Tom Ford, the fashion designer, has panned Ridley Scott’s House of Gucci, saying that he couldn’t see “the humor and camp in something that was so bloody.”
The film, directed by Scott, is based on the true story of Maurizio Gucci (Adam Driver), the former head of the fashion firm, who was murdered in 1995. Patrizia Reggiani (Lady Gaga), his former wife, was convicted of plotting his murder in 1998 and sentenced to 18 years in prison.
Ford addressed a number of issues with the high-fashion drama in a new piece for Air Mail, including the accuracy of the story recounted. He did, however, compliment Lady Gaga on her portrayal of Patrizia and Jeremy Irons on his portrayal of Maurizio’s father, Rodolfo.
“The shiny, ambitious, beautifully filmed and costumed tale of greed and murder is stunning by the sheer number of stars that have been cast,” Ford wrote. “The movie rivals the nighttime soap Dynasty for subtlety but does so with a much bigger budget. Directed by master filmmaker Ridley Scott and starring Lady Gaga, Adam Driver, Al Pacino, Jeremy Irons, Jared Leto, and Salma Hayek, the film is … well, I’m still not quite sure what it is exactly, but somehow I felt as though I had lived through a hurricane when I left the theater. Was it a farce or a gripping tale of greed? I often laughed out loud, but was I supposed to?”
Ford joined Gucci as Creative Director in 1994 and immediately increased sales by a large amount, despite the fact that the business was on the verge of bankruptcy at the time. Ford, who was played by Reeve Carney in a few scenes in House of Gucci, was unhappy with how his promotion was depicted in the film.
“Maurizio had been bought out of the company by the time I assumed the position of creative director of Gucci and had my first hit collection. He certainly never toasted me after that show as he does in the film. Movies have a way of becoming truth in people’s minds, an alternate reality that in time obliterates the reality of what was,” he wrote.
“At points, when Al Pacino, as Aldo Gucci, and Jared Leto, as Aldo’s son Paolo Gucci, were on-screen, I wasn’t quite sure that I wasn’t witnessing a Saturday Night Live rendition of the tale,” Ford said of some of the film’s performances.
Towards the end of the essay, he said, “I was deeply sad for several days after watching House of Gucci, a reaction that I think only those of us who knew the players and the play will feel. It was hard for me to see the humor and camp in something that was so bloody. In real life, none of it was camp. It was at times absurd, but ultimately it was tragic.”