GangsterBB.NET


Funko Pop! Movies:
The Godfather 50th Anniversary Collectors Set -
3 Figure Set: Michael, Vito, Sonny

Who's Online Now
5 registered members (joepuzzles234, RushStreet, 3 invisible), 114 guests, and 3 spiders.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Shout Box
Site Links
>Help Page
>More Smilies
>GBB on Facebook
>Job Saver

>Godfather Website
>Scarface Website
>Mario Puzo Website
NEW!
Active Member Birthdays
No birthdays today
Newest Members
TheGhost, Pumpkin, RussianCriminalWorld, JohnnyTheBat, Havana
10349 Registered Users
Top Posters(All Time)
Irishman12 67,094
DE NIRO 44,945
J Geoff 31,284
Hollander 23,353
pizzaboy 23,296
SC 22,902
Turnbull 19,485
Mignon 19,066
Don Cardi 18,238
Sicilian Babe 17,300
plawrence 15,058
Forum Statistics
Forums21
Topics42,215
Posts1,056,173
Members10,349
Most Online796
Jan 21st, 2020
Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Robert De Niro's Italian. #596819
03/09/11 03:00 PM
03/09/11 03:00 PM
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 3,568
Sonny_Black Offline OP
Underboss
Sonny_Black  Offline OP
Underboss
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 3,568
In GF 2, De Niro speaks a lot of Italian/Sicilian and I've been wondering how good he actually speaks that. For me it sounds as Italian as it can be, but I'm no Italian.

So I'm wondering what the Italian speaking members on this board think of it? Do you hear some accent or does he really speaks it fluently?

I've read that he went to Sicily for a couple of months just prior before they began filming to learn the Sicilian dialect.

Since De Niro is apparantly only part Italian could he really speak it before he appeared in GF2?

Even Al Pacino couldn't speak Italian and he's a full Italian-American as far as I know.


"It was between the brothers Kay -- I had nothing to do with it."
Re: Robert De Niro's Italian. [Re: Sonny_Black] #596822
03/09/11 03:06 PM
03/09/11 03:06 PM
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 23,296
Throggs Neck
pizzaboy Offline
The Fuckin Doctor
pizzaboy  Offline
The Fuckin Doctor

Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 23,296
Throggs Neck
Originally Posted By: Sonny_Black
Since De Niro is apparantly only part Italian could he really speak it before he appeared in GF2?

Not only couldn't he speak it before, Sonny. I recently saw him state in an interview that he hasn't spoken it since!

He claims he only understands a few words of Italian today. He never really heard it in his house growing up because---like you mentioned---he's actually only about 1/4 Italian. But his perfect annunciation in Part 2 is a testament to his dedication to his craft.

My family is Calabrese, so it's really a different dialect, and I can't give you an unbiased opinion. But all of my Sicilian friends tell me DeNiro's annunciation of a Western Sicilian dialect was spot-on.


"I got news for you. If it wasn't for the toilet, there would be no books." --- George Costanza.
Re: Robert De Niro's Italian. [Re: Sonny_Black] #596831
03/09/11 03:40 PM
03/09/11 03:40 PM
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 17,300
New York
Sicilian Babe Offline
Sicilian Babe  Offline

Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 17,300
New York
DeNiro's Sicilian is perfect. All of the actors like Bruno Kirby, etc. from those scenes spoke it very, very well.


President Emeritus of the Neal Pulcawer Fan Club
Re: Robert De Niro's Italian. [Re: Sonny_Black] #596848
03/09/11 05:31 PM
03/09/11 05:31 PM
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 15,018
Texas
O
olivant Offline
olivant  Offline
O

Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 15,018
Texas
Originally Posted By: Sonny_Black
So I'm wondering what the Italian speaking members on this board think of it? Do you hear some accent or does he really speaks it fluently?



I'm not fluent, but my Dad was. We watched it together and he translated some things for me even though he is Napolitan. DeNiro's Italian is pretty good by any measure, but I thought it lacked the fluent quality. I asked my Dad to repeat some of the lines and I could tell how much better he spoke it than DeNiro. Of course, if you don't grow up with it than its quality suffers. You can only "learn" it so well. Those of us who have some speaking ability in another language probably have to think about what we want to say first and then translate it in our minds. I will shout out some Italian words and expressions without thinking about them. But long expressions and sentences - no way. I have to think about what I want to say first.


"Generosity. That was my first mistake."
"Experience must be our only guide; reason may mislead us."
"Instagram is Twitter for people who can't read."
Re: Robert De Niro's Italian. [Re: Sonny_Black] #596850
03/09/11 05:38 PM
03/09/11 05:38 PM
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 3,568
Sonny_Black Offline OP
Underboss
Sonny_Black  Offline OP
Underboss
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 3,568
Thanks for the feedback guys!

