#joe morelli

[phantomstatistician]

Fandom: Goncharov

Sample Size: 755 stories

Source: AO3

[superbeans89]

More Goncharov Valentine’s cards, this time featuring Ice-Pick Joe

[friendofthecrows]

I made playlists for the Goncharov characters btw (some of them anyways)

(Not soundtrack playlists just normal playlists based on vibes and such)

[bossboo]

[inlovewithquotes]

"From the look on your face, I'd say you know him."

I nodded. "Sold him a cannoli when I was in high school."

Connie grunted. "Honey, half of all the women in New Jersey have sold him their cannoli."

-One For The Money

[limegreenmonkey]

I know I’m late to the party, but I couldn’t not draw Icepick Joe.

[ya-boiiiii]

[alpacinoinheat]

the question about how ice pick joe got his nickname has finally been answered.

[the-lions-mouth]

in my mind, ice pick joe and sophia are siblings who were semi-adopted by mario’s family when they were children, a la tom hagen and sonny coreleone. but less adopted than tom hagen was. more employees. and now sophia works for mario as the honey trap lmao and ice pick joe is the hitman. also mario and sophia are fake dating to make mario seem older and like he has his life together (he doesn’t) 

[korkiekenobiconfirmed]

Okay so I found a casino deleted scene between Andrey and Katya on youtube (here) and the whole thing is just...perfect. I can't express enough how frustrated I am that it never made it into the final cut. (I suggest watching the scene before reading this post btw, it'll make more sense)

The way the opening shot is a roulette game?!? Because the visually a roulette table is similar to a clock but it's still so different. Goncharov's (indeed, all the characters') clocks are slowly counting down throughout the entire movie: inescapable, inexorable fate. But with the roulette table? There's always hope, there's always as much a chance you end up in the red as the black, and Andrey and Katya's interactions in this scene seemed more optimistic than any other point in the movie.

The lighting was honestly so beautiful. The scene was originally set right around when Andrey's beginning to fall out of favor with Goncharov, when that childhood bond is no longer enough to keep them side by side the way they should be, and for the most part Andrey's hidden in shadow. Meanwhile the casino lights, bright and multicolored, just light up Katya's face so brilliantly, hiding her flaws and highlighting her beauty. The way it all reflects in Andrey's one good eye while keeping him in darkness is also very telling... he covets Katya because she's the closest he can ever really come to having Goncharov, but in the end he'll never truly be what they are to each other.

The way Katya says Sofia's name with such goddamn gentleness was like an icepick to the heart.

When Andrey asked "How do you mourn that which you have never known?" and Katya replied "You cannot. Shedding a tear for the false memories you've spun yourself is hypocrisy of the worst kind." THE YEARNING WITH THESE TWO IS KILLING ME PLS

Speaking of good quotes... when Katya mentions how mild Naples winters are compared to Russia and Andrey just gives her that knowing little look and goes, "You've always loved the unforgiving touch of the cold" LIKE am I crazy or was he talking about Sofia? It's hinted at multiple times that he knows about everything between Sofia and Katya, but he never really says for sure.

At the 2:37 mark there's a guy in the background who looks like Mario? Was it actually him or am I making things up?? What would he have even been doing there???

Can any talented artists pls pls pls do film/lighting studies of this scene? I would ~kill~ to see such beautiful cinematography brought to a different artistic medium

[vanitas-nightray]

One of the most heartbreaking scenes for me was when they showed ice pick joe's childhood. He came out as trans ftm to his mom who he thought would be supportive but unfortunately she wasn't. And despite all the abuse he had to through because of his mother transphobia he still loved her, but we all know how his childhood affected his mental health. At least he had his brother Giorno with him before his death.

Can't believe I relate to a dude with a cat, an ice pick and a lobotomy.

[friendofthecrows]

You see, having multiple script writers really helps balance the script out because MY specialest blorbo is Ice Pick Joe, but he's supposed to be a side character, but thankfully I do not write all the scenes.

(And I can show self restraint. But only a little. Thankfully I'm also the type to make my favorite poor little meow meows suffer so he doesn't get special treatment (positive) from the narrative.)

[inlovewithquotes]

"You owe me!"

"Why do I owe you?"

"I caught your no good cousin."

"Yeah and in the process you burned down a funeral home, damaged thousands of dollars of government property."

"Well if you are going be picky about it....."

-Two For The Dough

[ya-boiiiii]

The differences between character appearances in Madame Goncharov (1971) and Goncharov (1973).

So, I'm a huge fan of both and love to compare and contrast so behold the second of hopefully many Goncharov analysis posts to come!

