House of Gucci (2021)

[VCRTracking]

 

 

House of Gucci(2021)

The turbulent marriage and divorce of Patrizia and Maurizio Gucci, the head of the Gucci fashion house, leads to murder.

Release date: November 24, 2021 (USA)

Director: Ridley Scott

Starring: Lady Gaga; Adam Driver; Jared Leto; Jeremy Irons; Jack Huston; Reeve Carney; Salma Hayek; Al Pacino

I only know about the scandal from SNL because it was Colin Quinn's best Weekend Update joke:

"Patrizia Reggiani Martinelli, the ex-wife of Italian fashion heir Mauricio Gucci, was convicted of ordering her husband’s murder, and was sentenced to 29 years in prison. Most agree this is a tremendous price to pay for a Gucci knock-off."

Edited July 30, 2021 by VCRTracking

[PaulaO]

Looking forward to this.  It seems so cheesy and campy.  Perfect for winter viewing.

[Slade347]

Did Ryan Murphy kidnap Ridley Scott and the rest of the people involved didn't notice?

[BetterButter]

 

[WritinMan]

This looks like it could be very entertaining.

 

[Roaster]

The trailers make it look like a comedy but IMDB applies the keywords Crime, Drama, and Thriller.  The screenplay writers do not seem to have written other comedies, and I don't think of Ridley Scott as a comic director.

Maybe it will be like Reversal of Fortune, another true crime story starring Jeremy Irons, which was a drama but also dryly funny.

[ChicksDigScars]

Is Adam Driver in EVERYTHING, now? Not that I'm complaining, but I hope it doesn't lead to overexposure/backlash.  I took a pass on Annette, but I'm looking forward to this. 

[AngieBee1]

Really enjoyed the film (also liked Scott's very recent THE LAST DUEL). I think people will get too caught up in all the various "Italian" accents going on in this film instead of focusing on the story. It's very engrossing, though the last act feels rushed. I think Gaga did a great job, Driver is always compelling but I really loved Jared Leto in this (though I feel it will be a very polarizing performance).

[methodwriter85]

On 11/21/2021 at 6:10 AM, AngieBee1 said:

Really enjoyed the film (also liked Scott's very recent THE LAST DUEL). I think people will get too caught up in all the various "Italian" accents going on in this film instead of focusing on the story. It's very engrossing, though the last act feels rushed. I think Gaga did a great job, Driver is always compelling but I really loved Jared Leto in this (though I feel it will be a very polarizing performance).

I found it engrossing as well, although I thought they took too long with the set-up in the 70's and early 80's but then galloped through the 90's like it was nothing. Maybe this should have been a mini-series instead? When they have the Tom Ford fashion show I was like, "Wait, it's 1994 now? What the fuck?"

I didn't realize it was Jared Leto at first and wondered why they seemed to be focusing so much on this campy no-name character actor, until I looked carefully at the eyes and realized it was him. 

 

Edited November 25, 2021 by methodwriter85

[Shannon L.]

I saw this yesterday and I didn't care for it, despite the fact that I like biopics, the cast and some of Ridley Scott's other movies.  Maybe it was because of the pacing or the accents. I was also annoyed at the soundtrack because I feel like the songs they were playing didn't match the time frames, although, I'll admit, my memory of the release of those songs isn't great and I haven't looked them up to see if I'm right or not.  The bouncing between modern hits and classical bugged me, too.  The acting was strong, though, and it was interesting enough for me to read up on the real story.  I guess I thought it was just ok. 

[methodwriter85]

13 hours ago, Shannon L. said:

I saw this yesterday and I didn't care for it, despite the fact that I like biopics, the cast and some of Ridley Scott's other movies.  Maybe it was because of the pacing or the accents. I was also annoyed at the soundtrack because I feel like the songs they were playing didn't match the time frames, although, I'll admit, my memory of the release of those songs isn't great and I haven't looked them up to see if I'm right or not.  The bouncing between modern hits and classical bugged me, too.  The acting was strong, though, and it was interesting enough for me to read up on the real story.  I guess I thought it was just ok. 

"Faith" was a really jarring anachronism from the soundtrack that was mostly using late 70's/early 80's. I would have swapped it out with something like "Sentimental Lady." 

Edited November 26, 2021 by methodwriter85

[Sheenieb]

Quote

I found it engrossing as well, although I thought they took too long with the set-up in the 70's and early 80's but then galloped through the 90's like it was nothing. Maybe this should have been a mini-series instead? When they have the Tom Ford fashion show I was like, "Wait, it's 1994 now? What the fuck?"

Yeah, this was one of the things I didn't like about it as well. I wasn't bored throughout the movie at all, but the unclear time jumps and anachronistic music choices were jarring. Although I'm not mad at the musical anachronisms. George Michael and The Eurythmics are always welcomed.

The ending was definitely rushed, and I'll have to look up the story to fill in the blanks. I'm listening to a podcast about it, so I knew some of what was left out in the movie, but it was odd how the story jumped from Mauricio's murder, then to Patrizia moving back into the house and kicking out his girlfriend, only to abruptly end with her trial 2 years later. How did the authorities find out that she was the mastermind behind the hit?