For an adult it apparantly is extremely difficult to fully adept a new language and speak it fluently without accent, so that's why I was wondering this.

So I understand De Niro did an amazing job considering Italian wasn't his native language. No wonder he was awarded an oscar for this role. smile


"It was between the brothers Kay -- I had nothing to do with it."
Re: Robert De Niro's Italian. [Re: Sonny_Black] #597203
03/12/11 09:19 PM
03/12/11 09:19 PM
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 1,635
V
VinnyGorgeous Offline
BANNED
VinnyGorgeous  Offline
BANNED
V
Underboss
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 1,635
If somebody gave De Niro the role of a Chinese monk, De Niro would find a Chinese monk, kill him, climb into his skin and speak Chinese as fluently as Mao Zedong. These method actors, I tell ya, they are what they act.


"What is given, can be taken away. Everyone lies. Everyone dies." - Casey Anthony, in a poem, July 7, 2008
Re: Robert De Niro's Italian. [Re: Sonny_Black] #638402
03/05/12 05:40 PM
03/05/12 05:40 PM
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 85
Oklahoma
45ACP Offline
Button
45ACP  Offline
Button
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 85
Oklahoma
Frank Sivero (GENCO GFII) says he was born in Sicily (1:05) and he said De Niro spoke as good Scicilian as he (Sivero) did and "he spoke the dialog perfect" in the film (4:05).

http://www.tmz.com/videos/1_c6q773s7

Re: Robert De Niro's Italian. [Re: 45ACP] #639856
03/14/12 12:41 AM
03/14/12 12:41 AM
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 839
Elmwood Park, Illinois
YoTonyB Offline
Neighborhood Guy
YoTonyB  Offline
Neighborhood Guy
Underboss
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 839
Elmwood Park, Illinois
I saw the subject of this thread and immediately thought of this song...deep track from Bananarama called "Robert De Niro's Waiting (Talking Italian)"



tony b.


"Kid, these are my f**kin' work clothes."
"You look good in them golf shoes. You should buy 'em"
Re: Robert De Niro's Italian. [Re: Sonny_Black] #639993
03/14/12 09:21 PM
03/14/12 09:21 PM
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 2,292
NJ
carmela Offline
Underboss
carmela  Offline
Underboss
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 2,292
NJ
Absolutely, DeNiro's accent was near perfect, if not perfect. BUT, the dialogue, however had a couple minor errors. One being in this clip right here. If you're not accustomed 100% with the Sicilian dialect, then you wouldn't notice.
The mistake: when he's talking to the Don, he is asked his name. He replies. Then he is asked what was the name of his father, to which Vito replies, "Iu sei chiamu Antonio Andolini." Wrong. "Iu" is sicilian for "I". What he should have said is "Iuddru sei chiamu" which in Sicilian means, "He was called...".

Just figured I'd mention it, since I know of a couple mistakes like this in the movie and as minor as they are, I know how you guys love to pick this stuff apart. lol

Last edited by carmela; 03/14/12 09:25 PM.

La madre degli idioti e' sempre incinta.

Re: Robert De Niro's Italian. [Re: Sonny_Black] #705917
03/25/13 06:37 PM
03/25/13 06:37 PM
Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 1
T
Tommaso99 Offline
Associate
Tommaso99  Offline
T
Associate
Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 1
I dont want to be controversial here, but whilst i have heard far worse accents than De Niro's (Pacino's for instance), his accent is unmistakably american. The stresses he places on the words, are correct, and grammatically im sure he's got it pretty spot on since that's just about repetition, but accent wise he sounds no where near native. This is perhaps partly why he speaks even more softly in the italian dialogue in an attempt to mask his accent

Im sure Frank Sivero is referring to De Niro's ability to speak the language (learn the sicilian dialogue) rather than the authenticity of his accent - and furthermore it's not like he is going to criticise his colleague publicly.

Re one of the above posts that points out a grammatical error with the use of the 1st person ("eu"/"iu") rather than the 3rd person singular ("he"), i've never heard "iddru", perhaps it's a regional variation, but the standard sicilian word for "he" is "iddu" - and owing to De Niro's whispering is easily muffled into "iu".

Granted it takes a little bit of a musical ear, and/or familiarity with the language, but just listening to De Niro's accent compared to Sivero's, or Don Tommasino's should make it painfully clear that he sounds very very different!

Re: Robert De Niro's Italian. [Re: Tommaso99] #705919
03/25/13 06:44 PM
03/25/13 06:44 PM
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 2,292
NJ
carmela Offline
Underboss
carmela  Offline
Underboss
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 2,292
NJ
Originally Posted By: Tommaso99
I dont want to be controversial here, but whilst i have heard far worse accents than De Niro's (Pacino's for instance), his accent is unmistakably american. The stresses he places on the words, are correct, and grammatically im sure he's got it pretty spot on since that's just about repetition, but accent wise he sounds no where near native. This is perhaps partly why he speaks even more softly in the italian dialogue in an attempt to mask his accent

Im sure Frank Sivero is referring to De Niro's ability to speak the language (learn the sicilian dialogue) rather than the authenticity of his accent - and furthermore it's not like he is going to criticise his colleague publicly.

