Tag: 2.08

The Assassination of Gianni Versace episode 8 review – Dead Good

If we very briefly imagine the previous seven hours of American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace as a kind of twisted superhero movie, then this eighth episode is very much the ‘origins’ prequel. The penultimate episode reaches way, way back into the two lives of the main protagonists and gives some fascinating and much-needed context and explanation for the grisly events that were to follow.

This week’s slice of The Assassination of Gianni Versace recovers well from previous weeks’ ever-so-slight slackness, delivering a quite remarkable hour of television. It’s a tale of childhood. Well, two childhoods, to be exact. The first is that of the famous fashion designer of the title. We see his supportive, caring and loving mother nurturing his gift for design and instilling into him values like hard work and dedication. The second childhood is that of Andrew Cunanan’s – the spree killer who would go on to gun Versace down outside his home in 1997. As you can imagine, the parallels between the two backstories are limited, to say the very least…

While Young Versace is encouraged, involved and taught how things work, Young Cunanan is put on a mile-high pedestal by his domineering father. Constantly told he’s special and better than others with little explanation as to why, we quickly discover how Andrew grows up into the man he does. He sees his father schmooze, lie, cheat, scheme, steal, use violence and ultimately run when things got too hot – tricks the older Andrew will employ all too readily as 1997 approaches.

The reverse chronology of the series has left us wondering if we would get a full explanation or exploration as to Andrew’s psychology and, at the beginning of this week’s instalment, we were still slightly concerned. But such was the level of detail and realism that followed, the audience’s patience and dedication so far were to be rewarded no end. Our killer is now a fully-rounded figure.

There’s been a rather familiar pattern to this series and this week’s episode wasn’t keen to break the mould. Each episode seems to glimpse the famous Versace but cut away from him – leaving you wanting more. We’re then shown Andrew Cunanan, expertly and mesmerisingly played by Darren Criss. To top it off, every week, a new character is paraded and the actor behind them totally steals the show. This week that thief is John John Briones, who steals the show so brazenly and completely there should probably be a warrant out for the man’s arrest.

While portraying Andrew’s abusive father Modesto Cunanan, a Filipino immigrant, Briones also guides us through a secondary subtext – that of the deception of The American Dream. It’s a familiar trope for US TV and movies to explore, but it’s no less fascinating for it. Modesto buys into ‘The Dream’. He works hard. He starts a family. He continues to work hard. He erects a flag in his front yard that he proudly salutes each morning. He carries on working hard… And in the end? He’s left with very little. The American Dream works for America, but not the average American. It’s an interesting side note to the episode’s narrative and helps round out Andrew Cunanan’s worldview somewhat.

Another little story that’s played out – again, not first the first time – is that of the damage that greed can do. Modesto’s trade is stockbroking and seeing his rise and fall brings to mind shades of Oliver Stone’s Wall Street and Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street. The violence and destruction that the 1980’s need for greed caused also hints a little at Bret Easton Ellis’ American Psycho.

The structure of this series, which we had been slightly concerned about, has turned out to be a stroke of genius. We started with the crime. Then we slowly worked backwards to see how it came to be. And just as we learn the ‘origins’ backstory of Versace’s murderer and begin to feel sorry for him, we move into next week’s final episode. Where, presumably, we’ll see the cold-blooded slaying once more and the frantic manhunt, followed by the story’s conclusion.

There is still a slight disconnect between Andrew Cunanan the man and Andrew Cunanan the murderer, though. Perhaps the final episode will fill in that blank for us. Or perhaps we’ll be left with the altogether more difficult dilemma of how to process a strangely likeable killer of four innocent people. We’ll have to wait and see.

The Assassination of Gianni Versace episode 8 review – Dead Good

Why The Assassination of Gianni Versace is the drama of the year so far.

I’m not entirely sure why it’s taken me so long to write a piece on The Assassination of Gianni Versace. I adore the show, Darren Criss as serial killer Andrew Cunanan delivers a performance that grabs you and doesn’t let you go. Much like the real life Cunanan (yes I’ve watched documentaries on the real life story since) Criss is mesmerizing in the role as the fascinating serial killer who believes he’s above most who he meets and that he is destined for better things. I struggled with the first series of American Crime Story. I could see Cuba Gooding Jr was doing a stellar job as Simpson but elements of the story were over sensationalised and spoilt the show as a whole for me.

I knew very little about the murder of Gianni Versace. I remember it happening (I was 14 at the time) but it didn’t matter at all as Criss as Cunanan is the draw. It may have Versace’s name in the title, and Edgar Ramírez does a great job as the ill-fated fashion designer but this isn’t really his story. Where OJ was at the centre of the story in season 1, this is more the story of what turns someone into a killer.

British writer Tom Rob Smith tells Cunanan’s story backwards. It’s a device that has bothered me in other shows but here it only serves to make his story more compelling as we are drip fed details of his life and how he ended up at the gates of Versace’s palatial home that morning.

The penultimate episode, which aired on BBC Two last night doesn’t feature Versace or Criss for that matter. It tells the story of Cunanan’s childhood and how he was doted on by his father Modesto. When we meet Modesto (Jon Jon Briones) we start to understand more of why Cunanan became the man he did. The immigrant from the Philippines had the same aspirations of grandeur that his son would go on to emulate. A bully to wife, and seemingly disinterested in his elder children, Modesto through all his energies into turning to Andrew into the family’s success story. Andrew’s gift for ingratiating himself with the rich and powerful was a skill he learnt from his persistent father.  In an earlier episode which saw Andrew gloating about his father’s achievements in the hopes of impressing his one true love David Madson, I, like David had brushed it off as another of Andrew’s fantasies but in this brilliant episode, you discover that Modesto did, in fact, become a successful stockbroker. When his inexperience catches up with him Modesto flees the family home in the car he’d bought for Andrew years before. Unable to grasp the fact that he father had been living a lie Andrew tracks his father down to hideout in sweaty and rundown part of the Philippines.

