The Test Dream - References To Other Media

References To Other Media

• The episode makes multiple references to the film The Godfather. Annette Bening speaks the line, "I don't want my husband coming out of there with just his cock in his hand", referring to an almost-identical line spoken by Sonny Corleone. Afterwards, Tony's reaching behind the toilet tank for the non-existent gun is a reference to a similar scene with Michael Corleone. When Tony Blundetto shoots Phil Leotardo in Tony Soprano's dream, he exits the same make and brand car (Lincoln Continental) in a similar fashion to Sonny Corleone, during the famous toll-booth shooting scene.
• When Tony calls Aunt Quinn from his hotel room, an advertisement for Anne Murray is on the TV.
• Lee Harvey Oswald shoots at Tony from an apartment building window, when Tony is running from the angry mob. This is in keeping with his Kennedy interest.
• Annette Bening also says about Tony, "There's something Bugsy about him". This is a reference to Bugsy Siegel, who was portrayed by Bening's husband Warren Beatty in the film Bugsy; she co-starred in the film as Bugsy's lover.
• Phil Leotardo (Frank Vincent) shoots Angelo Garepe in the trunk of his car, which is a bit of an in-joke to his own demise as Billy Batts in Goodfellas.
• A scene from the movie Chinatown is showing on the television in the kitchen when Carmela tells Tony they are late to meet Finn's parents. It is then replaced with the ending of the film Scrooge.
• Gloria's pointing to the TV in "Dr. Melfi's office" also evokes Scrooge and its inspiration, A Christmas Carol.
• In his dream, Tony turns up at the marital home on the back of Pie-O-My. Carmela tells him: "You can't bring your horse in here". The way she pronounces "horse" can also be interpreted as "whores".
• As Tony and Carmela enter Nuovo Vesuvio to meet "Finn's parents" in Tony's dream, the climactic scene of High Noon is playing on television above the bar. The film stars Gary Cooper, an actor whom Tony repeatedly references throughout the series (notably in the episodes "Pilot", "Christopher", and "The Strong, Silent Type") because Tony believes Cooper's strong, silent type demeanor is a trait lacking in today's psychotherapy-driven society.
• The multiple instances in which Claude Debussy's "Clair de Lune" is played, coupled with Tony's repeatedly asking Carmela if it is light yet where she is, emphasizes the importance of the title of this piece of piano music. Several other notable works are pertinent to this episode.
  • Debussy's "Clair de Lune" is a piano depiction of a poem by Paul Verlaine. In 1871, Verlaine escaped a deadly street uprising in France known as the Bloody Week, or Semaine Sanglante, and went into hiding in the Pas-de-Calais. When Verlaine died (in 1896 at age 51), he was drug addicted, alcoholic, and poverty-stricken.
  • "Clair de Lune" is the title of an 18th Century French folk song that refers to a moonstruck, sad clown (Pierrot), who is repeatedly fooled and betrayed by people he trusts, an obvious allusion to Tony.