Unpacking Ralph Cifaretto’s ‘Gladiator’ Obsession on ‘The Sopranos’

In season three, episode six of The Sopranos, Tony and Carmela Soprano are hosting their usual Sunday lunch. But the vibes are off, thanks to Ralph Cifaretto. He’s hijacked the conversation, forcing everyone to listen to him prattle on in excruciating detail about the movie Gladiator.

“So Russell Crowe, he’s trapped, right?” Ralphie says. “They’re going to sever his head. And he’s telling them how to do it.”

The camera pans to the rest of the table looking bored or uncomfortable, save for teenage A.J. Soprano. “And then he yanks the sword from that dude,” A.J. jumps in. “That was so phat.”

Ralphie, played by Joe Pantoliano, is introduced as a soldier in season three of the series, and almost immediately starts getting on everyone’s nerves. In a show about ruthless mobsters, Ralphie stuck out for his potent combination of being both a psychopath and incredibly annoying. But dude was also very, very into Gladiator.

For instance: In the fourth episode of season three, he saunters up to Tony and the guys during a party at Johnny Sack’s house, opening with, “Gentlemen, what we do in life…echoes in eternity.” Silvio shakes his head: “He’s fuckin’ obsessed with Gladiator.”

“Strength. And honor,” Ralph counters, pounding his chest. “Scotch. And soda,” Tony replies, busting his balls. In the very next episode, when Ralph starts quoting Gladiator during dinner at Artie Bucco’s restaurant, Paulie Walnuts groans, “Here we go!”

Then we get to season three, episode six, “University.” Widely remembered for the shockingly violent scene in which Ralphie murders his dancer girlfriend Tracee, the episode also features that painful Sunday lunch at Tony’s. A few scenes later, Ralphie is swinging around a chain, quoting the film and ends up taking out the eye of a Bada Bing bouncer. He also watches Spartacus, on the recommendation of resident mafioso film buff Christopher Moltisanti, but finds it not to his liking: “This Moltisanti kid’s got his head up his ass. This is a great gladiator movie? Look at Kirk Douglas’s fuckin’ hair—they didn’t have flat tops in ancient Rome!”

As the X user Brooks Otterlake pointed out: “Ralph Cifaretto’s obsession with Gladiator is especially funny because he was introduced as a character less than a year after the movie came out. It’s like if the last season of Succession had added a new guy who’s constantly quoting Tenet.” (It also strikes me that the way Ralphie talks about Gladiator is kind of the way film enthusiasts talk all the time now.)