Seeing what his beloved father has been reduced to is depressing to Andrew. Modesto welcomes his favourite son with open arms but maintains his facade. In in this moment, Andrew sees his idol for the man he really is: a master at charm but ultimately a scheming failure. The episode’s title Master/Destroyer points to this key moment being the catalyst for all the evil Cunanan would inflict on all those who disrespected or let him down in the future.

The one major trait that Modesto past on to his son was the ability to sell himself. The scene where Modesto convinces a prestigious stockbroker firm to hire him despite his lack of experience is quite something. One of the reasons I find Cunanan such a compelling character is his ability to make those around him believe every word he says. He surrounds himself with the wealthy and successful and feeds off them to get what he wants. It’s not really even clear what his main objective is but it’s clear Andrew Cunanan wanted to be someone the world noticed, and in his final murder he became just that.

It’s such a fascinating story, made even more compelling when you remember it’s based on actual events. In a weird way, I found myself emphasizing with this monster of a human.  He’s manipulative, self-obsessed and ruthless but I found him such an intriguing character and I just wanted to learn more and more about him. Tom Rob Smith’s scripts are faultless and the direction superb. This is certainly the US drama of the year, I’m only sorry I haven’t written about it before now.

Why The Assassination of Gianni Versace is the drama of the year so far.

TV review: The Assassination of Gianni Versace; The Secret Life of the Zoo

The Assassination of Gianni Versace
BBC Two
★★★★☆

The title The Assassination of Gianni Versace has turned out to be something of a misnomer. It isn’t about Versace’s killing, it is about his killer. Versace is a bit character fussing over dog-collar dresses (and, lest we forget, that safety-pin frock that introduced us to Liz Hurley’s breasts). As a portrait of a fantasist serial murderer it has been mesmerically done, mostly thanks to Darren Criss. His portrayal of Andrew Cunanan, who killed five people before putting a bullet through his head, has been consistently outstanding.

However, recently the show has become flabby. Like many dramas, it has suffered mid-series spread, using more filler than a meal-deal supermarket sandwich (part seven last week being a case in point). Last night’s penultimate episode also went round the houses, but in showing us Cunanan’s childhood and his abusive weirdo father who hero-worshipped his youngest son and kissed his feet when he got into the “right” school it at least brought us closer to the nub: what made Cunanan a monster. It’s a cautionary tale for anyone who repeatedly tells their child that they are “special”.

These were helpful retrospectives, with Cunanan’s broker father being caught for fraud and bolting to his native Philippines, leaving his family homeless and penniless, then telling his son to be a man for once and stab him. The timeline has been messed with far too much, but here, at last, we saw the making of the narcissist as Andrew, aged 11, was given the master bedroom while his older, unfavoured siblings shared. “If you’re a lie, then I’m a lie,” the young Cunanan told his fugitive father. And a lie is what his entire life went on to be, with him hiring himself out to men for sex under pseudonyms while pretending Daddy was a high-flyer.

Running in parallel was a mini version of Versace’s childhood in Italy, with his mother supporting his dream of being a dress designer even as his teacher called him a pervert. The stage is fully set now for the finale and although I’m very queasy about TV shows immortalising serial killers, thereby giving them what they always craved — notoriety — I think our patience will be rewarded. It’s just a shame it’s been about three episodes too long.

TV review: The Assassination of Gianni Versace; The Secret Life of the Zoo

The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story, episode 8, review – a killer resolution is all this series needs

★★★☆☆

It all comes down to the sins of the father. That’s what the penultimate episode of The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story (BBC Two) seemed to suggest regarding Versace’s killer, Andrew Cunanan.

The series started with Cunanan (Darren Criss) gunning down the designer on the steps of his Miami mansion in 1997. Over eight stately but gruesome episodes we tracked back through Cunanan’s life (and to a lesser extent Versace’s) and the string of earlier murders he committed. To the point where, this week, we finally arrived at the origin story.

We met Gianni (as a boy in 1957, encouraged by his dressmaker mother to be a designer even if that meant being called “pervert” by his teacher and “pansy” by his six-year-old classmates. (The dialogue had all the subtlety of one of Cunanan’s speciality hammer blows to the head.) But attention soon turned back to the killer and how he, too, had been an intelligent child with an effeminate streak; the spoilt favourite not of a saintly Italian mamma but of an obsessive Filipino immigrant father – Modesto “Pete” Cunanan (Jon Jon Briones) – who made the mistake of believing he could make it in America and got pulped.

As critiques of the American dream go, Modesto’s story – for all its flag worship and materialism – was not the most convincing. Because this particular member of the huddled masses was also a wife-beating delusional fraudster who robbed grannies of their life savings to send Andrew to a top-flight school. And who may, as one scene suggested briefly before fading to black, have sexually abused him.

In the climactic scene Andrew confronted Modesto, who had fled to Manilla to evade the FBI, only to be spat on and humiliated for being a “sissy” by the father who’d always purported to adore him. Well, it’s no wonder Andrew became a serial killer, appeared to be suggestion. But, as we know, plenty of people have been through a lot worse than that and avoided taking up killing as a hobby.

With just one more episode to go there’s still no knowing whether this American Crime Story will yet pull a dramatically satisfying resolution out of the bag. Let’s hope it won’t leave us feeling all we’ve done is spend too many hours in the company of a vicious multiple-murderer whose motives will never be fully pinned down.

The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story, episode 8, review – a killer resolution is all this series needs