I recently watched a movie in a movie theatre for the first time in two years. Yes, it’s been two years. When I was on my exchange in Europe I lived in a small town where none of the movies had English subtitles, and when I got back everything was closed due to the pandemic. So before everything shuts down again due to the new variant, I watched House of Gucci at Landmark Cinemas. This movie is based on the book The House of Gucci: A Sensational Story of Murder, Madness, Glamour, and Greed, by Sara Gay Forden. It depicts the story of the Gucci family, and the events leading up to the murder of Maurizio Gucci.
The movie has an exceptionally famous cast, which includes people like Lady Gaga as Patrizia Reggiani, Adam Driver as Maurizio Gucci, Jared Leto as Paolo Gucci, Salma Hayek as Giuseppina “Pina” Auriemma, and Al Pacino as Aldo Gucci. In spite of this, there have been mixed reviews. Its run time is 2 hours and 38 minutes, so let’s dive in.
The Actual Story
The Gucci fashion house began as a luxury luggage brand founded in 1921 by Guccio Gucci. He opened his first shop in Florence in 1921, where he sold fine leather luggage and accessories. It soon turned into a family business when his three biological sons, Vasco, Aldo, and Rodolfo, and his one adopted stepson, Ugo, began working with him. When he died in 1953, shares of the business were left to his biological sons. This created high tension and full blown rivalries between the brothers. Rodolfo Gucci died in 1983, leaving his son Maurizio a majority stake in the company. He thought Aldo’s approach of championing the mass production of Gucci products cheapened Gucci’s identity as a luxury brand, so he spent the majority of the 80s trying to push him out of the family business through legal battles. By 1989, Maurizio had succeeded in taking control of the company, however, by 1993, Maurizio’s excessive spending and the company’s outstanding debts forced him to sell his 50% percent stake to the business’ investors, ending the Gucci family’s ownership and control of the brand.
Throughout this time, Maurizio Gucci also had many personal problems, which were unraveling in the public eye. Maurizio and Patrizia got married in 1972, after two years of knowing each other. This caused a rift between him and his father, Rodolfo, as he thought Patrizia only wanted him for his money due to her low social standing. Later, when their daughter Alessandra was born, they all reconciled. The couple also had another daughter, Allegra, who was born in 1982, but despite that they had numerous issues. In 1985 Maurizio announced he wanted a divorce from his wife, and in 1994 it finalized. He still paid his ex-wife 1.5 million dollars per year in alimony. He also planned to remarry to his girlfriend Paola Franchi, but he never got the chance as he was murdered by a hitman at age 46. 3 years later Patrizia was convicted of hiring the hitman to carry out the murder, and she spent 16 years in prison.
How the Movie Portrayed the Story
“Father, Son, and House of Gucci”
Lady Gaga’s famous quote from the movie, which blew up on multiple different social media platforms. This introduced people to the new film, and before it even came out, people had many different opinions. In an article written by the New York Post, it criticizes the accent of Jared Leto, especially when he says “Does an elephant s–t in the jungle?” Writers say “he might as well have said, “It’s-a me, Mario!” because his performance is a stereotypical joke.” They also disapprove of Gaga’s and Hayek’s performance, and overall say that “The abysmal Gucci would get a better grade, perhaps, if it were a term paper titled How to Make the Assassination of a Famous Person Boring.” The Gucci family also came out with a statement about this movie, saying “The production of the film did not bother to consult the heirs before describing Aldo Gucci — president of the company for 30 years — and the members of the Gucci family as thugs, ignorant and insensitive to the world around them. This is extremely painful from a human point of view and an insult to the legacy on which the brand is built today.”
There are also many good reviews about this movie, like the one by Roger Ebert, where he says “If “The Godfather” and “Succession” had an ostentatious lovechild, it would look something like Ridley Scott’s “House of Gucci,” the master’s sweeping yet wildly imbalanced rendering of the titular and celebrated fashion empire’s scandalous history, full of backstabbing, betrayal, greed, and even murder.” Personally, I enjoyed the film. Maybe it was the excitement of being back in a movie theater, but it’s definitely not the worst movie I’ve ever watched. I did think it might be a bit boring, considering how long it is, but surprisingly, it kept my interest through most of the movie. There was a great balance between suspense and action, with a passionate love story thrown in between. The only things I will critique are the ending, and the character of Maurizio Gucci. Adam Driver is a great actor, but I feel his character is written much too nicely. Yes, he did suffer an awful early death, but most of the blame is placed on Gaga’s character Patrizia. I thought Maurizio was a nice guy sucked in by love, but in the film he did betray his family, cheat on his wife, and forcefully take the company from the others, following the advice of Patrizia even though he divorced her because of it. The ending also felt like a cop-out. It is understandable that the directors would not want to make the movie any longer than it already was, but it was almost a let down from the built up suspense of the movie. Maybe it’s just me, as I’ve never liked movies ending in an explanation of the characters life, but as someone who did not know the story going in, I barely had time to process the murder of Maurizio before Patrizia sat on the stand and received her sentence.
Overall, I do think it is worth the time to watch this movie, especially because the actual story is super interesting, and with writing this I learned something that I didn’t know before.