Before I fully return to sighing strings composed directly for the screen, let me make mention of two more examples from the classical concert repertoire to grace cinemas. The “Adagio in G Minor for Strings and Organ” by Remo Giazotto would be an example to rival’s Barber’s in public consciousness – so famously used in “Gallipoli” and other movies that some complained of overuse when it was recently prominently featured in “Manchester by the Sea”. The problem is that in addition to plenty of mournfully sighing strings there’s also that peskily prominent organ. That should disqualify it from this discussion, except a convenient loophole arrives in the form of a special arrangement of the Adagio scored for the limited TV series “American Crime Story: Versace”. The organ is removed, leaving a pure string ensemble arrangement, with sobbing solo violin taking the organ’s place:
It is no secret to anyone that Edgar Ramírez has always been proud of his roots; so much so that in all his projects he does his best to leave the name of his native Venezuela on high.
In his Instagram account, Ramírez published a snapshot of the show’s episode that premiered this week. In it you can see the actor playing Gianni Versace; sitting while talking with his sister Donatella, in charge of the Spanish Penelope Cruz. “In the photo in the background … a little wink for my [flag of Venezuela]” …
What is it about?
In the scene there is a replica of Simón Bolívar’s costume, the Venezuelan hero who in addition to his native country freed Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama and Peru. Ramírez also played Bolívar in the 2013 film Libertador.
The most recent episode of The Assassination of Gianni Versace begins to reveal bits and pieces of Andrew Cunanan’s twisted and broken state of mind as he starts to break down. The episode opens to Cunanan in a luxurious waterside mansion in sunny San Diego swimming naked in the pool. The timeline for this falls a year before he commits his first murder.
It is shocking to understand just how much Cunanan was able to accomplish in a short amount of time. In this flashback, he is pretending to be an art curator who lives with his wealthy, old client (sound familiar?).
The client/fling, Norman, is throwing Andrew a birthday party with all of his closest friends, including Lizzie, Jeffrey Trail, and the love of his love, David Madson. So for someone who seemed to have it all, what exactly pushed him to go on a murder spree? This is what this episode helps us understand.
Cunanan’s goal in life has always been to be something he’s not, and in a similar fashion, he attempts to craft Jeffrey in a more “presentable manner” for the party. He goes as far as personally wrapping a present and asking Jeff to regift to him at the party. This is the moment where his subtle urges to manipulate start to shine through–and perhaps the beginning of one insane journey.
Cunanan’s love interest, David Madson, flies in from Minneapolis to attend the party but appears to form a connection with Jeffrey. This puts Cunanan in a state of panic as he heads to the bathroom to snort a line of coke. This is strike one on the path to Cunanan losing it.
And if that isn’t enough to send Cunanan off the rails, one of Norman’s friends approaches him to exchange a few harsh words. He tells Andrew that he is protecting Norman and knows exactly what he is up to which sets something off inside of Cunanan. And while the party already had two of Andrew’s victims in attendance, the entrance of Lee Miglin added a third. Talk about awkward, right?
This illustrates yet another connection Cunanan had to one of his victims and helps the audience begin to piece together the road that led him down a murder spree.
Following the aftermath of his birthday party, Andrew sits down with Norman to go over a list of demands he has if they are to stay together as a couple. This moment seems quite odd seeing as how Cunanan needs Norman more than the other way around. Nonetheless, he begins to list off the need for a higher allowance, Norman’s entire inheritance, and a car.
Unfortunately for Andrew, Norman begins to attack him by revealing he knows exactly who Cunanan is. The truth hits Andrew like venom, as he begins to lash out. Despite Andrew being a basket case, Norman attempts to offer to help out in other ways but Andrew just won’t have it. He storms off after Norman refuses to follow the demands on his list.
Following his fight with Norman, Cunanan heads to the only place he can think of–his real home which is a small tiny apartment inclusive of one mattress and his dear mother. It is here where he begins to take revenge on Jeffrey, who he feels is trying to David away from him. Some episodes ago, we learned Andrew sent a postcard to Jeff’s house outing him as a gay man. In this episode, we see him committing the act of writing it.
Upon finding out, Jeffrey confronts Andrew and tells him he is moving to Minneapolis. The same place David Madson currently lives. Andrew perceives this as a threat and begins to court David into an all-expenses-paid trip to L.A. Even though David shows up for the trip, he ultimately ends up rejecting Andrew and his advances. He tells him he is not the one for Andrew and while Andrew requests he simply gets to know him. When Andrew begins to spin a web of intricate lies, David walks away once and for all.
It has been quite some time since we’ve seen Versace in an episode, but lo and behold he made an appearance in this one. However, it was in one of Andrew’s dreams where Versace is his tailor and tells him they are not the same because he is loved, unlike Andrew. And this is where things get crazy. In a meth-induced state, Andrew goes back to Norman’s house violently shouting to be let into the house as Norman calls the police. Andrew goes back, broken and defeated, to his mother’s house where he tells her his next destination is…Minneapolis.
