Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

House of Gucci 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf August 4, 2024

For his second film of 2021, director Ridley Scott moves from the chilly setting of medieval France (“The Last Duel”) to the chillier setting of the fashion industry in the 1980s, tracking the house of horrors that was the Gucci empire. “Inspired” by a true story, Scott takes such permission and runs with it, working with a screenplay by Becky Johnson and Roberto Bentivegna that transforms the saga of Patrizia Reggiai and Maurizio Gucci into a Shakespearian display of power plays and escalating madness. “House of Gucci” has it all, with Scott presiding over sex, lies, and murder, but he’s not interested in keeping the downward spiral tightly organized, permitting the feature to succumb to excessive length and intensely showy performances. “House of Gucci” offers an introductory hour of compelling deal-making and subtle manipulations, but it doesn’t sustain such speed, eventually slowing a full stop to enjoy the view.

In the late 1970s, Patrizia (Lady Gaga) is the daughter of a trucking company owner, spotting a unique opportunity to change her life when she meets Maurizio (Adam Driver) at a party, making sure the man with the Gucci surname remembers her. As they begin dating, Maurizio shares his interest in law school, trying to keep his distance from the family business, with father Rodolfo (Jeremy Irons) and Uncle Aldo (Al Pacino) ruling the fashion empire. When Maurizio marries Patrizia, Rodolfo denies his son, leaving the young man to a happier life as a blue-collar worker. This doesn’t sit well with his new wife, who pushes her spouse to reenter the business of Gucci, with Maurizio eventually taking some control of the company when his father dies. Enjoying the wealth and status Gucci brings her, Patrizia is determined to maintain her position in the family, fighting gradual distance from Maurizio and the bumbling antics of Aldo’s son, Paolo (Jared Leto), who dreams of fashion world glory while his relatives reject him.

“House of Gucci” is an adaptation of a book by Sara Gay Forden, but the screenplay takes more than a few liberties with the details, including movement of the story, with the real-life courtship of Maurizio and Patrizia occurring in 1970, while the movie pushes the event to 1978, perhaps so Scott could add some more disco to the soundtrack. The bulk of the feature takes place in the 1980s, tracking the rise of Patrizia as she moves from being an office clerk to marriage with a Gucci, initially targeting Maurizio at a party, immediately responding to his last name before launching a mission to land the socially awkward bachelor, who, during his early years, was working diligently to get out from under the weight of Gucci expectations. Maurizio has deep issues with his father, a former film actor trying to sustain his vanity in fashion, building a brand name that’s become powerful but also stagnant, where being chic is everything. Their divide is vividly depicted in “House of Gucci,” as the writing identifies Maurizio as mouse of a man, with Patrizia sensing an opportunity to swoop in, motivating her new husband to take what’s his.

Patrizia is the main character of “House of Gucci.” She’s an outsider who found a way in, making her presence known via Maurizio, urging him to deal directly with his family. She’s capable of softening Aldo, positioning her husband as the son the co-owner of Gucci doesn’t have in Paolo, who’s depicted here as a balding, overweight, poorly dressed buffoon with a fashion design dream. The character returns to the story on occasion, becoming a pawn in Patrizia’s game of power, and these moments of manipulation are where the movie is most alive, watching the woman claim money and style, embracing her royalty status, keeping an eye on those who could threaten such comfort. The first half of the feature is filled with snappy moments of seductive control and mental chess matches, also dipping into the bizarre as Patrizia begins to rely on a television fortune teller (Salma Hayek) for advice. The business of being Gucci is quite interesting, delving into corruption and tax avoidance, but the writing doesn’t remain in the middle of controlled chaos, preferring to follow Patrizia’s eventual unraveling.

House of Gucci 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Screencaps are taken from the Blu-ray.

"House of Gucci" was originally issued on Blu-ray in 2022, and returns with a UHD release, offering the feature in Dolby Vision. While perhaps not a massive upgrade over the previous disc, the 4K viewing experience enjoys Scott's obsessions with textures and depth, finding detail excellent, especially with the fibrousness of wild fashion choices and varied skin particulars as aging and illness plays a key role in the picture. Facial surfaces are especially vivid, getting into the pores of the performers. Interiors are open for examination, with a clear view of decorative additions. Locations and greenscreen artistry also bring out significant dimension at times. "House of Gucci" plays a specific game of colors, with Scott preferring a drier look for the endeavor, delivering a cooler view for business and city activity. Breaking through are costumes, which offer distinct hues to support style displays. Golden lighting is also preserved with softer moments. Snowy experiences are bright white, and greenery is distinct. Skin tones are natural. Blacks are deep, handling the nuance of shadowy encounters and thick formalwear. Highlights are tasteful.

House of Gucci 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 7.1 DTS-HD MA mix secures clean dialogue exchanges, working with broad accents and balancing argumentative moments. Scoring is full, with crisp instrumentation and surround presence, enveloping the listener, joined by soundtrack selections, which carry defined vocals and sharp beats. Atmospherics are active, with a circular sense of crowd bustle and traffic patterns, also contributing panning and separation movement. Interior echo is also explored. Sound effects are appreciable.

House of Gucci 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• "The Rise of the 'House of Gucci'" (10:14, HD) is a brief making-of for the film, featuring interviews with director Ridley Scott, producers Giannina Scott and Kevin J. Walsh, screenwriter Roberto Bentivegna, cinematographer Dariusz Wolski, and actors Jared Leto, Lady Gaga, Adam Driver, Al Pacino, Jeremy Irons, and Salma Hayek. A general fascination with the true story of Gucci is shared, inspiring the initial writing and the Shakespearean appeal of the material to the actors. A celebration of Scott is provided, with Gaga praising his ability to handle the "emotional quotient" of the script. Characterization is highlighted, including makeup work on Leto, who was delighted to fool Pacino with his changed appearance.

• "The Lady of the House" (5:35, HD) examines the psychological drive of Patrizia and celebrates Lady Gaga's "heroic" performance. The featurette offers interviews with director Ridley Scott, producer Giannina Scott and Kevin J. Walsh, screenwriter Roberto Bentivegna, and actors Adam Driver, Lady Gaga, Jared Leto, Jeremy Irons, Salma Hayek, and Al Pacino.

• "Styling 'House of Gucci'" (5:26, HD) highlights the look of the picture, featuring interviews with director Ridley Scott, costume designer Janty Yates, chief cutter Dominic Young, production designer Arthur Max, cinematographer Dariusz Wolski, and actors Lady Gaga (who wore over 50 costumes in the movie), Jeremy Irons, Jared Leto, and Salma Hayek.

• A Theatrical Trailer has not been included on this release.

House of Gucci 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Melodrama is present throughout "House of Gucci," but Scott abandons control of it all in the second half, which begins to race through the years, ultimately focused on Maurizio's eventual recognition of his wife's tight grip on his life, looking to another woman for happiness. The story is going somewhere dark, but the picture starts to feel slack, lingering on superfluous scenes, and the performances, while always pronounced, become more about the actors than the characters. Leto is especially unbearable as Paolo, a pure cartoon, through he's working with incredible aging makeup. His scenes are death, bringing pure ham to "House of Gucci," and while Scott is fairly good monitoring such indulgence for about an hour, he soon steps away from the production, which is eventually smothered by its own permissiveness.