Patrizia Gucci, the great grandchild of Guccio Gucci, slammed the upcoming English film House of Gucci for “stealing the identity of a family to make a profit” and going “beyond the headline-grabbing true-crime star and pries into the private lives of Guccio Gucci heirs”.
House of Gucci, directed by Ridley Scott, stars Lady Gaga, Al Pacino, Adam Driver and Jared Leto. The film is based on the murder of Maurizio Gucci (played by Driver), the former head of the international luxury brand Gucci, who was shot dead in 1995 by a hitman hired by his former wife, Patrizia Reggiani (played by Lady Gaga). Reggiani was convicted of arranging his murder in 1998. She served 18 years in a prison in Milan before being released in 2016.
“We are truly disappointed. I speak on behalf of the family. They are stealing the identity of a family to make a profit, to increase the income of the Hollywood system… Our family has an identity, privacy. We can talk about everything. But there is a borderline that cannot be crossed,” Patrizia Gucci, one of Maurizio’s second cousins, told The Associated Press on Thursday.
The film, produced by MGM, is slated to release in theatres on November 24.
Scott’s film is an adpatation of Sara Gay Forden’s book The House of Gucci: A Sensational Story of Murder, Madness, Glamour and Greed. The synopsis of the book on Good Reads calls it “one of glitz, glamour, intrigue, the rise, near fall and subsequent resurgence of a fashion dynasty”.
While Pacino plays Aldo Gucci, who expanded Gucci and opened stores in Rome and New York; Leto plays Paolo Gucci, the brain behind the logo of the Italian brand named after the founder Guccio Gucci.
Recent photos from the sets of the film were circulated, in which Gaga, Pacino and Leto were seen in their character looks.
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“My grandfather was a very handsome man, like all the Guccis, and very tall, blue eyes and very elegant. He is being played by Al Pacino, who is not very tall already, and this photo shows him as fat, short, with sideburns, really ugly. Shameful, because he doesn’t resemble him at all,” Patrizia Gucci said.
She felt offended at her father Pablo Gucci’s shabby appearance, being played by Leto, calling it “horrible”.
According to The Associated Press, MGM did not approach the family regarding the film. While Patrizia Gucci tried contacting Scott’s wife, Giannina Facio, she has not receive a reply. Facio had earlier approached Pablo and Aldo in the 2000s regarding a project that would have focused on them and the rise of the luxury brand.
The Gucci brand is not managed by the family anymore after Maurizio Gucci sold its remaining stakes to Investcorp in 1993. It was later bought by the French company PPR, now known as Kering.