The Assassination of Gianni Versace
American Crime Story review by Justine O’Brien
I’m the type of person who gladly shuts the rest of the world off when I’m binge watching a new television show. Don’t even bother asking me to make plans when I start a new season or series: It’s almost guaranteed that I’ll be tucked into bed with the lights off, the dim glow of my laptop screen straining my eyes. The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story is my current obsession.
The latest from director Ryan Murphy, who has contributed to such projects as American Horror Story and Glee, Versace recounts the 1997 murder of famed fashion designer Gianni Versace (played by Édgar Ramírez). Darren Criss plays Andrew Cunanan, the jealous sociopath whose killing spree of affluent older men made international headlines.
The follow-up season to FX’s smash hit mini drama, The People v. O.J. Simpson, Versace packs the same nail biting drama and deception into a gorgeous pastel palette. The cinematography in Versace is unparalleled, with all the excess and color that one might expect from the story of the death of one of the biggest fashion designers in the world.
The follow-up season to FX’s smash hit mini drama, The People v. O.J. Simpson, Versace packs the same nail biting drama and deception into a gorgeous pastel palette. The cinematography in Versace is unparalleled, with all the excess and color that one might expect from the story of the death of one of the biggest fashion designers in the world. Set in nineties Miami, some scenes make the sunlit beach feel like its spilling out into your living room.
But it isn’t just the beautiful scenes that make Versace so captivating — it’s the twisted elements as well. The series is jammed with moments that make you hold your breath, cover your eyes and form entirely new opinions about duct tape. As the plot thickens, Versace’s hyper realistic but simultaneously dream-like quality is what sets it apart from similar crime dramas.
The actors in Versace are a cut above and it’s refreshing to see a drama of this sort have such an ensemble cast. Ramírez’s Versace is a sensitive genius; clothing is his calling and absolute passion. The gay designer was a fixture on Miami Beach, openly walking the streets when he wasn’t swimming in his pool or playing tennis in his villa. Versace’s indisputable talent was often curtailed by his own quiet insecurity.
Versace’s hyper realistic but simultaneously dream-like quality is what sets it apart from similar crime dramas.
A bleach blonde Penelope Cruz plays Donatella Versace, the devoted sister. Cruz’s Donatella is the picture of grief and her performance is haunting. Cruz’s performance makes us admire the real Donatella’s strong desire to keep the brand alive following her brother’s murder and her accession to powerhouse status.
Ricky Martin’s performance as Antonio D’Amico, Gianni Versace’s lover, is similarly compelling. D’Amico and Donatella both had one thing in common: Gianni Versace. Aside from that, watching the two characters clash has been one of the most satisfying aspects of the show. Max Greenfield, more commonly known for his role as “Schmidt” on FOX’s New Girl, impressively embodies his role as Cunanan’s unwitting, cocaine-selling friend.
While Versace is the draw owing to his fame, Criss’s Cunanan is the centerpiece of the story; the pathetically insecure sociopath steals every scene he’s in. Criss slips into his character’s idiosyncrasies like a hand in glove, and each of his compulsive lies and sneaky tactics reveals the creeping sense of how depraved Cunanan must have been in life. Criss’s brilliant performance illuminates how the desire for opulence and excess can drive people to do unspeakable things.
Like the People v. O.J. Simpson, Versace addresses our society’s macabre obsession with murder, scandal and celebrity. The story of Versace and Cunanan, which jumps back and forth in time, carries an ominous, nail biting quality that often leaves the viewer with more questions than answers. Murphy, who also produced and wrote the show, has somehow managed to capture the hysteria of the case and the period feel in perfect form.
Like the People v. O.J. Simpson, Versace addresses our society’s macabre obsessions with murder, scandal and celebrity.
In a review of the television show written for Vogue, entitled “Miami Vice,” John Powers says “Murphy uses Versace’s murder to conjure the shadowy, bottled-up world of late-nineties America, in which Gianni and Antonio weren’t treated as a genuine couple (they couldn’t marry), respectably closeted husbands had furtive liaisons with young men, and law enforcement was so unsettled by ‘gay’ crimes, they botched the cases.”
I’m currently watching the series the old fashioned way (aka waiting patiently each week for the newest episode). Each episode leaves me shocked, confused and salivating for more of a tale that seems to get progressively more twisted with each new episode. All I know for sure is that murder never seemed so fashionable.
Justine O’Brien is a senior at UMass Amherst in journalism and media literacy. In her free time she loves photography, shoes and attempting to keep plants alive.
