Guccio Gucci’s grandchildren, who created a luxury fashion house in Florence almost a century ago, call upon Ridley Scott to honor the legacy of his family in a new film about a sensational assassination. The film “The House of Gucci,” starring Lady Gaga and Adam Driver, is based on a book about the murder-for-hire of one of Gucci’s grandchildren, Maurizio, in 1995, and his ex-wife’s trial and conviction. Lady Gaga’s character, Patrizia Reggiani, was sentenced to 16 years in prison for planning the murder.
One of the second cousins of Maurizio, Patrizia Gucci, fears the film will go beyond the story of real crime and will enter Guccio Gucci’s heir’s private lives. Patrizia stated,
We are truly disappointed. I speak on behalf of the family,” Gucci told The Associated Press on Wednesday. “They are stealing the identity of a family to make a profit, to increase the income of the Hollywood system….Our family has an identity, privacy. We can talk about everything. But there is a borderline that cannot be crossed.
Patrizia Gucci said that for clarification of the scope of a movie she reached Ridley Scott’s wife, Giannina Facio, but she did not receive a response. Facio met her for another project based on the roles of Paolo, and the founder of Gucci, Aldo, her grandfather. They discussed how the two played important roles in extending the company to a global brand, Facio met with members of the Gucci family in the early 2000s. In this connection. The failure of the producer to do justice with the new film just increases the family’s fears, she explained.
The production firm of Ridley Scott did not react, even through its Italian counterpart, to requests of comments on the issue.
The Guccis are not the first famous family in Italy to deal with traumatic incidents on-screen. In 2018, the Versace family published a statement about the “American Crime Story” season of Ryan Murphy, which dealt with the murder of Gianni Versace, creator of the fashion house, Versace. They said the series was not permitted and was to be considered “a piece of fiction.”
Patrizia Gucci said her family would determine how to proceed after watching the film. Their concern arises from the casting of leading actors to the family who have nothing to do with the murder of Maurizio Gucci, their lack of communication with the producer and the inexactitudes that are seen in the book that is the foundation of the film.
Al Pacino plays Aldo Gucci, whom his grandson recalls as a specialist salesman who opened Gucci stores via Condotti to Rome and New York to incorporate VIP-customers and extend the worldwide scope of the brand. And Jared Leto is playing Paolo Gucci, whose artistic input included the concept of building the popular double-g logo of the Gucci brand and its signature moccasins and hand bags.
This is the tale she tells in her own 2015 Italian novel, “Gucci, the True Story of a Successful Dynasty.”
There was nothing comforting about the photographs from the “House of Gucci” album, Patrizia Gucci said.
My grandfather was a very handsome man, like all the Guccis, and very tall, blue eyes and very elegant. He is being played by Al Pacino, who is not very tall already, and this photo shows him as fat, short, with sideburns, really ugly. Shameful, because he doesn’t resemble him at all, Patrizia Gucci said.
Meanwhile, Leto’s Paolo Gucci is depicted with unruly hair and a lilac corduroy suit that does not match his daughter’s memories. “Horrible, horrible,” says the narrator. ‘I’m always offended,’ she said.
As per Forbes, since 1993, when Maurizio Gucci sold his remaining interest in the Gucci fashion house to the Bahrain-based company Investcorp, the Gucci family has been out of the business. It was later purchased by PPR, a French conglomerate that is now known as Kering.
“The House of Gucci,” allowing the production company access to its archives for wardrobe and props. The film features Salma Hayek, the wife of Kering CEO Francois-Henri Pinault. Alessandro Michele’s artistic director, Leto, is a close acquaintance.
