Alien director Ridley Scott tells the story of lies and deceit within a family-run fashion company – based on true events but pulled off in a whimsical, cinematic way. That doesn’t exactly sound like something that’s going well in today’s cinema business, but it became the surprise hit in 2021, at least in Germany: Over 1.12 million people watched “House Of Gucci” in the cinema – and often enough the halls literally burst with goodness Good mood, because the paying audience really celebrated the film, while the trade press could hardly be persuaded to praise it.
Anyone who has experienced such a cinema screening and would like to bring this feeling home with them, or who missed the crime drama in the cinema and now finally wants to know what it is all about, can now stream the film very conveniently: From August 5, 2022, “House Of Gucci” will be available for the first time in a streaming subscription – namely at Sky Cinema and WOW (formerly Sky Ticket).
» “House Of Gucci” on WOW (formerly Sky Ticket)*
By the way: Scott’s Outrageously amusing fashion detective film was previously considered a contender for an Academy Award nomination in numerous categories, and eventually got one Oscar nomination for best make-up. At the BAFTAs, the British equivalent of the Oscars, it was enough for nominations for best make-up, Lady Gaga for best actress and best British film of the year.
In the end, the film didn’t win anything at these awards, but it did win elsewhere, and that’s particularly amusing: At the same time as the prestigious Oscars and BAFTAs, “House Of Gucci” 2022 was also nominated twice for the anti-Oscars, the so-called Golden Raspberry – in the categories of Worst Supporting Actor (Jared Leto) and Worst Screen Couple (Jared Leto and either his latex face, clothes or accent). In the end, Jared Leto was able to “rejoice” in the award for Worst Supporting Actor.
Italy in the 1970s: Although she comes from a humble background, Patrizia Reggiani (Lady Gaga) catches the eye of Maurizio Gucci (Adam Driver), one of the heirs to the legendary luxury fashion dynasty, at a party. While his tradition-conscious father Rodolfo (Jeremy Irons) has little interest in the potential daughter-in-law, Maurizio’s busy uncle Aldo (Al Pacino) has more to do with Patrizia, who has many ideas and is always keen to defend Gucci’s reputation. Paolo (Jared Leto), who is as willing to take risks as he is weird, and Giuseppina (Salma Hayek), a tele-fortune teller, also play other roles in this power game…
It is not too revealing that the quarrels within the company and the Gucci family soon escalate brutally. However, Ridley Scott does not retell this true crime story soberly, as in his “All the Money in the World”, which is also based on true events. Instead, the director lets himself be “infected by the glittering glamor of the name Gucci”, to quote from the positive DashFUN review.
In addition to the look, the freely rotating ensemble is particularly praised, from Adam Driver, who delivers “a usual strong performance”, to the horde of co-stars in absurdly exaggerated roles and with broad dialects. There’s almost a method to this, as the supporting cast underscores the feeling that Driver’s role has, for some inexplicable reason, doesn’t belong in it…
The tone of voice that Ridley Scott aims for in “House Of Gucci” may not necessarily correspond to what people have promised beforehand – but as the audience reactions show, he hit a nerve with his colorful style in several senses of the word. The prime example par excellence of how differently you can see “House Of Gucci” is undoubtedly Jared Letowho plays loud, shrill Paolo Gucci, buried under heavy makeup.
Leto not only brought “House Of Gucci” the two aforementioned Razzie nominations and a win, it was also recognized by some reviews as the Achilles heel of the film exposed.
Nevertheless, Leto received a lot of praise for his performance – and was nominated by the US actors’ union Screen Actors Guild for best supporting actor. Leto also received positive nominations from the AARP Movies for Grownups Awards, where he went on to win, the Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards and the Satellite Awards, among others.
Coming back to our criticism of the film: Leto almost hijacks the film “and with his mercilessly stupid idiot performance prepares the ground for a true crime robber gun smeared with lots of luxury soap”. And that is meant in a very positive way!
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This is an updated re-release of an article previously published on DashFUN.
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