“Tony Blundetto”的意思、由来-开放百科全书

Anthony Blundetto, played by Steve Buscemi, is a fictional character on the HBO TV series The Sopranos. He is Tony Soprano's cousin who is released from prison at the beginning of the show's fifth season. Upon release, Tony Blundetto begins to pursue a straight, non-criminal life. However, he is eventually overpowered by the challenges of civilian life and turns back to crime, dragging the DiMeo crime family into the Lupertazzi crime family's power struggle.

For his work in season 5, Buscemi received critical acclaim and was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.

Character overview

Blundetto is introduced in the second episode of season 5, "Rat Pack". Born in 1958, he is a cousin of Tony Soprano and Christopher Moltisanti. To distinguish between them, they were called "Tony Uncle Johnny" (Soprano) and "Tony Uncle Al" (Blundetto) when they were kids, after their fathers' first names. Blundetto, Soprano, and Moltisanti all grew up and played on a farm owned by their uncle, Pat Blundetto. Growing up, both Tonys were very close and Blundetto told Moltisanti that he loved Soprano like a brother. The two Tonys would often bully Moltisanti. Blundetto is the father of Kelli Blundetto, who is Meadow's contemporary and is said to have run away from home, and identical twin boys Justin and Jason Blundetto, whom he fathered by having Tony Soprano smuggle his semen out of prison nine years before, while still incarcerated. In the episode "Unidentified Black Males", it is also revealed that he has a genius level I.Q. of 158. He sports a large number of crude prison tattoos, on his forearms, biceps, chest, back, and legs including the name of his daughter Kelly and a tattoo representing the Roman god Mercury. Blundetto had a ruthless reputation in his younger years as an enforcer. While in prison he slimmed out and lost most of his intimidating physical presence that he once had. He was a rising star in the family before he was arrested as part of a RICO investigation and was the central suspect in the car-bombing of two mobsters.

In 1986, at age 28, Blundetto was arrested, tried, and incarcerated for almost 17 years for the armed hijacking of a truck that was attached to a larger RICO racketeering trial. Soprano was supposed to go along with his cousin the night of the hijacking but was not able to make it due to a severe panic attack during which he passed out and injured his head, an attack caused by an argument with his mother. Soprano tells Blundetto he was mugged by a group of black men the night of the hijacking, and was knocked unconscious. Soprano strongly believes Blundetto holds some ill-will towards him because Blundetto's life and family fell apart during his incarceration while Soprano grows wealthy and has a family. Blundetto denies this ill will, but Tony still harbors enormous guilt.

In the Spring of 2004, Blundetto is released from Federal Correctional Complex, Allenwood, along with a string of other well-known mobsters, which the media labels "The Class of '04." He also speaks to LaManna of being incarcerated for a period of time in Attica Correctional Facility. These other mobsters include former high-ranking caporegime Michele "Feech" La Manna, Lupertazzi crime family caporegime Phil Leotardo, and former Lupertazzi family consigliere Angelo Garepe, who returns and decides to stay semi-retired. After Blundetto's parole, he decides not to return to a life of crime and has the incentive to stay straight and clean. Instead, he initially decides to go into massage therapy. Tony is seemingly disappointed that Blundetto has decided to pursue a legitimate career after he declines Soprano's offer to get start working with the DiMeo crime family in a stolen airbag scheme, but Soprano respects his cousin's decision. Soprano gets his cousin a job working for a laundry company in Rutherford, New Jersey owned by a Korean man named Kim. Kim doesn't trust Blundetto at all and shows his overt racial prejudice against him since he is a white ex-con. When Kim, however, finds out about Blundetto's aspiration to become a professional massage therapist, he begins to take a liking to him and even says he will go in on the business with him 50/50. With the help of Gwen, a girlfriend he met via the Internet while in prison, Blundetto passes his "New Jersey State Massage Licensing Board" exam and is hopeful to open his own massage/spa facility. Kim sets up Blundetto with an empty storefront he owns in West Caldwell to establish the massage parlor/spa.

