The heirs of the Italian luxury fashion house at the center of “House of Gucci” have publicly slammed the crime drama, saying the new film inaccurately depicts members of the family as “thugs.”
The Ridley Scott-directed film starring Lady Gaga and Adam Driver chronicles the 1995 murder-for-hire of Maurizio Gucci, the former head of the Gucci fashion house, by his ex-wife Patrizia Reggiani, who was later convicted and sentenced to 29 years in prison for orchestrating the crime.
Amid the press blitz for the film — which is already garnering Oscar buzz for Gaga’s turn as the not-so-apologetic murderess — the heirs to Aldo Gucci, played by Al Pacino in the movie, have publicly blasted the project for portraying their family “as thugs, ignorant and insensitive to the world around them.”
In a letter published by the Italian news agency ASNA and translated by Variety, the family claims production “did not bother to consult the heirs.” The statement says the film attributes “a tone and an attitude to the protagonists of the well-known events that never belonged to them.”
“Although the work claims to want to tell the ‘true story’ of the family, the fears raised by the trailers and interviews released so far, are confirmed: the film carries a narrative that is far from accurate,” the statement reads. “This is extremely painful from a human point of view and an insult to the legacy on which the brand is built today.”
“This is extremely painful from a human point of view and an insult to the legacy on which the brand is built today.”
– Gucci family statement
The letter goes onto take issue with how the film depicts gender politics within the company during the 1980s, noting that Gaga’s character “is painted not just in the film, but also in statements from cast members, as a victim trying to survive in a male and male chauvinist corporate culture.”
“This couldn’t be further from the truth,” the statement continues, noting that Gucci was an “inclusive” company where women held “several top positions whether they were members of the family or extraneous to it.”
Much to her presumed relief, the family had no comments on Gaga’s now infamous accent. But they pushed back on how the film glorifies Reggiani: “Even more objectionable is the reconstruction that becomes mystifying almost to the point of paradox when gets to the point of suggesting an indulgent tone towards a woman who, definitively convicted of having been the instigator of the murder of Maurizio Gucci.”
Gaga has publicly spoken about her decision not to contact Reggiani, who is still alive and giving interviews to the Italian press about how she was “annoyed” by the pop star’s snub.
“I only felt that I could truly do this story justice if I approached it with the eye of a curious woman who was interested in possessing a journalistic spirit so that I could read between the lines of what was happening in the film’s scenes,” Gaga told British Vogue last month. “Meaning that nobody was going to tell me who Patrizia Gucci was. Not even Patrizia Gucci.”
Scott also brushed off criticism from the family members, who spoke out against the film in April for “stealing the identity of a family to make a profit.”
“I don’t engage with that,” the director told BBC Radio. “You have to remember that one Gucci was murdered and another went to jail for tax evasion, so you can’t be talking to me about making a profit. As soon as you do that you become part of the public domain.”
