House of Gucci

House of Gucci is probably the most stylish film of 2021, it looked awesome, this was beautifully made, the quality of production and direction is phenomenal. It isn't just style over substance though, it's well made, generally well acted, it tells a fascinating and twisted story.

The main issue about this film for me, was the pacing, it was somewhat uneven, at times it felt frustratingly slow, fortunately it did pick up at its conclusion. The running time was overlong, what is it with films in 2021? Why the need for everything to be almost three hours? Is there some deal for cost per minute at cinemas? Ninety minute films work too.

If you ever think your family has problems, just watch this, and you'll see what family problems really are. Scandal, betrayal and murder, it's a rags to riches story with a twist.

The acting, for the most part I thought it was great, Jeremy Irons was the standout for me, as he so often is, but Lady Gaga was awesome as Patrizia, she did a great job. Adam Driver on the other hand, I'm not sure why, but I felt as though he was a little uninterested, perhaps a little bored?

6/10.

The second Ridley Scott film of this year is here! After his medieval epic The Last Duel flopped brilliantly at the box office, he can expect more in this respect with House of Gucci. Not only is Gucci one of the most famous and prestigious fashion brands, Lady Gaga is also in the lead role. I guess the strong fanbase of the singer will not be asked a second time. In the film, she suddenly finds herself part of the Gucci dynasty and becomes the protagonist of a toxic power struggle.

Yet Gaga is still a relative unknown in Hollywood-speak. She made her big breakthrough in the 2018 music film A Star is Born. Scott, as he did in The Last Duel, has assembled an incomparable star ensemble. Adam Driver, who seems to be establishing himself as the director's new darling, evergreens Al Pacino and Jeremy Irons and an unrecognisable Jared Leto embody the key roles in the Gucci clan. In addition, Salma Hayek emerges as a kind of mentor for Gaga's character. But who is Gaga playing anyway? She is the young and rebellious Patrizia Reggiani. An extroverted perennial who worms her way into the millionaire family with charm and fascination. She is courted by the ambitious Maurizio Gucci, played by Driver, who actually wants to leave the intrigues and sometimes shabby business dealings of his predecessors behind. Once he falls in love with Patrizia and marries her, he is left with no choice but to get involved again. Driver and Gaga share a very passionate chemistry in the first act, which you fully buy into with little dialogue and through pure body language. While Driver plays rather reserved and shy, this quality emanates especially from Gaga, who doesn't hold back in any of her intimate scenes. At least the two characters are able to unfold their own approaches here. But when Al Pacino's character Aldo Gucci, Maurizio's uncle, insists on his nephew's re-entry into the family business, the two lose all closeness to each other. Rather, it is only an extremely manipulative relationship that both actors have to show in a few scenes. All the more Aldo and his son Paolo Gucci, portrayed by Leto, come to the fore. From this point on, the film lapses into a few minutes of megalomania, largely due to Leto's performance. He is exclusively eccentric and desperate and all in all a tragic figure. Whether you find this Super Mario caricature brilliant or miserable is a matter of interpretation.

House of Gucci begins extremely quietly and shows the rise of the lovers in well-done visual sequences. The performances are generally fitting and although the film seems anti-Italian, I love it when Adam Driver cruises through Milan on his Vespa. But as interesting as the pecking order and hierarchy within the Gucci family is, from the second act onwards the film devolves into an overplayed and hyperactive tragedy that, despite the craziness of its scenes and actors, actually manages to be long-winded. Fashion, creativity and the business idea are not a theme at all, which in no way brings us closer to this brand that is so present. In the end we have a family epic (the film lasts 2 ½ hours), with exclusively unsympathetic characters. One more request to Ridley Scott: just let your actors speak English and don't embarrass them with Italian stereotypes with accents.

House of Gucci is a new crime drama directed by Ridley Scott, the director of Gladiator and Alien.

The film is inspired by true events surrounding the family behind the Italian fashion house Gucci. When Maurizio Gucci (Adam Driver) begins a relationship with the outsider Patrizia Reggiani (Lady Gaga), he is disinherited by his father Rodolfo Gucci (Jeremy Irons). He suspects that Patrizia is behind Maurizio's family money. That's how the two have to make it without the support of the Gucci family. Years later, the two are married and have a child together. Maurizio's uncle Aldo Gucci (Al Pacino) thus contacts him again and brings him back into the family business. The Gucci fashion house is once again going under multiple names, leading to creative differences, exposing betrayal, revenge and even murder cases.

There have been many changes in the making of this film. Martin Scorsese, for example, could have directed the film at first, but Ridley Scott was eventually given a directing position. Together with the casting directors, he also had many ideas for the casting of the roles before they finally came to the chosen actors and actresses.

After the many changes in casting and direction, they probably should have looked back at the writing crew of the film, because the final script was written by more novice writers, which can sometimes be seen in the film. The story can sometimes seem a bit messy and so long-winded, because the story makes many jumps in time. Some relationships come across as rushed, which can cause some loss of credibility.

What comes out best in the film about a well-known fashion brand is therefore the costumes and make-up of the characters. Janty Yates can expect film award nominations for this. Still, the film has received complaints from actual members of the Gucci family that the relatives were better dressed in real life compared to the actors in the film. They also credibly convey the places where the story takes place.