Re one of the above posts that points out a grammatical error with the use of the 1st person ("eu"/"iu") rather than the 3rd person singular ("he"), i've never heard "iddru", perhaps it's a regional variation, but the standard sicilian word for "he" is "iddu" - and owing to De Niro's whispering is easily muffled into "iu".

Granted it takes a little bit of a musical ear, and/or familiarity with the language, but just listening to De Niro's accent compared to Sivero's, or Don Tommasino's should make it painfully clear that he sounds very very different!


That was me that made that post. And you are saying the same thing I was. Yes, regional..the region being Sicily. I pointed out something that nobody on here would have noticed unless fluent in speaking sicilian dialect.

I merely wrote the "r" in iddru because to write sicilian is based on phonetic spelling, as it really is not a proper language. If you are familiar with sicilian, then you know that an "r" is heard when saying, "iddu". For the benefit of members here, I included the "r". It cannot be wrong, being that there is no real right or wrong when writing sicilian.


La madre degli idioti e' sempre incinta.

Re: Robert De Niro's Italian. [Re: Sonny_Black] #706193
03/26/13 02:43 PM
03/26/13 02:43 PM
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 15,018
Texas
O
olivant Offline
olivant  Offline
O

Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 15,018
Texas
Unlike english, many languages express their pronouns differently verbally and in writing. Italian is one of them that does so. However, given the above posts, is Sicilian for He the same verbally and in writing?


"Generosity. That was my first mistake."
"Experience must be our only guide; reason may mislead us."
"Instagram is Twitter for people who can't read."
Re: Robert De Niro's Italian. [Re: Sonny_Black] #706226
03/26/13 04:22 PM
03/26/13 04:22 PM
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 2,292
NJ
carmela Offline
Underboss
carmela  Offline
Underboss
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 2,292
NJ
The thing is Sicilian isn't proper, so there really is no way of writing it. You try the best you can phonetically. To say "he" in Sicilian, you'd say, iddru. To pronounce that would be, "ee drew". So, to answer your question, if I understand you correctly, yes, it'd be the same, being that you write sicilian the way you hear it.
The poster above, Tommasso, says to spell it "iddu". No matter what, when pronouncing it in sicilian dialect, you're going to hear an "r". That's just the way it is, so I'd choose to spell it, "iddru".

And to the topic of this thread, De Niro says "Iu" meaning "I", when he should have been saying "Iddru" for "he".

My head is spinning now.

Last edited by carmela; 03/26/13 04:30 PM.

La madre degli idioti e' sempre incinta.

Re: Robert De Niro's Italian. [Re: pizzaboy] #706532
03/27/13 04:14 PM
03/27/13 04:14 PM
Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 94
B
BaltimoreSteel69 Offline
Button
BaltimoreSteel69  Offline
B
Button
Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 94

How can you tell the difference between dialects?


My family is Calabrese, so it's really a different dialect, and I can't give you an unbiased opinion. But all of my Sicilian friends tell me DeNiro's annunciation of a Western Sicilian dialect was spot-on.



"Some of those guys, they didn't go off their blocks. They wouldn't go out of their own neighborhoods-I'm talking for fifty years." - Henry Hill
Re: Robert De Niro's Italian. [Re: BaltimoreSteel69] #706555
03/27/13 05:13 PM
03/27/13 05:13 PM
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 2,292
NJ
carmela Offline
Underboss
carmela  Offline
Underboss
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 2,292
NJ
Originally Posted By: BaltimoreSteel69

How can you tell the difference between dialects?


My family is Calabrese, so it's really a different dialect, and I can't give you an unbiased opinion. But all of my Sicilian friends tell me DeNiro's annunciation of a Western Sicilian dialect was spot-on.


Your sicilian friends are in sicily? I'm going to go out on a limb and say no. Then how would they know it's spot on? I don't care who you are, if you are born in the US and speak sicilian, you're speaking it with an american accent and any sicilian (in sicily) can hear that american accent.

All this aside, if you read my previous posts, I wasn't saying his accent was bad. I said he used the WRONG pronoun.


edit: sorry, I see you were actually quoting Pizzaboy in your post (even though you didn't actually quote him). Then I guess my post more pertains to Pizzaboy. lol

Last edited by carmela; 03/27/13 05:21 PM.

La madre degli idioti e' sempre incinta.


Moderated by  Don Cardi, J Geoff, SC, Turnbull 

Powered by UBB.threads™