Interview: Robert De Niro - Everybody's Fine

Interview with Robert De Niro & Kirk Jones

Robert De Niro

Alone after the death of his wife and retired from his manual job in a wire factory, Frank Goode (Robert De Niro), comes to the realisation that he is not in any way connected to his children.

But as they one-by-one cancel a weekend get-together at his home, he recognises that the problem is much deeper than just losing touch.

Based on the 1990 Italian film Stanno Tutti Bene, Everybody's Fine is written and directed by Kirk Jones, best known for writing and directing the English comedy hit Waking Ned Devine, and they sit down here to chat about their flick which is out now on DVD.

Do you feel at home, being a father?

RD: Well, I’m not, I’m not at home. I think, you know, it's tough. Eh, there are good moments and not so good moments. Anybody who has children knows that. So, it is just life. As long as you have children, there is going to be a problem.

How many kids do you have?

RD: I have five and two grandkids.

So being a parent is just as much joy as, as it is a pain? What were the down points that you really needed to resolve?

RD: Oh. There are so many. Even the ones that I would talk about, you know, when the kids are not behaving or doing what you expect of them or what you'd hope that they'd want to do because you know in the long run for them, it'll, it'll, they'll be better off, whatever that is.

I can’t force the kids to be anything other than what they want to be. 

We have too many things to do and we just don’t have the time to dedicate to our kids. What do you do about that?

KJ: I think it's a really good point. I think not so long ago, maybe thirty, forty years ago, communities were much stronger and that people tended to not move away so quickly. But now, as soon as kids hit teenage years, their first thought is to escape the area in which they grew up and work in another country or work halfway across the country.

When I go back to Italy now I still see that there are smaller communities and there are ommunities which are still surviving - and I think it’s a much healthier environment to grow up in.

How do you keep the love there when there is physical distance still?

RD: That's a good question. I liked my kids to be all around. I don't like them to be off here and there unless they really have a reason or a job that pulls them there.

Uh, I, I, I think the Italian thing is really good because the communities stay together, there are other countries and other cultures that have this, obviously. They stay together. Uh, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.

Everybody’s Fine is out on DVD 2 June, 2010