In the episode "Sentimental Education", Blundetto comes across $12,000 in the street, thrown out of a car window by a paranoid drug dealer who believed he was being tailed by the police, and everything appears to be going his way. He manages to start fixing the storefront up, but then goes on a self-destructive tear, staying out nights and blowing much of the remainder of the money on gambling and expensive clothes, to seemingly "keep up" with the modestly wealthy members of Tony's crew, and Tony himself. After fighting on the phone with Gwen, he takes his anger and frustration out in a beating he gives Kim, ostensibly because he has been doing all of the work, and he'd finally had enough. Blundetto then meets Tony Soprano for dinner. After hinting that he has messed up his business with Kim, Blundetto asks if he still needs someone to cover the airbag scheme. Soprano says yes and smugly adds "it's hard doing business with strangers." After this, Blundetto begins fully working for the crime family under Carlo Gervasi's crew.

Little Carmine's crew simultaneously begins courting Blundetto through his old prison buddy, Angelo Garepe. Female loan shark Lorraine Calluzzo and her boyfriend/enforcer are killed by Phil Leotardo, his brother Billy and crew member Joey Peeps for siding with Little Carmine during the Lupertazzi power struggle between Carmine and Johnny Sack. In retaliation, Little Carmine loyalists Rusty Millio and Angelo Garepe offer a contract to Blundetto to murder Joey Peeps ("Marco Polo"). Although he is reluctant at first, he later accepts the contract after he decided that he is not moving up fast enough in the Soprano crime family. Blundetto shoots Joey and a prostitute he was seeing inside his car. The vehicle, still in drive, rolls over his foot. Blundetto limps away from the scene and leaves quickly in his car. In "Unidentified Black Males", Soprano discovers Blundetto has a limp. Blundetto lies and says he was jumped by gang members in Irvington, New Jersey, while making collections. Soprano learns from Johnny Sack, while playing golf, that a witness at the murder scene saw a man limping away from the scene. Soprano instantly puts the puzzle together and has a panic attack and collapses. He later confronts Blundetto who calmly pleads his innocence. Although Soprano knows the truth, he tells Sack that Blundetto did not kill Peeps, knowing there would be dire consequences if the truth were known.

In "The Test Dream", Phil and Billy Leotardo kill Angelo in revenge for Peeps' death. This drives Blundetto into a rage, and he tracks down the Leotardo brothers one night on a New York street and shoots both of them. Phil is badly wounded while Billy is killed. By the end of season 5, Tony Soprano is under heavy pressure to deliver his cousin to Johnny Sack (who has taken over his crime family after Little Carmine's abdication), explicitly so he can be tortured and killed by Phil Leotardo. With his entire crime family now targeted in revenge, Tony Soprano confronts his capos, telling them he is giving Blundetto the protection he would give to any of them. After one of Tony Soprano's associates is badly beaten by Phil, Soprano realizes that he is putting everyone in jeopardy by protecting his cousin. He uses a contact at a phone company to track down Blundetto at their Uncle Pat Blundetto's former farm. Soprano kills him with a 12-gauge shotgun in order to prevent his torture at the hands of Phil. Soprano then gives Sack Blundetto's hiding place. When Phil arrives later, he finds Blundetto's body lying on a pile of wood on the front porch and is furious to be deprived of his vengeance. Tony Soprano then tells Christopher Moltisanti to bury his cousin Tony secretly, and in one piece, off the premises. Tony and Johnny reach an accord over Blundetto's demise, which does not come close to satisfying Phil.

When Soprano is shot and falls into a coma the following season, his dream includes an encounter with Blundetto, although in the dream he is merely a doorman at a family gathering. Occurring in the season 6 episode 3 "Mayham", his cousin urges Soprano to leave his briefcase and enter the party where his family is. Blundetto insists that Soprano has to leave his briefcase outside, but Soprano is reluctantly saying his "whole life is in there."

Episode appearances

Known murders committed by Blundetto

References

1. ^https://www.hbo.com/the-sopranos/cast-and-crew/tony-blundetto

External links