MGM
- Ridley Scott’s House of Gucci hit theaters in the United States on November 24.
- Heirs of the Gucci family have taken issue with how the family is portrayed.
- The 84-year-old Scott took issue with their comments and fired shots at them in return.
I take no pride in saying this, but legendary director Ridley Scott has come across as, well, quite the grumpy 84-year-old recently.
Over the course of the last few weeks alone, Scott has blamed millennials for The Last Duel‘s abysmal performance at the box office, derided superhero movies for being “fucking boring as shit”, and is now firing shots at the Gucci family for taking issue with his latest film House of Gucci, which some critics have claimed is so campy you’d be forgiven for thinking it’s a Saturday Night Live sketch.
Following the release of House of Gucci last week, the heirs of Aldo Gucci released a statement saying that Scott’s film is “an insult to the legacy on which the brand is built today.”
“The production of the film did not bother to consult the heirs before describing Aldo Gucci – president of the company for 30 years – and the members of the Gucci family as thugs, ignorant and insensitive to the world around them, attributing to the protagonists, 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,” the statement read in part. [via Variety]
Given that they are literally the descendants of the people the film is about, I’d reckon they’re well within their right to have an opinion about how their family is portrayed. Ridley Scott, though, clearly doesn’t see it this way, as he immediately fired return shots at the Gucci family.
Speaking with Total Film, Scott addresses the criticism, saying that he tried to be “as respectful as possible by being as factual as possible” to what happened. However, he adds that the family writing to the production were “alarmingly insulting” when talking about Pacino.
“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,” Scott says. “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.”
I have immense respect for Ridley Scott, who is undoubtedly one of the world’s greatest living directors. Nevertheless, it’s difficult to perceive his recent string of comments as nothing other than a grumpy old man showing how out-of-touch he is.
House of Gucci, which stars Lady Gaga, Adam Driver, Al Pacino, Jared Leto, and Jeremy Irons, is currently playing in theaters.
Subscribe and listen to our pop culture podcast, the Post-Credit Podcast, and follow us on Twitter @PostCredPod
(Apple | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Anchor)