Italian Newspaper "Republicca" reporter interviewed a visibly annoyed Robert DeNiro, about his association with "Shark Tale", and his yet to be presented Honorary Italian Citizenship.

Although "Shark Tale" is one of the very few "issues" upon which all the Major Italian American Organizations have ever agreed on, DeNiro choses to call them/us all "stronzi".  I consider that a very good sign. We must be having an effect, otherwise there would be no reason for him to "get his shorts in such a twist" :)

I am not going to respond to DeNiro's retarded statements, where he appears to lapse into past characters of Tavis Bickle, Bruce Pearson, and Rupert Pupkin.

The last time De Niro made a kids film (The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle-2000), a combo real life/animation, it was a DeNiro fan's worst nightmare.

In viewing a 2 minute preview, it appears that with some "modifications" to satisfy the Italian American community, that "Shark Tale" would not be "damaged" at all.

To see a 2 minute Preview:
V I D E O D E T E C T I V E . C O M (The largest preview archive on the web!)
http://videodetective.com/home.asp?PublishedID
=580914&VideoKbRate=100&AltID=&CustomerID
=97135&WM=True&Ads=True&Play=True&Shorten=False

Thanks to Prof. Ben Lawton and Don Fiore for Translations.

He acted with Martin Scorsese. "Me, with the shark’s voice, a gift for my sons."
De Niro is a star, even in the cartoon." And I am still not an Italian citizen.

Repubblica
Rita Celi
September 10, 2004

VENICE – Robert De Niro seems annoyed by the considerable uproar surrounding a character to whom he has only lent his voice.  But don Lino, the white shark that in "Shark Tale" is the mafia boss at the head of the food chain of the reef, has something more of De Niro, besides the voice and to the mole on his cheek.  "It is the first time that I interpret [the role of] a shark.

I accepted because I thought about my sons, and the idea of working in a cartoon amused me.  It has been a long job, a novelty for me, because they built the character combining it with the voice.  The result is not bad".

The actor - who meets the journalists in the same room of the Excelsior where the famous scene from  "Once upon a Time in America" was shot,  - becomes animated when the conversation turns to the accusations of racism reported in the New York Times and directed against the Italian-Americans in "Shark Tale" depicted as criminal mafia members.  De Niro limits himself to defining them as "idiotic, none of them have seen the film" and adds, in Italian, "Sono stronzi" (they are turds).

De Niro was further accused by the Italian-Americans associations of having interpreted roles of mafia members and therefore has been defined as unworthy of receiving the honorary Italian citizenship.  "They still haven’t delivered it to me" says the actor.  "I await this moment with trepidation.  To receive it will be it a true pleasure".

"In reality, to be precise, I feel myself only Italian in part.”  "I have an Italian surname, but I am also Dutch, German, Irish". As for the accusations of having interpreted stereotyped Italian-Americans in his film, he answers that "instead they are very real characters.  A lot of Italian Americans are exactly that way.”

In "Shark Tale " De Niro returned to work with Martin Scorsese, who lends his voice to a likeable puff fish [pesce palla??] who reacts to the threats of the shark boss.  "I had fun working with Martin.  We were supposed to act together in a scene of 'Taxi Driver', but then he had an accident and nothing came of it.  He is an extraordinary actor.  In this film we were able to work together and it was fantastic, because it made things more spontaneous.  We worked face to face, and then they created the animation based on our voices; it was a very amusing experience".

Repubblica.it/spettacoli_e_cultura: "Io con la voce da squalo un regalo per i miei figli"
http://www.repubblica.it/2004/i/sezioni/spettacoli_e_cultura/
cinema/venezia/bobde/bobde/bobde.html

A Venezia per "Shark Tale": "Le accuse di razzismo?
Sono solo stupidaggini". Ha recitato con Martin Scorsese
"Io con la voce da squalo
un regalo per i miei figli"
De Niro star anche nel cartoon
"E non sono ancora cittadino italiano"