House of Gucci (2021) Review

“You can call me Senora Gucci”

THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

The more power you gain, the more likely you can change for the worst, which is crystal clear in House of Gucci. 


PLOT


Based on the novel by Sara Gay Forden, the 2021 film follows the rise and fall of Patrizia Reggiani. In 1978, she fell in love with Maurizio Gucci, heir to the infamous fashion house. He did fall for her in return, but would be disinherited from his father Rodolfo as he trusted her. He would make the best of it upon marrying her by working the same trucking firm her own father owns, but once they conceived their children, Allesandra & Allegra, Maurizio’s uncle Aldo took him under his wing. He uses this to help him reconnect with Rodolfo before passing from a terminal illness. However, Patrizia forges his signature in putting her husband back in the will where they’ll have 50% interest of Gucci shares, whereas the other half goes to Aldo. When finding irritation of him not taking serious of fake products being sold on the black market, she gets advice from a psychic named Giuseppina on how to take a more active role in the company. She does so by tricking Aldo’s son Paolo into giving proof of his dad evading taxes in exchange of a promise he designs his own product. She doesn’t stick to it predictably once Aldo spends 366 days in prison, causing him to disown her and Maurizio. The couple then flee to Switzerland to avoid arrest of the forged signature. During their hiatus, Maurizio grows tired of Patrizia’s influence and cheats on her with interior designer Paolo Frenchi (Camille Cottin). He then seeks assistance from Investcorp to helm the rest of Gucci shares from Paolo, which goes his way since his cousin became impoverished without Aldo. He then later convinces his uncle to let him buy him out, thus officially cutting contact with each other for good. He then plans to recruit Tom Ford (Reeve Carney) to help him revitalize the company, but his decision to divorce Patrizia breaks her heart so much that she orchestrates two hitmen to assassinate him; The scheme worked thanks to Giuseppina arranging it wit her. Evidence would be found against them and the film concludes with an epilogue: Patrizia would be found guilty in 1997 alongside Giuseppina and the hitmen, Ivan Savioni & Benedetto Ceraulo (Andrea Piedimonte Bodini & Vincenzo Tanassi). Aldo had passed in 1990 due to prostate cancer and Paolo died in poverty in 1995. Under the leadership of Tom Ford & Domenico Del Sole (Jack Huston), Gucci became a global success again and continued through Marco Bizzarri & Alessandro Michele. As of 2021, it has an estimated value of $60 billion and there are no relatives of the Gucci family involved with the company.


THOUGHTS


When Ridley Scott directs period pieces, they’re guaranteed to be somewhat provocative and it’s no exception here having just helmed The Last Duel. It’s a unique piece of nostalgia since the costume design feels so immortal to behold and the production design of the eras we follow are dazzling. In a straight forward sense, audiences can be quickly enamored with this one because it is a character study on how bad of a downfall family can have with unchecked ambition. While Harry Gregson Williams managed to express such tension with his smooth score, it’s the ensemble that truly gets the message across. You want to believe it’s a simple love at first sight relationship with Maurizio & Patrizia, but the longer they were together, all the worse parts of themselves emerged. Whatever parts of them identified as humble vanished once the money became a big factor in their relationship. If you ask me, Adam Driver portrays Maurizio as a studious guy who lets loose in his ambition once back into the fold but that only becomes possible because Lady Gaga shows Patrizia to be so fiery you can confuse it with narcissism. Some can say it was motherhood that drove her to forge signature as any parent would want to make sure their kids are taken care of, but at the same time, the greed was there because she was done working for it. Since she motivated her husband to take command, it bit her bad since it led to him remembering he is his own man thus choosing to cut ties with her too. I don’t doubt these two used to love each other for having what used to be unsaid drive to live, but it didn’t change their resentment led to it all going bad. Personally, it is damn sad to see him be killed because it seemed like he felt most confidence where he was in his life only for it to be taken from him. When I look back, resentment was mixed with bitterness because Patrizia couldn’t stand losing whatever power she thought she would keep. With Salma Hayek being so ambiguous in the confidante that was Giuseppina, it was only easy for her to do something she wouldn’t come back from. Ironically, it all could’ve been avoided had Maurizio taken advice from those who loved him most. Jeremy Irons definitely seemed overbearing as Rodolfo since he saw right through Patrizia, but that is better than not noticing what was going on and it’s a shame his son didn’t listen. On the other hand, Al Pacino was far too willing as Aldo to quickly accept an outcast Patrizia always was. He was all about loving family first and judge later which cost him as well. And as for Jared Leto, he accurately made Paolo the dolt of the family who was so desperate to prove whatever worth he thought he had, only to cause a worser ripple Patrizia already made. Had he not betrayed his dad, he would’ve not been so miserable in the end. I mean this guy should’ve been better respected and given better chances for developing the Double G logo. Seeing this whole family fall apart is generally tragic because it displays the situation that there are limits to loyalty once money is involved. To come to a close, House of Gucci is a compelling biopic to look back on for all the surprising drama you wouldn’t believe to occur until seeing it firsthand. If those are the kind of movies you’re into, check this out.