When Patrizia Reggiani, an outsider from humble beginnings, marries into the Gucci family, her unbridled ambition begins to unravel the family legacy and triggers a reckless spiral of betrayal, decadence, revenge -- and ultimately murder.
Gucci, a well known, global brand that is widely renowned as one of the leading fashion brands in the world. An instantly recognisable brand name, so when I saw that a film was being released covering the story of the Gucci brand and the Gucci family, it instantly caught my attention. Adapted from the book written by Sara Gay Forden in 2000, this film has a combination of both a thrilling storyline and a great lineup of actors leading the line. One may think that this might guarantee an excellent film, but this film surprised me, whether it was a good or bad surprise is what you are here to find out! So, onto the review, here are my thoughts of 'House of Gucci'.
The start of any film is imperative to get right, to set the scene, introduce us to characters and to immerse us within the film's story - what's impressive for me is how the film tells a compelling story, but keeps the Gucci brand right at the heart of its culture and ecosystem. For example, right at the very start of the film, we are introduced to the brand and characters through a fantastic scene where we follow Maurizio Gucci, accompanied by a great narrative. This introduction describes the value of the brand to the family, whilst setting a great culture of high fashion, and a strong ecosystem or characters in the film. The film continues with this establishment of a unique culture through its fantastic storytelling, sure the film isn't a simple A - B in terms of its storyline, but this is a great thing because it is maturely relayed to us by taking the time to immerse us in the characters, their relationships and their personalities. Scenes such as Aldo Gucci's birthday party, and the tours of his farmland don't necessarily add much value to the storyline, but they are great examples of how the film takes its 'revenge murder' theme, and engulfs us in this, resulting in a great emotional connection, and a real sense of genuine care for the characters.
Additionally, though, the actual storyline delves deep into the various characters relationships and personalities, as mentioned not only does this help to give us a great connection to the characters, but it also helps to provide an invaluable insight into their motives and reasons behind their decisions. Because of this, the film feels really fun and enjoyable, there is a great mixture of seriousness, and humour to the film (mainly thanks to Jared Leto's great Paulo character performance). This is in part because of the nature of the film where sceneries and locations are always changing, and the characters seem to always be on the move, from Milan to New York to Switzerland, the constant changes in settings not only feel well transitioned (in terms of the reasoning the film, provides for the characters to be in each location) but they also help to keep the film feeling exciting and fresh through unique character insights.
In general though, the story of the film is not just entertaining, but incredibly immersive, simple things such as the combination of both Italian and English vocabulary and accents and character progression helped to give the film a great feeling of authenticity. I won't say that the story is straightforward because it isn't, but I don't feel that the film is trying to be straightforward, it takes its time to develop the characters through the fantastic storyline, there always seems to be something exciting going on, and whilst this isn't an action-packed thriller, the film does keep us guessing as to the events that will play out, helping to support the fresh feeling that the story provides. The story, for me, was great and provided entertainment, was immersive and exciting through a well-told story, however, one of the things that impressed me most about this film is the characters.
The characters in this film are arguably what make it feel so good, the variety of them from Leto's Paulo Gucci, providing a somewhat deranged and nutty character, to Gaga's Patrizia, providing much more of an empowering, independent and strong-willed wife to Maurizio Gucci - not only are they extremely entertaining, but they are genuinely exciting and how they develop is equally as enjoyable. Because of how well the film engrosses us in the characters and their relationships, seeing characters develop into (somewhat) new personalities throughout the film is exciting because the transition in these personalities is caused by events that are well told to us, and allows us to understand the impacts these events have to the characters, and therefore how it impacts and moulds them throughout the film.
If I'm honest, it would be difficult to pick out a standout performance here, primarily because of the films great selection of performances, however, Gaga does stand out ever so slightly, it’s her ability to empower even the smallest of acting choices with operatic symbolism that makes Patrizia such an exciting character to watch. There’s defiance with which Patrizia turns up her chin when she’s threatened. When she rests her foot on the dashboard of a car, it becomes an act of provocative seduction. And when she taps her espresso cup with her spoon, you can feel the menace of it like a slap to the face. Don't get me wrong, subtle indicators of emotion are prominent here, and help to convey emotion well, but whilst Gaga's character is arguably the most entertaining, there is a great selection of other performances too. Adam Driver was his usual cool, yet mysterious person and helped to personify his character as strong-willed. Al Pacino was also great, delivering a performance that felt suited to him and his skills, resulting in a genuinely enjoyable performance. Jared Leto was also fantastic, I especially enjoyed how his character was funny in a somewhat slapstick way, but it never felt too forced or desperate to make audiences laugh, his character felt genuine and that’s what made Paolo so enjoyable to watch! The supporting cast on the whole support them well, Irons brings vulnerability and authority to patriarch Rodolfo and Salma Hayek gives some of her best acting in years. I also really liked the on-screen chemistry between characters, Lady Gaga and Driver are great together as are Lady Gaga and Hayek, while that between Irons and Pacino is a joy.
The film is by no means perfect though and has a few shortcomings. Primarily pacing issues. Throughout the film, there doesn't seem to be a sense of stability in terms of how well each of the ‘acts’ flow, for example, the rather underdeveloped family business scenes drag along and whilst valuable for character development they do feel a little slow, sometimes to the point of stalling, due to the lack of tension and gravitas that was not there enough. And other parts come
over as very choppy and incomplete feeling, like the final act. The ending to this film was enjoyable, although very rushed and anti-
climactic, handled with too much of an indifferent shrug. After spending so long on the family stuff (and not developing that enough) and the increasingly uneasy spurts of comedy, the event that caused such a sensation is just too throwaway in treatment, feeling borderline disappointing.
I also would have liked to have seen more insight into characters in the second half, things like the reasoning why Maurizio divorces his wife is communicated to us, but in nowhere enough detail, they have an argument and then seemingly they break up and divorce. Similarly, with revenge, Patrizia’s motives for revenge are communicated to us, but once again it feels half baked, there isn’t a real sense of passion and anger shown by the film that allows us to understand her anger and need for revenge - it feels as though the choice to hire a hitman is more of a spontaneous decision as opposed to a well thought out, emotionally induced decision. The film seems to fall short of expectation in the second half, and many scenes feel as though they could have had some more attention to detail to make them powerful.
Overall, I give this film an 8 out of 10. It’s great and provides an exciting and enjoyable story that is complemented by a fantastic list of characters and actors. Whilst the story is far from simplistic, it does a decent job of telling it, although it does feel a little half baked towards the end in terms of engulfing us in the characters decision making and emotions. Is this a good film? Yes. Is it worth watching? Honestly, I think it is worth watching if it interests you, or your favourite actor is in this film, the performances are great and there seems to be a lot to like here, but for people not too fussed about the film, I would definitely recommend doing your research, checking out trailers etc. to make an informed decision, personally.
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