Overall, I thought was OK, and the accents got less distracting as the movie went on. The first half leaned hard on the comedy, but the second half was more serious.

Although Paolo was written as tacky buffoon, if his designs for his fashion show looked like that in real life, then maybe he was ahead of his time. I could see all of those outfits on runways today.

[methodwriter85]

3 hours ago, Sheenieb said:

Although Paolo was written as tacky buffoon, if his designs for his fashion show looked like that in real life, then maybe he was ahead of his time. I could see all of those outfits on runways today.

I could have sworn pastels with brown accents were a big part of circa 2004-05 fashion. I think his color palette would have been good for something like a Southern USA preppy fashion line  like Lily Pulitzer. It was odd to me that they seemed to think his designs were so hideous. 

[AimingforYoko]

Tom Ford reviews House of Gucci: "I often laughed out loud, but was I supposed to?"

To answer Tom's question, I'd say yes. I agree with most of his criticisms, however.

[methodwriter85]

36 minutes ago, AimingforYoko said:

Tom Ford reviews House of Gucci: "I often laughed out loud, but was I supposed to?"

To answer Tom's question, I'd say yes. I agree with most of his criticisms, however.

I feel like ultimately there seemed to be four different movies here according to the actors. Jared Leto, Selma Hayek, and Lady Gaga were in a campy farce akin to the Wolf of Wall Street. Jeremy Irons thought he was in Phantom Thread: Milan Boogaloo. Pacino was doing the Godfather. Finally, Adam thought he was in a serious, balanced movie so that's the performance he gave. 

Edited November 27, 2021 by methodwriter85

[Shannon L.]

This is an interesting interview with a dialect coach who lived in Italy for several years, starting at the age of 8.

Who Has the Best—and Worst—Italian Accent in House of Gucci?

[AngieBee1]

Quote

Although Paolo was written as tacky buffoon, if his designs for his fashion show looked like that in real life, then maybe he was ahead of his time. I could see all of those outfits on runways today.

What I loved about Jared Leto playing Paolo is that Leto has been a Gucci brand ambassador for years now and he wears a lot of eclectic Gucci wear that may not have that colour palette that Paolo loved, but has the flair (all thanks to Alessandro Michele).

 

[Brn2bwild]

I read that this was streaming on HBO Max, but haven't been able to find it.

[AngieBee1]

It's not streaming on HBO Max because it's a United Artists film; and also not streaming as it is a theatrical release only.

[Luckylyn]

I enjoyed this.  I think it would have been better as a miniseries because they rush through some things like the ending.   I was entertained.   The performances particularly Lady Gaga were mostly fantastic.   Some performances were campy fun while others were restrained.   I have mixed feelings on Adam Driver.  I felt the transition between him as sweet but awkward to arrogant and cold was kind of abrupt.  I felt like I needed more scenes to build to that. I think it’s a flaw of the script and not necessarily the actor.

The way music was used was off putting in some scenes particularly “Faith”.  I don’t mind anachronistic music choices, but it has to fit the scene to justify its use.  The song choice wasn’t right for that particular scene and the rhythm of the flow of the scene didn’t match the music.  I was watching an Edgar Wright video where he analyzes some of his film scenes and he talks about the importance of the cut of the editing matching the music in one of his scenes. It’s jarring when the scene and music clash.

[AngieBee1]

To me the worst use of music was the Luciano Pavarotti/Tracey Chapman version of "Baby, Can I Hold You Tonight". Whoever decided to use that to close out the film needs the Polizia called on them. Such an ill-fitting choice. 

[stealinghome]

Saw this tonight and I would agree it was just okay. The movie was like half an hour too long yet the ending was really, really rushed, and I agree the unclear time jumps didn’t help. I actually liked the music choices and thought the actors generally gave strong performances, but somehow the movie was less than the sum of its parts. Patrizia all but dropping out for the last quarter or so of the movie was really jarring.

[methodwriter85]

13 hours ago, Luckylyn said:

The way music was used was off putting in some scenes particularly “Faith”.  I don’t mind anachronistic music choices, but it has to fit the scene to justify its use.  The song choice wasn’t right for that particular scene and the rhythm of the flow of the scene didn’t match the music.  I was watching an Edgar Wright video where he analyzes some of his film scenes and he talks about the importance of the cut of the editing matching the music in one of his scenes. It’s jarring when the scene and music clash.

I would have swapped out "Faith" for 70's cheese:

"Sentimental Lady"

"Baby, I Love Your Way"

"More Than A Woman"

"Too Much Heaven"

"Faith" just didn't fit the scene at all, in my opinion. It need an earnest love song, preferably from the mid/late 70's.

[katha]

6 hours ago, stealinghome said:

Saw this tonight and I would agree it was just okay. The movie was like half an hour too long yet the ending was really, really rushed, and I agree the unclear time jumps didn’t help. I actually liked the music choices and thought the actors generally gave strong performances, but somehow the movie was less than the sum of its parts. Patrizia all but dropping out for the last quarter or so of the movie was really jarring.

