Ridley Scott calls Gucci family biopic criticism “alarmingly insulting”

‘House of Gucci’ director Ridley Scott has responded to criticism from the Gucci family after they complained about character portrayals and casting in the film.

This week the heirs to the Italian fashion house released a statement that described the biopic as an “extremely painful” and “insulting” portrayal.

Speaking to Total Film Scott said the family’s decision to write to the production was “alarmingly insulting”.

“I tried to be as respectful as possible by being as factual as possible,” the filmmaker said. “But the people that were writing from the family to us at the onset were alarmingly insulting, saying that Al Pacino did not represent physically Aldo Gucci in any shape or form. 

“And yet, frankly, how could they be better represented than by Al Pacino? Excuse me! You probably have the best actors in the world, you should be so fucking lucky. 

He went on to explain that the story is a satire, adding that “satire is really a posh way of saying it’s a comedy.”

“Jared Leto, there’s not a lot of information about [his character] Paolo, but there are pictures of Paolo and that’s exactly what Paolo looks like,” he continued.

“And so that had to be, to a certain extent, imagined, but clearly Paolo was a very colorful and flamboyant man, was married to a woman who is a very good opera singer.”

He added: “The lady portraying Paolo’s wife in this film has a really great voice, that’s her singing. The flamboyance of Paolo was quite nicely captured. And how could that be offensive? We paid attention to not getting too overt if we can avoid it.”

The Gucci family criticised the film this week in a letter first published by Italian news agency ANSA.

“The Gucci family reserve the right to take every initiative to protect their name and image, and those of their loved ones,” they stated, as reported by the BBC.

It complained that the film casts the family as “thugs, ignorant and insensitive to the world around them, attributing to the protagonists [and] events, a tone and an attitude that never belonged to them.”

“This is extremely painful from a human point of view and an insult to the legacy on which the brand is built today,” it continued.

The depiction of Reggiani appeared to cause most upset, who the family said “is portrayed not just in the film, but also in statements from cast members, as a victim trying to survive in a male and male chauvinist corporate culture”.