This was our first class for the year, with some new members joining.
The focus for our discussion was the film “House of Gucci”. The class enjoyed the film. It is based on the life of the Gucci family. When Patrizia Reggiani, an outsider from humble beginnings, marries into the Gucci family, her unbridled ambition begins to unravel their legacy and triggers a reckless spiral of betrayal, decadence, revenge, and ultimately...murder. There was not any one villain or victim. They were all a victim or villain at different stages during the film.
Most of the performances were excellent. Lady Gaga’s performance as Patrizia was outstanding – you saw the character she was playing, rather than the actor, which is an indication of a strong performance. One character that did not sit well for us was played as a bit of a buffoon. I am not sure whether this was true to the family, the script or poor interpretation.
Costuming was excellent, and the soundtrack seemed to move with the era. Cars in the film were all fancy sports cars, which reflected the lifestyle of the family.
Simple phrases used to summarise the film included poisonous family, shared disintegration, best action film, emotional, excellent performances. We rated it as 4/5.
Other films watched during the Christmas break were:
“West Side Story”: A remake of the film from the 1960s. The performances were good with excellent photography, sets and dancing.
“Julia”: A documentary on the life of Julia Child. An interesting story of how she became a chef and where it took her.
“Kingsman”: A prequel to the Kingsman films and set in the leadup to the First World War. An enjoyable film, but some of the fight scenes were too long.
There are two films the class members are interested in seeing for discussion at our March class. These are “Belfast”, based on growing up in Belfast in the 1960s and “King Richard”, based on the story of how Richard Williams coached Serena and Venus to bring them to top ranked tennis players.
Joy Shirley
The focus for our discussion was the film “House of Gucci”. The class enjoyed the film. It is based on the life of the Gucci family. When Patrizia Reggiani, an outsider from humble beginnings, marries into the Gucci family, her unbridled ambition begins to unravel their legacy and triggers a reckless spiral of betrayal, decadence, revenge, and ultimately...murder. There was not any one villain or victim. They were all a victim or villain at different stages during the film.
Most of the performances were excellent. Lady Gaga’s performance as Patrizia was outstanding – you saw the character she was playing, rather than the actor, which is an indication of a strong performance. One character that did not sit well for us was played as a bit of a buffoon. I am not sure whether this was true to the family, the script or poor interpretation.
Costuming was excellent, and the soundtrack seemed to move with the era. Cars in the film were all fancy sports cars, which reflected the lifestyle of the family.
Simple phrases used to summarise the film included poisonous family, shared disintegration, best action film, emotional, excellent performances. We rated it as 4/5.
Other films watched during the Christmas break were:
“West Side Story”: A remake of the film from the 1960s. The performances were good with excellent photography, sets and dancing.
“Julia”: A documentary on the life of Julia Child. An interesting story of how she became a chef and where it took her.
“Kingsman”: A prequel to the Kingsman films and set in the leadup to the First World War. An enjoyable film, but some of the fight scenes were too long.
There are two films the class members are interested in seeing for discussion at our March class. These are “Belfast”, based on growing up in Belfast in the 1960s and “King Richard”, based on the story of how Richard Williams coached Serena and Venus to bring them to top ranked tennis players.
Joy Shirley
