MILAN (AP) – Guccio Gucci’s great-grandchildren, who founded the luxury fashion house that bears his name in Florence almost a century ago, call on filmmaker Ridley Scott to respect their family’s legacy in a new film that focuses on a sensational film. murder.
The House of Gucci, starring Lady Gaga and Adam Driver, is based on a book about the contract murder of one of Gucci’s grandchildren, Maurizio, in 1995 and the subsequent trial and conviction of his ex-wife. Patrizia Reggiani, played by Lady Gaga, was imprisoned for 16 years for incurring the murder.
One of Maurizio’s second cousins, Patrizia Gucci, worries that the film will go beyond the gripping true crime story and delve into the private lives of Guccio Gucci’s heirs.
“We are really disappointed. I’m speaking on behalf of the family, ”Gucci told The Associated Press on Wednesday. “They steal a family’s identity to make a profit, to increase the income of the Hollywood system … Our family has an identity, privacy. We can talk about anything. but there is a limit that cannot be crossed. “
Patrizia Gucci said she reached out to Ridley Scott’s wife, Giannina Facio, to clarify the scope of the film, but received no response. Facio met members of the Gucci family in the early 2000s to discuss another project that would have focused on the role of Patrizia Gucci’s father, Paolo, and grandfather, Aldo, in expanding the brand into a global luxury player. The fact that the production company didn’t reach for the new film only adds to the family’s concerns, she said.
Ridley Scott’s production company did not respond to requests for comment, also made through their Italian counterpart.
The Guccis are not the first Italian fashion family to grapple with on-screen images of tragic events. The Versace family made a statement in 2018 about the season of Ryan Murphy’s ‘American Crime Story’, which was about the murder of fashion house founder Gianni Versace, saying that the TV series was not authorized and should be considered ‘a work of fiction’ are considered.
Patrizia Gucci said her family will decide what further action they can take after seeing the movie. Their concerns stem from casting top actors to play family members whose stories have little to do with the murder of Maurizio Gucci, the lack of current contact with Scott’s production company, and inaccuracies they see in the book the film is on based.
Al Pacino plays Aldo Gucci, who remembers his granddaughter as an expert salesperson who opened Gucci stores in Rome through Condotti and in New York, bringing in VIP customers and expanding the brand’s global reach. And Jared Leto plays Paolo Gucci, whose creative contributions included the idea of creating the Gucci’s famous double G logo, as well as the trademark plasticized bags and moccasins.
It is this story she tells in her own book “Gucci, The True Story of a Successful Dynasty,” published in Italian in 2015.
Patrizia Gucci said paparazzi photos from the “House of Gucci” set were not at all reassuring.
“My grandfather was a very handsome man, like all Guccis, and very tall, blue eyes and very elegant. He is played by Al Pacino, who is already not that big, and this picture shows him as fat, small, with sideburns, really ugly. Shameful, because he doesn’t look like him at all, ‘said Patrizia Gucci.
Leto’s Paolo Gucci, meanwhile, is shown with unkempt hair and a lilac corduroy suit that doesn’t match his daughter’s memories at all. ‘Awful, awful. I still feel insulted, ”she said.
The Gucci family has not been involved with the Gucci fashion house since 1993, when Maurizio sold his remaining stake to Bahrain-based Investcorp. It was later bought by the French group PPR, which is now Kering.
The fashion house collaborates with “The House of Gucci” and opens its archives to the film company for wardrobe and props. Salma Hayek, the wife of Kering CEO Francois-Henri Pinault, appears in the film. Leto is a good friend of creative director Alessandro Michele.