«House of Gucci»: when coldness turns to indifference

Cinema Wednesdays - Jordi Gabioud

Buckle belt, black leather, gold finish and signature double G. You'd think this was a behind-the-scenes exploration of one of the biggest names in fashion. House of Gucci is above all the spectacle of a family slowly falling apart. Both on stage and on screen, the profligacy of means strives to disappoint.

The story begins with the meeting of Maurizio (Adam Driver) and Patricia (Lady Gaga). After an Italian wedding, Patricia discovers the challenges facing the iconic Gucci brand, caught between family values and power. It’s a world of internal strife into which she’ll happily plunge—until she drowns in it.

Patricia’s outside perspective could have served as a gateway into the world of fashion for the novice viewer. This world, with its seemingly indecipherable codes unless one belongs to an elite circle, would undoubtedly benefit from some educational insight. In the collective imagination, it is known primarily for its eccentricities and its anorexic models. Unfortunately, fashion is not the subject, nor even a theme of House of Gucci. What’s more, fashion is merely a tool confined to its caricatured characteristics to address superficiality. As a humorous device, it might have worked. But here, the film itself quickly becomes superficial.

Gucci, your pathetic world

Ridley Scott may have gotten us too used to his masterful world-building. Whether in the direction or the storytelling, nothing manages to bring out a true sense of personality. On the directing front, we can appreciate the richness of the sets, the camera’s restraint in avoiding easy close-ups, and the ability to give weight to every Gucci accessory without falling into the excess of commercials. It’s all the more unfortunate, then, to see these strengths squandered by editing that seems to have lacked the time needed for fine-tuning. With an abrupt cut, we shift from golden hues to cool tones, without any justification. Some scenes seem to have been cut at the last minute, mostly during dialogue sequences.

House of Gucci explores the erosion of family ties without ever addressing the question of how to say goodbye. And what about the film’s soundtrack? A mix of David Bowie, electro-classical pieces, the Eurythmics, and Italian hits that seem desperately jostling for position—even an awkward one—within this grand epic. It’s as if the filmmakers had the good taste to reject a soundtrack that merely constantly underscores what the viewer is supposed to feel, but the bad taste of an impoverished imagination when denied that easy route. All these elements combined make the world of *Gucci* clumsy, awkward, and unconvincing.

The Winter Chill of the Gucci Peaks

It’s surprising that such an enticing cast, bringing with it such an eccentric world, manages to leave the viewer with nothing but a sense of bitter indifference. How is that possible? It’s not the fault of Adam Driver, who wears the double G with incredible elegance. Nor is it the fault of a surprising and fully committed Lady Gaga. Then, before long, we meet Jeremy Irons, a character paying homage to Sunset Boulevard in the writing and films of the’Universal Monsters in over-the-top makeup. Next up is a somewhat weary Al Pacino, who still seems to take just as much pleasure in his craft—undoubtedly the least unlikable Gucci in the family. Then, beyond this sphere, Jared Leto looms—a sort of caricature in which his prosthetic makeup overacts with appalling consistency. He serves as a sort of comic relief amid dramatic stakes. Unfortunately, his presence automatically nullifies any moment of tension.

Through these characters, the film seeks to depict the erosion of family values in the face of a drive for power and profit. Certainly, all myths need to be updated; but this updating makes the way the story is told all the more important. In this regard, the film is surprisingly impersonal. Events unfold in a very linear fashion; certain run-ins with the law arise and then disappear without us really understanding why, and the relationships between the characters evolve without much coherence… And this is less a matter of leaving broad swaths of interpretation to the audience than of clumsiness, since the film seems constantly intent on demonstrating its characters’ feelings to us without ever finding the right dialogue to do so.

By attempting to reduce the concept of family within the Gucci family to a superficial value—a commercial pretext—the narrative is forced to portray all its characters and their relationships as superficial. Unfortunately, in the absence of a «redeemable» character amid all this corruption, we are left with nothing more than a simple illustration of a moral lesson we already know. And seeing so many resources spent on staging dialogues that are often quite hollow makes it just as superficial as the world it depicts. Ultimately, faced with so much coldness, one can only respond with polite indifference.

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