The timelines of the book and movie aren't set in stone but based on certain lines in the book such as "Plus de dix ans de loyauté et c’est ce que tu me fais?" I'm going to assume the story takes place in between ten to twenty years and as a result will also be covering how accurately to the book the characters aged.

Goncharov

Played by Robert de Niro, Goncharov is shockingly the least accurate to the books!

Described as "semblable à un loup", Goncharov is consistently mentioned with distinctively sharp wolf-like features, something that - while De Niro doesn't necessarily lack - does not have in abundance.

Another detail that gets left out is that (book) Goncharov is quite tall - over 6', being only rivalled by Ice Pick Joe in the main cast. De Niro on the other hand was 5'9 at the time of filming.

I stand by the casting of De Niro nevertheless, as Goncharov's most touched upon quality - his youthfulness - was the one thing that De Niro had in spades. Roughly 40 at the beginning of the story, Goncharov is described as looking nearly a decade his junior, this trait continues throughout with the only sign of Goncharov's advancing age being a few grey hairs (something included in the film).

Mario Ambrosini

Following the least accurate appearance we have the most (with only one major exception) with Al Pacino as Mario Ambrosini!

Al Pacino has every single feature mentioned in the book, the only difference being that Mario is described as unattractive while Pacino is most certainly not. Pacino is also slightly taller than Mario who is constantly mocked for being "petit" and "à peine la hauteur des épaules".

However, while this is not about the casting, I feel it's important to mention that Mario during the later stages of the movie looks nothing like his book counterpart.

While Goncharov barely ages, Mario is the opposite. Though the movie definitely showcases the depths of just how tired and depressed he is, it would have been impossible to portray an older Mario without the filming taking forever or casting another actor for the second half.

Mario is said to have gained a substantial amount of weight due to overeating thanks to the stress of working as Goncharov's consigliere, as well as having grown out his hair. He's also described as looking in his mid-fifties which Al Pacino was definitely not.

I'm honestly thankful they didn't use prosthetics or cast another actor though, because despite this one nitpick, Mario honestly felt like he was wrenched straight out of the book and I think only Al Pacino could have pulled him off.

Katya Goncharova

Portrayed by Cybil Shepherd, Katya is fairly accurate to the books with a few key differences.

In the books, Katya is not a real blonde and stops dyeing her roots in later chapters as her dark "true colours" begin to shine. In the movie she stays fully blonde throughout and there is no allusion made to Katya dyeing her hair at all.

Katya also has much softer features in the film than the book, having been described as the fox to her husband's wolf. She is mentioned to have a very pointy chin and triangular nose as opposed to Shepherd's more rounded features.

Like Goncharov, Katya is said to have not really aged all that much save for her eyes. I think a little makeup to accentuate her eyebags could have gone a long way, as she looks the same at the end of the movie as she did in the beginning.

Her performance more than makes up for all this though, so 10/10 in my book regardless.

Andrey (Andrei) Daddano

I know some people have mixed feelings on Harvey Keitel as Andrey (spelt Andrei in the books) but I think, in terms of appearance, the casting was pretty accurate.

In the beginning, Andrei is said to look more like Katya's brother than Valery - their similarities being a constant point of comparison (Goncharov has a type). He's described as having a "visage de renard" but I think Harvey Keitel fits this description very well.

He's mentioned to have dirty copper hair (something Keitel lacks), and is the most "pâle" of the ensemble in terms of skin. He is also supposed to have a punchable face according to Goncharov himself and I do not want to punch Keitel so there is that as well.

In terms of aging, I think the eye patch, facial hair and streaks of grey caused Keitel to age accurately to the books, however he is mentioned in certain passages to have lost quite a bit of weight (Cassius parallels what up), but I don't think it would have been ethical to force Keitel to do the same.

Joe Morelli and Sofia Ambrosini

We're doing a two for one here for Sofia (played by Sophia Loren) and Joe (played by the late, great John Cazale).

The differences for these two are pretty inconsequential, Sofia is said to have a longer face and rounder eyes (resembling Mario) whereas Joe is supposed to be 6'4 and "jaunâtre". However this is bordering nitpicky and I can't think of anyone more suited to playing these two.

An interesting detail I want to point out is that it seems Loren was cast based on her resemblance to an older Sofia as opposed to everyone else (sans Ice Pick Joe, my man died before everything went to shit).

But yeah, these two were very good choices and I do not have much else to say. Thank you for bearing with me and I will be back with another essay soon.

[teawan]

had me giggling at Thanksgiving dinner