Film 2 of 2022
Film: House of Gucci
The cinema: Hoyts Victoria Gardens
Stars: 4
It's the role of a biopic to delve into the lives of people you'd never come into contact with. And House of Gucci is one of those films.
Ah the eighties, with its excesses, it's new money, its lack of class - this film has it all.
Rotten Tomatoes describes this film as being "... inspired by the shocking true story of the family behind the Italian fashion empire. When Patrizia Reggiani (Lady Gaga), 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."
Set in the seventies, eighties and nineties, this film is wonderful just for the little details of the age. Set initially in Milan, we meet Patrizia Reggiani (Lady Gaga), a secretary working for her father's trucking firm. And then we meet Maurizio Gucci (Adam Driver) a bit of a wannabe odd-bod lawyer. The two meet at a party, fall in love, and difficulties ensure. Maurizio's father, Rudolfo (Jeremy Irons) is not in favour of the match. Besides, he has enough on his plate, being that he's in a bit of a feud with his brother Aldo (Al Pacino) and his dimwit son, Paolo (an almost uncrecognisable Jared Leto).
And the saga plays out. Various family members are metaphorically stabbed in the back. The Italian's lackadaisical view of tax accounting makes the family fall foul of the law. People die, have children, have really bad ideas and get tied up in bad business deals. Oh, and Maurizio and Patricia's marriage breaks down. Fun, eh?
This is a fascinating look at a rather dysfunctional family. Lady Gaga is fabulous as the gold-digging Patrizia. Adam Driver is great at Maurizio, who strangely gets sexier as the movie goes on, despite the dodgy hair and him looking like bizarre overbred cat. I loved Jared Leto in his role of the dimwitted Paolo - who you can't help to feel sorry for. I also enjoyed Salma Hayek's turn as Patrizia's psychic, Pina, who has a big part to play in the whole downfall of the family.
In all, this is a great insight into a very sad situation. It's worth the ticket price to see the fashions and the sets, which show 80's excess at it's best.
My only quibble about the film is why the whole cast, who are Italians, but being an English speaking film, speak in an accent which would not be out of place in The Godfather. I found this a little off-putting - but it's a small thing on what turned out to be a really entertaining film.
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