Cinematic Releases: House of Gucci (2021) - Reviewed
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Courtesy of United Artists Releasing
There’s no denying, love him or hate
him, Sir Ridley Scott is one of the greatest British directors still working in
Hollywood.Surviving his late brother
Tony Scott, Sir Ridley has directed twenty-six films and shows no signs of
slowing down at the ripe old age of eighty-four.While I remain conflicted over his recent
return to the Alien franchise, the year of its release marked a new
direction for Scott in that he somehow managed to release another film project All
the Money in the World within the same year.Four years later post COVID-19, undeterred by
the pandemic, Scott has done it again with two gargantuan film projects: the
medieval duel epic The Last Duel and the murderous side of the fashion
world with what might be the director’s funniest film House of Gucci.
Based on the non-fiction book The
House of Gucci: A Sensational Story of Murder, Madness, Glamour and Greed
by Sara Gay Forden and adapted by Becky Johnston and Roberto Bentivegna, the
film tells the story of Patrizia Reggiani (a spectacular Lady Gaga), an Italian
socialite who after meeting Maurizio Gucci (Adam Driver) in 1970 soon marries
into the Gucci family and thus their fashion empire.Soon, however, Patrizia begins generating
upheaval within the company, shaking up powerful bigwigs like Maurizio’s father
Rodolfo (Jeremy Irons), uncle Aldo (Al Pacino) and his inept fat bald son Paolo
(Jared Leto buried in old man makeup) while persuading her reluctant husband
into a leadership role within the company. From here, Scott’s House of Gucci
while a mostly serious glamour piece soon devolves (intentional or not) into a
Ken Russellian exercise in campy overacting, lifestyle porn with flirtations of
absurdist comedy and in the end a fascinating true-crime story chronicling wealthy
elites fighting amongst themselves.While from the outset the near three-hour spanning epic tale of Gucci
seems like a revelry in materialistic excesses, onscreen it’s the closest
thing Scott has made to firmly planting his tongue in cheek.Yes the story and mechanics of it are indeed
fascinating, but this is what Scarface was to the Miami cocaine scene: a
cartoon caricature.That’s not a knock
on House of Gucci though, rather, it’s a saving grace.
As always, Scott’s work is impeccably gorgeous
to look at, lensed beautifully bhere by Dariusz Wolski in 2.35:1 panoramic
widescreen, perfectly capturing the decadence of the Gucci lifestyle in all its
ingloriousness.The score by Harry
Gregson-Williams is serviceable dramatic flair though it takes a backseat to
the sizzling mix of preexisting tracks throughout the 70s and 80s.Mostly though, House of Gucci is an arena
for its overqualified exceptionally well-dressed ensemble cast to ham it up to great knowing comedic effect. Al Pacino is usually known for hard and
heavy roles of criminals or crimefighters but as shown in things like Dick
Tracy he can be very funny too.The
same is true of Jared Leto affecting the most ridiculous Italian accent to such
a cornball degree it rivals the lunacy of Udo Kier’s legendarily intentionally
awful performance in Flesh for Frankenstein.The real wonder here though is Lady Gaga who
fiercely attacks the role of Patrizia Reggiana with full throated sharp fanged
gleaming relish.Seriously, this woman
dives deep head over heels into this part while doing cartwheels and asserting
a domineering force clearly intimidating to the surrounding male characters she
comes into contact with.Whether you’re
on board with her music or not, Lady Gaga is unquestionably one of the most
talented new actresses working in Hollywood.
While the film sparked some measure of
controversy from the surviving Gucci family members and Patrizia Reggiani about
the ultimately tragic demise of the Gucci empire from within its walls,
critical circles nevertheless have unanimously praised Leto and Gaga’s
performances for taking on paper cardboard cutouts of Italian stereotypes and
breathing all kinds of unexpected life into them. Whether Scott meant for this to be funny or
not is open to debate though he had to know there was some snark afoot on this
project. For what it is worth, this is a
very entertaining, frequently comical historical dramedy of sorts whose events echo
that of Princess Diana’s shaky marriage into the British Royal family by chronicling
what can happen when an outsider marries into wealth. Ahh the discreet charm of the bourgeoisie…
