American Cinematographer executive editor Stephen Pizzello has posted a podcast interview with Sopranos director of photography Alik Sakharov, and extracted this quote about the meaning of the blackout.
“To me, [it means] this person will die, whether he dies in the next second or [in] six months,” Sakharov says. “It’s not about whether he’s dead or he’s alive, really. It’s not even important. What’s important is the [thought] process. You know, [it’s] like you have very, very fine caviar: you eat it, and then you let it sit on the palate of your mouth, and then you begin to enjoy the aftertaste.”
It’s not important if Tony Soprano is dead or alive? In what ectoplasmic realm? Saying he may die in the next second or six months from now is like saying he could die 25 or 40 years into the future — it’s a meaningless statement. And we all know about the caviar and the aftertaste and all that — that’s just more bullshit evasiveness.