‘House of Gucci’ Review

_{By: Amanda Guarragi}

Versace. Armani. Gucci.

Those are three of the most notable fashion designers that hail from Italy. When you think of them, you think: suave, sleek, and sexy. Like any Europeans – but especially Italians- there is this air that comes with being Italian. It’s not necessarily pride, or arrogance; it’s more of knowing who you are and being able to carry it well. Your last name also carries so much weight because it is a gift to be a part of your family. The family connection combined with care for your craft is something that is cherished and will bloom in your soul. When making a film about Italian royalty, like Gucci, all of this needs to be incorporated in order to sell the story you’re telling.

The main issue with Ridley Scott’s House of Gucci, apart from the script being an absolute mess, and the accents constantly being dropped, is that it does not feel Italian. It doesn’t matter if you shove Italian songs in your soundtrack or drink espresso like it’s going out of style, it simply did not give off that essence within the atmosphere of this film. It did not feel sleek, suave, or sexy, and that is what I was expecting. This film takes place in the 80s and the colour palette was very dull. This is a film about Gucci and it was lacking in glamour? The wardrobe was wasted because the clothes ended up wearing the actors, instead of the actors owning the fact that they are dripping in Gucci from head-to-toe.

When you look at this cast, you think that it’s stacked, but when you actually watch the movie, they were only as strong as their weakest performer. Unfortunately, the accents did not work for me whatsoever and the execution of this lacklustre script made this film drag on. The tone shifted from romantic drama, to generic biopic. Then everything changed to a straight mockery of Italian culture with Jared Leto’s performance. The authentic Italian essence came from Al Pacino himself. Then, miraculously, towards the end of the film, Adam Driver finally understood the air of Gucci. What can be said about Stefania Germanotta’s Patrizia Reggiani is that she attempted to act like her instead of fully embodying this character.

House of Gucci is a very generic biopic that does not stick the landing. There are choices made by Ridley Scott that do not work for the world that he was trying to emulate. For a film to lean so heavily on Italian culture and for there not to be an ounce of that European essence makes for an inauthentic film. We all want to be apart of the glamour or a fashion dynasty and to be able to wear these brands, but you do not feel like being apart of their world at all. It all felt very bland and stretched out to make the murder of Maurizio Gucci be this grand thing but even that was wasted in this movie.