Al Pacino comes out the best of the film cast and knows how to provide the best and most believable accent compared to the entire cast. Lady Gaga and Adam Driver have good chemistry together in the film, but their relationship sometimes comes across as weak. Patrizia is clearly showing signs that she is more behind the Gucci family's money than she really loves Maurizio. Their accents can also come across as a bit unusual. Lady Gaga has more of an Eastern European accent than real Italian. Her characters seem to come more from Russia in some scenes. Of the entire cast, Salma Hayek is the only one who has received help with speaking in the correct accent. This is probably because she is married to the man who now owns the Gucci brand. If they had helped the entire cast a little more with their accents in the film, they would have come across a bit more like people from the same country. Who even seems to play in a completely different film is Jared Leto, because in the film he wears a fattening costume and also has a strange shaved hair style. In the film, he comes across as too exaggerated compared to the rest and speaks excessively in a high-pitched voice. He sometimes sounds just like the video game character Mario.

Greetings again from the darkness. I've never purchased or owned anything Gucci, but that didn't prevent me from enjoying the heck out of Ridley Scott's film that brings the longest, most expensive and dangerous real life episode of 'Family Feud' to the big screen. It's co-written by Becky Johnston and Roberto Bentivegna, and is based on the 2001 book, "House of Gucci: A Sensational Story of Murder, Madness, Glamour, and Greed" by Sara Gay Forden. Brace yourself for a (mostly) true wild ride, and for what is likely to be one of the year's most divisive films - plenty of love and hate (just like the actual story).

What happens when a brand is so closely associated with a family name? The arguments begin on who 'deserves' to be a Gucci, who is a 'real' Gucci, and who should make the decisions that impact the Gucci family and business wealth and reputation. During the extended run time (2 hours, 37 minutes), we see many of the iconic Gucci items: the Flora scarf, the moccasins, the bamboo bag, and the watches. And though high fashion is always present, director Scott has delivered a spectacle of romance, family riffs, extravagance, greed, power, betrayal, revenge, and crime.

Lady Gaga (Oscar winner, A STAR IS BORN, 2018) stars as Patrizia, the newest Gucci. Hers is not blind ambition, but rather calculated and laser-focused. That she implodes a dysfunctional family is only a portion of the story. After marrying Maurizio Gucci (Adam Driver), Patrizia immediately begins manipulating her husband into reconciling with his family and taking on an active role in a business for which he previously had little interest. This is simply step two (the first was marriage) in her grand scheme to control the business and the money. Maurizio's father Rodolfo (Oscar winner Jeremy Irons, REVERSAL OF FORTUNE, 1990) is ailing, so it's Uncle Aldo (Oscar winner Al Pacino, SCENT OF A WOMAN, 1992) to whom Patrizia directs her attention. She plays it like a chess match - only this is more entertaining to watch unfold.

Also in the picture is Paolo Gucci (a truly unrecognizable Jared Leto, Oscar winner, DALLAS BUYERS CLUB), Aldo's son, and a family outcast. Paolo is a wildly creative individual who tends to his pet pigeons and tries desperately to find his place in the family. Jack Huston plays Dominico De Sole, Rodolfo's consigliere and the family attorney. Each of the characters is given their time in the spotlight, including a terrific breakfast scene with Pacino and Irons. Of course this is mostly Patrizia's story, so it's Lady Gaga's performance that will attract much of the attention and commentary. I found her mesmerizing and twisted fun to watch as she proceeded with backstabbing and trickery. Driver's quietly intense approach makes the perfect contrast to hers.

If you are familiar with the story, you know that Maurizio does eventually run the company, and he also tires of Patrizia's family-crushing antics ... which send him back into the arms of Paola Franchi (Camile Cottin, STILLWATER, 2021). This turns the campy and juicy melodrama factor up to 11 (on the Spinal Tap scale). Patrizia's frequent trips to fortune teller and TV psychic Pina Auriemma (Salma Hayek) cause a massive tonal shift in the film, leading to the well-documented conclusion. If all this isn't strange enough, Ms. Hayek is the real-life spouse of the CEO of Gucci's present-day parent company, Kering. Reeve Carney ("Penny Dreadful") has a small, yet vital role as up-and-coming fashion designer Tom Ford.

In this movie, it's easy to describe some performances as hammy or over-the-top, but that's likely to only hold as a first reaction. Leto's characterization of Paolo sticks out so much from the others ... but he was known as eccentric, and at best, was patronized by the family. It seems highly likely that his personality and approach stood in stark contrast to the old-school style of his father Aldo, or the more staid personalities of his Uncle Rodolfo and cousin Maurizio. Lady Gaga as Patrizia is cunning and shrewd in her calculated approach to re-structure the family and the business. She plays whatever games she must to get where she wants to be. I found her first half performance to be truly outstanding. Pacino is the actor who has trademarked hammy performances over the years, yet here, he fully grasps his role and character, and is a delight to watch.

Much of this is documented by history, though the Gucci family claims not all is or was how it seems. Whether the boost in counterfeiting/knock-offs went down in the 70's and 80's as it's portrayed here, might be an area worth researching, but this is much less a case study in business principles as it is one in family dynamics. I'll certainly understand those who argue against the story structure here, but the entertainment value proved to be enough for me. As the Gucci tagline goes, "Quality is remembered long after price is forgotten", but the backstabbing and disloyalty is never forgotten - despite providing great theater (and fashion).

Opens in theaters on November 24, 2021.

House of Gucci is a movie full of famous actors. Lady Gaga is a convincing Patrizia Reggiani, an Italian girl from the Province of Modena who wanted to achieve more in life. Hunting for a potential rich man she goes to parties and at one of these she meets Maurizio Gucci (portrayed by Adam Driver).

The story of Patrizia and Maurizio Gucci, their rise and fall, the dynamics of manipulation, betrayal at the cost of trust around this family and its business is well set, though evolves a bit slow. The best performance in the movie by far though was by Jared Leto as Paolo Gucci, Maurizo's cousin.

Overall, it is an entertaining movie portraying a story about a family, about a brand and a tragedy. Recommended to everyone who wants to look behind the curtain of the myth behind a world-known brand and its drama.