I think the problem is that the movie doesn't know what it wants to be and what story it wants to focus on. So you get the different performance styles because all these characters are basically operating in different film genres. Scott should have committed to one decision and that he didn't probably really hurt the quality of the movie.

The other thing is that it's designed as a star vehicle for Gaga and she is very charismatic, but tbh Patrizia Reggiani was no Lady MacBeth. She was a greedy sociopath who had her husband murdered because he dared leave her, as sociopaths are wont to do. It's violent and tragic for the victim and the family he left behind, but not all that interesting from a storytelling perspective. She did it ouf of greed and is still smug about it, there's not even the emotional conflict that the movie tries to establish. The movie also had to significantly pad her involvement in the running of the company, her role in truth wasn't that big. 

Maurizio is the more interesting figure when you look at business dealings or psychological thriller: He cycled from an overly controlling father to a manipulative and emotionally abusive wife until he turned tables on her, froze her out and broke free. Not always very nice about it, but he had good reason to come to resent both his dysfunctional family and Patrizia, who married him for his money and he probably got more clear-eyed about her motives and character the longer the marriage went on. But that's a whole nother movie that Driver could have carried no problem, just much more serious and not the soap opera romp they wanted. 

Edited November 29, 2021 by katha

[methodwriter85]

48 minutes ago, katha said:

The other thing is that it's designed as a star vehicle for Gaga and she is very charismatic, but tbh Patrizia Reggiani was no Lady MacBeth. She was a greedy sociopath who had her husband murdered because he dared leave her, as sociopaths are wont to do. It's violent and tragic for the victim and the family he left behind, but not all that interesting from a storytelling perspective. She did it ouf of greed and is still smug about it, there's not even the emotional conflict that the movie tries to establish. The movie also had to significantly pad her involvement in the running of the company, her role in truth wasn't that big. 

Yeah, that was the other thing. I never got any feeling that Patrizia was that razor sharp tack who molded and shaped Gucci from behind the scenes but never got the credit she deserved. That's where I thought it was going, but she didn't really do much besides bitch about Gucci knock-offs, and then kiss Jared Leto's ass while wretching over his designs. I thought at the very least she would be shown to have a good eye for designers to possibly work for Gucci, but that didn't happen, either. Lady Gaga is indeed very charismatic, but if they were trying to show Patrizia as a Lady MacBeth, they failed. Instead, I felt like I was watching Italian Betty Broderick.

I mean, really, this was Betty Broderick: A Woman Scorned, but Italian and with a much higher budget.

They really should have realized that the heart of this movie is a campy black comedy akin to Wolf of Wall Street or ITonya, and just gone with it.

Edited November 29, 2021 by methodwriter85

[StatisticalOutlier]

The best part of the movie for me was looking at tall beanpole Adam Driver wearing impeccably fitted suits.  He even managed to make those eyeglasses non-repellent. 

 

[methodwriter85]

On 12/2/2021 at 4:13 PM, StatisticalOutlier said:

The best part of the movie for me was looking at tall beanpole Adam Driver wearing impeccably fitted suits.  He even managed to make those eyeglasses non-repellent. 

 

Adam Driver may not be the prettiest boy at the ball, but he does have a fantastic body. Anyone who watched Girls would know that.

[AimingforYoko]

And Adam Driver will get to keep working on that accent as he is going to play another Italian Icon: Enzo Ferrari in Michael Mann's Ferrari.

[katha]

It seems he likes hanging out in Italy and driving fancy cars. 😉 I thought the "Italian" accents in Gucci were silly and totally unnecessary. And everyone was bad at them, but bad in different ways LOL. Perhaps Mann will just let go of that particular convention, it never made sense to me.

Edited February 11, 2022 by katha

[ChicksDigScars]

That article linked about, regarding the accents was really interesting to me. According to his assessment, Driver has some work to do before he takes on Enzo Ferrari. 

[ShadowHunter]

This felt both long and rushed at the same time. Patrizia and Maurizio had 2 daughters but the movie only showed one of them. Okay. I actually liked the first half but it got a bit boring towards the end. The ending felt rushed.

The soundtrack was great though. This movie had a few serious moments then switched to a soap opera. The tone was all over the place. This should have been a limited series not a movie. 

Jared Leto was ridiculous. Why does he keep getting cast? He is not a huge draw or anything. Box office wise anyway I know his Camp Mars is a huge money grag scheme. 

Ultimately this could have been really good but it was a letdown. Lady Gaga was giving all these Interviews saying Patrizia really loved him. Nah she loved the name and what she could get. I can see why he left her and the movie shows a few moments where he is getting fed up with her manipulation but it needed a bit more.

[methodwriter85]

On 7/3/2022 at 8:49 PM, ShadowHunter said:

Ultimately this could have been really good but it was a letdown. Lady Gaga was giving all these Interviews saying Patrizia really loved him. Nah she loved the name and what she could get. I can see why he left her and the movie shows a few moments where he is getting fed up with her manipulation but it needed a bit more.

The problem is that there wasn't a consistent tone. It felt like there were at least three different movies that were being made according to how the actors interpreted the material.