Image Source: Wikipedia, The Hollywood Reporter, Empire
Salma Hayek is on a roll! The incredible actress, who just received a tonne of praise for her formidable character of Ajak in Marvel Cinematic Universe's film Eternals, will now be seen as Pina Auriemma, the woman who is said to have orchestrated the murder of Maurizio Gucci. Here is more you need to learn about the actress and her role in the iconic role in the film.
The story of House of Gucci shows the legendary tale of the murder of Maurizio Gucci, who will be portrayed by Adam Driver in the new true crime film. Patrizia Reggiani, Gucci's ex-wife was the actual mastermind behind the murder of her former husband, and the character is to be portrayed by Lady Gaga. The film also features Jared Leto, who will be playing Paolo Gucci, and Al Pacino, who gets to act in the shoes of Aldo Gucci.
But apart from the high profile names of the Gucci family, the story will also debut the tale of Pina Auriemma, a close friend of Patrizia, who could have been the one to hire the assassin responsible for Maurizio's murder, and the character is to be played by the Frieda Kahlo actress, Salma Hayek. Here is more about the convicted criminal and her life as seen in House of Gucci.
Pina was said to be a sorcerer
Many reports about Giuseppina "Pina" Auriemma following the murder of the head of Gucci in 1995. Claimed to be a "self-styled" psychic and even a sorceress, the mystique figure from Naples, Italy, had started living with Patrizia Reggiani to aid her. Despite the accusations she faced during the trial of 1995, considering Gucci's death, the lady denied that she was a psychic.
The ex-wife of Gucci, Patrizia, had met Pina in 1976 and soon became very close friends. In fact, in an interview, Pina went on to call the two sisters as she said, "We weren’t even friends, we were sisters." Pina moved into the house of Patrizia in 1994 to help Patrizia write her memoir. The book was supposed to talk about Patrizia's marriage to Maurizo. Apparently, Patrizia had stated that her memory had undergone some deprivation due to the brain surgery she had undergone, and hence, needed Pina's aid to write the memoir.
Their relationship was so close that Patrizia was comfortable asking Pina to find a hitman to murder Maurizio Gucci. Hence, Pina contacted Iavo Saviono, a night porter at the Milan Hotel who further took on the task to find a reliable man to get the job done. Forbes revealed that Savioni contacted Orazio Cicala for the murder, and then both the parties contacted Pina and came to an agreement over a sum of payment for the murder. However, Cicala finally enlisted the aid of Benedetto Ceraulo to pull the trigger and shoot Maurizio Gucci.
Not much was available on who hired the hitman and who were the people involved in the murder until an undercover policeman took over the case and found out the connection of Savioni, Cicala, and Ceraulo. The undercover policeman managed to record a phone call between the three, and hence, the involvement of Patrizia and Pina in the murder was found. It was the policeman who acted as the hitman who killed Maurizio and came to ask Patrizia the money that he was due for the job. Hence, Patrizia was able to be charged with premeditated murder.
However, even after 25 years of the case being closed and Pina also having finished her hail time, she denies having played any part in the murder of Maurizio Gucci. The lady was arrested in 1995 and was released early in 2010 upon an early release appeal. Upon being questioned about the murder by The Sun, Pina said, "I have great remorse, even if I did not actively participate in the organization of the murder."
House Of Gucci, which will also feature a performance by Lady Gaga is already said to be in the line of Oscar awards this year. The film will release on 26 November, and just like Salma Hayek, Lady Gaga will play a very formidable role. Her iconic words from the trailer: "Father, Son, and House of Gucci," have taken over the internet by a storm. The film revolves around the slow degradation of the Gucci household, betrayal, and the ultimate revenge fantasy of Patrizia that drove her to murder.
Lady Gaga's character, Patrizia Reggiani was a Milanese socialite, who had sworn that Maurizio fell madly in love with her as she told Guardian in 2016. "I met Maurizio at a party, and he fell madly in love with me. I was exciting and different," said the Lady Gucci who had met and romanced Gucci in the 1960s followed by their marriage.
Being the members of the topmost fashion house that there was, the Guccis got to live pretty rewarding lives. They owned countless properties, a yacht named Creole. The couple gave birth to their two daughters Alessandra and Allegra, who are not on good terms with their mother.
Everything was going great until Rodolfo Gucci, father of Maurizio, died and left half his Gucci business to him. The couple had a terrible time deciding how they wanted to manage their business until finally, Maurizio divorced Patrizia and went to love Paola Franchi. Franchi is played by Camille Cottin in the film.
In cold rage or revenge, Patrizia hired a hitman to kill her former husband and was later convicted of the crime, shocking the entire world in the scandal that ensued. Lady Gucci was sentenced to 26 years in jail, however, was allowed to go free on October 16 after having served 18 years in jail.
The socialite has returned to Milan and now works as a jewelry designer for Bozart. Shunning the popular trend of meeting the famous personality on whom the story is based, Lady Gaga chose not to visit Lady Gucci and decided to do it in her own way. Lady Gaga told Vogue, "I only felt that I could truly do this story justice if I approached it with the eye of a curious woman who was interested in possessing a journalistic spirit so that I could read between the lines of what was happening in the film’s scenes." Refusing to take aid, Gaga went on to portray the character on sheer research as she added, "Meaning that nobody was going to tell me who Patrizia Gucci was. Not even Patrizia Gucci."
However, Patrizia is not very happy with Lady Gaga's blind portrayal of the character as she told ANSA in March 2021, "I am rather annoyed at the fact that Lady Gaga is playing me in the new Ridley Scott film without having had the consideration and sensibility to come and meet me. It is not an economic question. I won’t get a cent from the film. It is a question of good sense and respect."
It will be great to see how Salma Hayek and Lady Gaga bring these two women to the screen!
