Tom Ford reviews House of Gucci #airmail

Love this review by Tom Ford of Ridley Scott’s movie House of Gucci for Airmail.
As the former creative director of Gucci he has the inside scoop …

“I recently survived a screening of the two-hour-and-37-minute film that is House of Gucci. The shiny, ambitious, beautifully filmed and costumed tale of greed and murder is stunning by the sheer number of stars that have been cast.”

” the film is … well, I’m still not quite sure what it is exactly, but somehow I felt as though I had lived through a hurricane when I left the theater. Was it a farce or a gripping tale of greed? I often laughed out loud, but was I supposed to?”

“I must preface my thoughts by stating that my opinion is perhaps biased. I knew Maurizio Gucci well and worked with him for four of the years that are covered in this film. He was murdered on the morning of March 27, 1995, just steps away from my office in Milan. ”

“I also knew many of the other players in this saga and was interviewed on multiple occasions for the book that was the source material for the film, so it is hard for me to divorce reality from the glossy, heavily lacquered soap opera that I witnessed on-screen.

“As with most films based on a true story, facts are altered, characters are exaggerated, timelines warped—and, in the end, who cares as long as these alterations yield a great movie?”

“The movie rivals the nighttime soap Dynasty for subtlety but does so with a much bigger budget”.

“At times, when Al Pacino, as Aldo Gucci, and Jared Leto, as Aldo’s son Paolo Gucci, were on-screen, I was not completely sure that I wasn’t watching a Saturday Night Live version of the tale”.

“Leto’s brilliance as an actor is literally buried under latex prosthetics. The performers must have been given license to be absolute hams—and not of the prosciutto variety. They must have had fun.”

“Salma Hayek is great, as always, but she’s under-utilized in her role as the television psychic Pina Auriemma, who is key in the saga. The casting of Hayek is particularly inspired given that her husband is the current owner of Gucci, a fact which will be lost on the mainstream audience.”

“The true star of the film for me is Gaga. It is her film, and she steals the show. In her often over-the-top portrayal of Patrizia Gucci, her accent migrates occasionally from Milan to Moscow. But who cares? Her performance is spot-on.”

” I was deeply sad for several days after watching House of Gucci, a reaction that I think only those of us who knew the players and the play will feel. It was hard for me to see the humor and camp in something that was so bloody. In real life, none of it was camp.”

” It was at times absurd, but ultimately it was tragic. But with Gaga’s and Driver’s strong performances, powerful over-the-top portrayals by the entire cast, impeccable costumes, stunning sets, and beautiful cinematography, the film, I suspect, will be a hit. Splash the Gucci name across things and they usually sell.”

Read more here at AIRMAIL and watch the trailer here.

Also read all the Juicy Tidbits from House of Gucci’s Costume Designer: Janty Yates at BAZAAR.com about working with Lady Gaga and re imagining the style legacy of Patrizia Reggiani .