Diksha Sundriyal
Drama and chaos erupt in Ridley Scott’s ‘House of Gucci,’ as Patrizia Reggiani tries to grasp at power within the Gucci family after marrying Maurizio Gucci. Initially, the couple is not accepted by Maurizio’s father, Rodolfo, but he later retracts his words and welcomes them into the family. Eventually, Rodolfo dies, and before that, he makes arrangements to transfer his shares to Maurizio, which means his son would have 50 percent of the company. The only problem is that he forgets to sign the document, which means that after his death, Maurizio is faced with a debilitating amount of inheritance tax. Later, Maurizio is charged with forging his father’s signature, which forces him to flee the country, but at the same time, it is hinted that the true culprit is Patrizia. SPOILERS AHEAD.
House of Gucci Fictionalises Patrizia’s Involvement With the Forgery
In the movie, Patrizia Reggiani is painted as the mastermind behind the forging of Rodolfo Gucci’s signature, but in real life, she was never officially charged with this crime. In fact, it was Maurizio who was trapped in the legalities surrounding his father’s signature. As shown in the movie, it is true that Rodolfo passed away before signing the transfer of the shares. When Maurizio made his move in the company, pushing his uncle, Aldo, out, he faced a lawsuit from Aldo and his two sons, Roberto and Giorgio. According to the lawsuit, he asked his secretary, Roberta Cassol, to do it. However, when she was unable to forge the signatures, she allegedly delegated the task to her assistant, Liliana Colombo. Following the allegations, Maurizio left Italy for Switzerland, while also claiming that the accusations were baseless and that he was entirely innocent in the matter.
He called it a premeditated attack by his uncle. The court found him guilty of the charges, but later, another hearing cleared him of the whole thing. In all of this, Patrizia’s name doesn’t really come into the picture. According to the Los Angeles Times, Rodolfo Gucci’s assistant reportedly testified against Patrizia, accusing her of the crime. But this testimony never turned into a full-blown investigation into Patrizia’s life and crimes. While her husband handled the legal problem, she mainly remained on the sidelines and was not dragged into the drama. The movie, however, flips the script and puts Patrizia at the center of this conflict. This, however, has more to do with the requirements of the plot and the character’s arc rather than historical accuracy.
Since the film features Lady Gaga’s Patrizia as the focal character, whom the audience follows from the beginning to the end, it was essential to have her involved in all the major developments in the story. While the story ends with her being convicted of her husband’s murder, the buildup to her crime had to appear convincing. The audience needed to be able to believe that she had it in her to order Maurizio’s murder, but before that, she had to commit another crime that was major enough to show that she could stoop lower to get what she wanted. This is why the filmmakers distorted the facts while adapting the story for the screen and inserted Patrizia into the narrative. Notably, it isn’t entirely difficult to believe that she may have been the force behind the forgery, especially as her power games get more intense and it becomes clear that all she wants is to be a Gucci in all senses of the term.
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