House of Gucci
A little too light-hearted to be a serious drama, but not quite funny enough to be an out-and-out black comedy, this is nevertheless an always fascinating insight into the bizarre stranger-than-fiction true-life story of the Gucci fashion dynasty, powered by two great performances from Lady Gaga and Adam Driver.
Premise: In Milan in 1978, ambitious office manager Patrizia Reggiani (Lady Gaga) meets Maurizio Gucci (Adam Driver), a mild-manner law student and heir to half of the Gucci fashion house owned by his father Rodolfo (Jeremy Irons) and his uncle Aldo (Al Pacino). Patrizia and Maurizio’s romance sets in motion a chain of events that will forever change the lives of the Gucci family.
Review:
As this film is based on real-life events, many viewers may already know how this story ends before the film even begins – but given that (a) I didn’t know about these historical events until I first heard about this film, and (b) the film itself is careful not to give too much away to first time viewers, I’m going to treat this film like any other, and avoid any explicit spoilers for events from later in the film.
For those of you who don’t know what happened, House of Gucci covers events from 1978 to the mid-90s, in a tale that would perhaps sound ridiculous and far-fetched it is wasn’t based on real-life events. It all starts with a chance meeting between Patrizia Reggiani (played by Lady Gaga) and Maurizio Gucci (played by Adam Driver) at a party – Patrizia works as the office manager for her father’s small trucking company, but clearly dreams of a better, more glamourous life, while Maurizio is a quieter, studious type who has no interest in the family fashion business and who instead wants to make his own way once he qualifies as a lawyer.
“…Lady Gaga’s performance is the driving force behind the movie…”
Both Lady Gaga and Adam Driver are great in this film. Lady Gaga unquestionably has the showier role, but Adam Driver (in his second recent collaboration with director Ridley Scott, after 2021’s The Last Duel) brings a palpable sense of repression, insecurity and awkwardness with his understated portrayal of Maurizio. It would be easy for the character to disappear next to Lady Gaga’s scene stealing performances, but Adam Driver brings a quiet strength to the role that means that Maurizio is always as central a character to the story as Patrizia is.
That said, Lady Gaga’s performance as Patrizia is the driving force behind the movie, which for the most part, is seen through her eyes. In Lady Gaga’s hands, Patrizia is not reduced to a one-dimensional character – so while in some scenes she may appear to be a gold-digger only after the Gucci family fortune, in other scenes it’s clear that she has genuine affection for Maurizio that goes beyond his financial value. But underneath it all, at the core of the performance is a sense of Patrizia’s unquenchable drive and ambition to better herself and her life. Her face lights up when she first realises who Maurizio is, and even when Maurizio is financially struggling in their early years together, she’s clearly focused on who he could potentially become.
“…the film is never more enjoyable that when Lady Gaga’s ethically ambiguous Patrizia is front & centre…”
House of Gucci boasts an impressive cast by anyone’s standards (seven Oscar winners and nominees, including director Ridley Scott), with Al Pacino in particular getting to bring various shades to Maurizio’s uncle, Aldo Gucci. The relationship between Rodolfo Gucci (played by Jeremy Irons) and his son Maurizio (where Rodolfo is proud of his son, even though his son has no interest in the family business), is nicely contrasted with the relationship between Aldo and his son, Paolo Gucci, played by Jared Leto. Paolo wants nothing more than to follow in his father’s footsteps, but his ambitions outreach his abilities, making him the joke of the family. Amidst all of the other performances that manage to balance the drama with the comedy reasonably consistently, I did feel that Jared Leto’s performance veered too far into parody, with his character feeling like a pastiche of a bumbling fool, rather than a believable character.
Salma Hayek has a small but amusing role as a “psychic” who Patrizia goes to for guidance, while Jack Huston makes an impression with another relatively small role as the Gucci family’s lawyer. But the film is never more enjoyable that when Lady Gaga’s ethically ambiguous Patrizia is front and centre, and for that reason, the film does feel like it runs out of steam a little bit in the final act, when Patrizia becomes a little more sidelined and one-note.
“…while it might never quite seem to settle on a consistent tone, it’s certainly never dull…”
Of course, to a certain extent, Ridley Scott and the writers’ hands are tied by what actually happened (although I am sure that a certain amount of poetic licence came into play). This is why, by and large, I’m not normally a huge fan of biopics and other films that are “inspired” by real life events, because their structure is defined by what actually happened, rather than by what makes for a satisfying and well-paced story. But House of Gucci, for the most part, deals with its structure and pacing issues in a way that works, so that even its 2 hours and 38 minutes runtime didn’t particularly drag.
There are also ethical concerns that some people may have with watching any film based on real-life people and events, and while I respect those concerns, that’s perhaps the subject for a separate conversation about the morality of the “true life crime” genre generally. As a piece of entertainment, House of Gucci is an engaging movie, and while it might never quite seem to settle on a tone between the tragic drama and the darkly comic moments, it’s certainly never dull.
