oh, that was it? alright
I got ran over for 20 years
Not sure if im late to the party to notice but i really enjoy the editing for this video. I thoroughly enjoy that you use some clips with the actual audio; a prime example of showing rather than telling.
One really important lesson Phil taught us is how to make grilled cheese on the radiator
He was Dracula. He scared me. Only Nancy Sinatra scared me more !!!!!!
i dont understand why a sopranos channel would make a video on the shah of Iran but still it was very interesting!
The monologue at the start about Tony coming in at the end is actually so beautiful because its true. By the end of the series the guys try shaking down a Starbucks barista (or w/e coffee shop) and it didn't go over well because times have changed. Everything is run by corporations. No more small mom and pop shops to shake down and offer protection to. It's kind of sad to think about like that.
Thank you for making a video about the Shah of Iran
People say Phil was too obssessed with Vito but the guy was married to his daughter and was cheating on her with randos on construction sites and gay bars.
Like what do you expect a housewarming party and note saying you humiliated my family and broke my daughters heart so 2 points on a vig and 3 no shows and we're good?
Also he didn't get the satisfaction of torturing and killing Tony B so there was residual hatred there.
It was his cousin. A cousin he didn't really give a shit about because he refused to help her after vitos death
Great analysis. Thank you.
Phil? perhaps not. Richie? Perhaps. Vito…that’s just his blood pressure medication.
I wanted to binge watch the Sopranos...
I compromised... I watched TH-cam videos instead.
Phil took it in the can for 20 years
😂😂
The Shaw of Iran was epic in this series.
I laughed so hard when someone called him "The Shaw" and realized what a history nerd I am.
Phil gets a video, while I'm here sitting like patience in a monument, waiting for the Gus Fring analysis.
One day!
Wonderful video!
I agree lol. I enjoy seeing something well thought out that represents the creators opinion get so many people wild up 😂. Hilarious video.. Brilliant
Phil ain’t gay
😂
Awesome breakdown of his character! At the end of the day, almost every single person in the show is a massive hypocrite; trying to uphold the pseudo-macho ideals found in the old ways of the mafia, while not fully following them themselves. Even in the context of Tony’s crew going to Italy; they all like to boast about their heritage but then end up feeling so foreign and far removed from actual Italian culture when they visit. A lot of people look at the sopranos at surface value and only see it as another dime a dozen mob drama without realizing the context of how trailblazing it was. It doesn’t glorify the way of life in organized crime besides a few instances, its main purpose is to show the human condition and how the so-called “glory days” of mob life were coming to an end in the late 90s early 00s, and that they never really were glorious to begin with. Most of if not all the major characters suffer serious insecurities as a result of living the lies.
I think Phil’s closeted homosexuality goes one of two ways.
1: Phil is gay, and deeply repressed that part of himself to fit into the mafia lifestyle and culture. Additionally, his hatred of Vito comes from the fact that he feels that Vito should have tried harder to fit into a heterosexual lifestyle like he did and avoid homosexual encounters.
2: Phil isn’t a homosexual, but did have gay sex while in prison. His hatred of Vito comes from his own self-hatred for having compromised in prison by having sex with men.
Odd how this video comes out right after Cineranter puts out a video arguing that Phil ISN'T gay.
Was thinking that. I agree with cineranter tho.
I disagree about Phil being gay. I think you’re stretching.
I agree! 😂 It’s ridiculous to say Phil was one of these 👉🌈 guys 😅
Phil wasn’t the last mobster. He was the Shah of Iran 😂
I think Phil is an even more old fashioned allegorical guy than Tony is.
Borko, is Kino any good?...What am I askin' you for, you probably showed him how.
I’m glad they kept telling us how much time he did because I keep forgetting
Hey Kino & fellow fans, here's a list of all the Soprano's character who died by something other than being whacked. Some are gangsters, some aren't. Ya know, just in case someone says all characters are whacked out.
Gigi died of a heart attack while on the toilet. Carmine Lupertazzi died of a stroke. Johnny Sac died of lung cancer. Jackie Aprile died of stomach cancer. Detective Vin Makazian committed suicide. Livia had a stroke while sleeping. Febby Viola died of cancer. Bobby Baccalieri Sr. died of asphyxiation on his own blood in a car crash. Karen Baccalieri died in a car crash. Gloria Trillo committed suicide by hanging. Furio's father died of cancer. Raymond died of a stroke in the FBI's car. Dick Barone died of Lou Gehrig's disease. Eugene hung himself. Aunt Dottie (Paulie's real mother) died of natural causes after suffering Alzheimer's. Hesh's girlfriend Renata died in her sleep from a stroke. Paulie's stepmom Nuccia had a massive stroke while on a bus. You're welcome.
"Guys don't get their finger pricked. There's no sword and gun on the table"
That's not Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi?
The death of tradition is even shown in the way Phil was executed. Back in the day, you would never have been whacked if you were out with your family. But Phil was whacked right in front of his wife and his baby grandchildren in the back of his SUV.
I just wish the writers of the show would have told us how many years Phil did in the can.
I think it was 19.
Nicely done Mr. Kino. You do good work. Thank you.
Nailed it, kid. New mobsters are corporate; short term profiteers. As for Philly, whatevea happened there, he's an old fashioned guy; very allegorical.
American Gangster is a pretty darn good organized crime flick that came out more or less after The Sopranos.
There's literally no evidence that Phil is gay. It's absurdly overstated and would require David Chase to be an actual child to write it in. The fact Phil was standing in a dark closet for hours waiting for Vito to come home is already goofy. Even the evidence in this is whack. I assume it's a joke.
Easy fella.😂
Yeah, soprano theories are hit n miss and often become redundant - Phil was Tony’s greatest nemesis, one of the coldest characters besides the memes. Definitely a silly theory
Phil being secretly gay is a reach, Phil wasn't gay at all. He's old school mafioso and they despise gays. He was gripping the bed because he was watching someone he was close to get beat to death, and Vito was a made man being killed without permission.
Phil ain't gay, you're gay. Vito was is brother in law, and brought shame to the family.
"You insulted him... Hmm... A little bit."
"Nah I didn't insult him."
Sino, this is your most perfect video. Your argument is spot on & you covered every bit of evidence for it. That's not an opinion, that's my position & I'm sticking to it.
Sticking it, like Vito did from behind
Your videos are really interesting. Thanks for so much great content! I know it must be very hard work.
Only problem with this video i had was not bringing up Phil's wife, she was extremely homophobic and most likely gave Phil the idea to kill Vito which contrasts him staying quiet about the situation when he's at home.
Love the video !! Sopronos was the last era of that lifestyle 1000%.