MILAN (AP) – Guccio Gucci’s great-grandchildren, who founded the luxury fashion house named after him almost a century ago in Florence, call on filmmaker Ridley Scott to respect the family’s legacy in a new film focusing on a sensational murder movie.
“Gucci’s House,” starring Lady Gaga and Adam Driver, is based on a 1995 book about the murder of one of Gucci’s grandchildren, Maurizio, and the subsequent trial and conviction of his ex-wife. Patrizia Reggiani, played by Lady Gaga, has served 16 years in prison for the crime.
One of Maurizio’s secondary cousins, Patrizia Gucci, is worried that the film goes beyond the story of the real crimes and draws attention to the privacy of Guccio Gucci’s heirs.
“We are really disappointed. I speak on behalf of the family, “Gucci told The Associated Press on Wednesday. “He steals the identity of a family to make a profit, to increase the income of the Hollywood system … Our family has an identity, intimacy. We can talk about anything. but there is a limit that cannot be crossed. ”
Patrizia Gucci said she contacted Ridley Scott’s wife, Giannina Facio, for clarification on the film’s scope, but received no response. Facio met with members of the Gucci family in the early 2000s to discuss another project that would focus on the roles of Patrizia Gucci’s father, Paolo, and grandfather, Aldo, in expanding the brand into a global luxury player. The fact that the production company did not reach the new film only increases the family’s worries, she said.
Ridley Scott’s production company did not respond to requests for comment made through their Italian counterpart.
Guccis are not the first Italian fashion family to struggle with on-screen images of tragic events. The Versace family released a statement in 2018 about Ryan Murphy’s “American Crime Story” season, which referred to the murder of fashion house founder Gianni Versace, saying the TV series is not licensed and should be considered “a work of fiction.”
Patrizia Gucci said her family will decide what further steps they can take after seeing the film. Their concerns stem from the cast of top actors to play family members whose stories intersect little with the assassination of Maurizio Gucci, the lack of current contact with Scott’s production company and the inaccuracies I see in the book on which the film is based.
Al Pacino plays Aldo Gucci, whom his niece remembers as an expert salesman who opened Gucci stores in Rome, through Condotti and in New York, bringing in VIP customers and expanding the brand’s global coverage. Jared Leto also plays Paolo Gucci, whose creative contributions included the idea of creating the famous Gucci double-G logo, as well as his plastic bags and moccasins.
She tells this story in her own book, “Gucci, the true story of a successful dynasty”, which was published in Italian in 2015.
Patrizia Gucci said the paparazzi photos from the “Gucci’s House” set were not at all reassuring.
“My grandfather was a very handsome man, like all Guccis, and very tall, with blue eyes and very elegant. He is played by Al Pacino, who is not already very tall, and this photo shows him as fat, short, with pearls, very ugly. Shameful, because it doesn’t look like him at all “, said Patrizia Gucci.
Meanwhile, Leto’s Paolo Gucci is presented with unkempt hair and a lilac velor suit not at all in keeping with his daughter’s memories. “It simply came to our notice then. I still feel offended, “she said.
The Gucci family has not been involved in the Gucci fashion house since 1993, when Maurizio sold his remaining stake to Bahrain’s Investcorp. It was later bought by the French group PPR, which is now Kering.
The fashion house cooperates with “Gucci’s House”, opening its archives of the film company for wardrobe and props. Salma Hayek, the wife of Kering’s CEO, Francois-Henri Pinault, appears in the film. Leto is a close friend of creative director Alessandro Michele.