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. 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.
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.
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.
Clare: So is anyone getting sick of Mr Darren Criss appearing here as my top performer week after week? No I didn’t think so as he rightfully deserves the honour. And if you do, you’ll be pleased to know there are only three episodes of The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story left. “The House by the Lake” was touted as THE big Darren episode and yes he was absolutely brilliant in that, but this week’s ep “Descent” he just blew me away. Here you got to see so many different sides of Andrew Cunanan – the charmer, the manipulator, the one in control, the one who lost control, the manic, the dreamer. This was the episode that you could see two clear paths that Cunanan could have taken to achieve his dreams and basically fucked it all up. Immense kudos to Criss for consistently drawing us into Cunanan’s world in this series. And yes… the opening few minutes of the episode were just beautiful.
Emmy: Darren Criss was my choice for this week as he really outdid himself as Andrew Cunanan on Versace. We got to see every side of Cunanan’s crazy demeanor, and how far he would go to keep up the farce. Criss eats up this role with every episode but this week, we got to see a calmness to his insanity, and Criss’ performance was top-notch. Will also have to agree with Clare; that opening was glorious indeed.
Top Episode:
Clare: This is really tough and I think I need to split it between The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story’s “Descent” and The X-Files’ “Rm9sbG93ZXJz”. All the reasons I chose Darren Criss as the Top Performer are the reasons that “Descent” is listed here. Add in the stellar performances from absolutely everyone in this cast, the tight, interesting writing and the great direction and this is a show that hits it out of the park week after week after week. Seriously, if you haven’t watched an episode of this yet, you need to remedy that ASAP. You don’t want to miss the boat with only a few eps to go. Now The X-Files – what I loved about “Rm9sbG93ZXJz” was the quirkiness of it. They took an aspect of modern life – our reliance on AI – exaggerated all our greatest fears associated with it and added some X-Fileshumour to it. And it was all done with so little dialogue. It was compelling to watch and a lot of fun. The concept was great and I think it really worked well.
Quote of the week:
Clare:
Andrew: “He’s a house. He’s a home. He’s a yard and a family and picking kids up from school. He’s a future and up until now I’ve only dated the past.” Lizzie: “Who are you trying to be?” Andrew: “Someone he can love.” (The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story).
Emmy:
“I curate his art.” – Andrew Cunanan (The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story)
Episode 6 of “American Crime Story: Versace” picks up in California in 1996, a year before Andrew Cunanan’s murder spree began. Cunanan found himself in some kind of luxury abode, wrapping presents from Tiffany’s and toting bags from Saks Fifth Avenue. Some lines of cocaine are conspicuously apparent on a nearby table.
Cunanan obviously shacked up with some rich older man while “employed” as his “interior decorator.” He wonders aloud to a friend, Lizzie, about a certain blonde paramour, obviously referring to David Madson.
“Who are you trying to be?” asks Lizzie, unsure of what she’s witnessing.
Moments later Trail arrives at the party. Cunanan gifts Andrew some expensive clothes in the hopes of making him look more high class in front of his new crush. Cunanan instructs Trail to lie and say he’s still in the Navy. Trail refuses.
When Madson arrives, Andrew finds himself caught in a series of lies about having previously worked for Versace.
Meanwhile, the friends of Cunanan’s elderly patron show visible disdain for Cunanan, recognizing his gold-digging proclivities. Later, Lee Miglin approaches Cunanan to wish him a happy birthday. Cunanan pushes him aside and chastises him for addressing him in public.
Andrew and his future victims all pose for a picture together.
Later, Andrew’s patron confronts Cunanan (who had apparently been going by the name Andrew De Silva) about his birthday wish list (first class flights, a new car, to become sole inheritor of his fortune) and and his past. Cunanan had claimed that he was disowned by his wealthy parents for being gay and had a PhD. A private investigator had apparently determined Cunanan’s story about his own history to be completely fabricated. Nonetheless, Andrew’s patron attempts to get Andrew back to school, desperate to make a more amenable arrangement despite the deception. Andrew refuses to negotiate. He wants everything. He leaves, telling the older man that he expects a call in the future.
Andrew takes up residence somewhere with decidedly less class. Meanwhile, Trail’s father calls him to say he’s received a bizarre postcard signed “Love, Drew.” Trail assumes this is a tortuous blackmail attempt on the part of Cunanan. Trail confronts Cunanan and the argument turns physical before Trail admits he’s taken a job in Minneapolis. Cunanan’s paranoia perks up: he thinks Trail’s going there to pursue a relationship with David Madson. The next day, Andrew calls up Madson and offers him a trip to Los Angeles, all expenses paid. Madson, confused, does not know how to feel.
Cut to Madson meeting Cunanan in a luxurious mansion. Andrew continues to seduce David by buying him luxury suits and promising him future success — together, as a couple.
“Andrew, I’m not the one,” Madson tells Andrew over an obscenely lavish dinner.
“You are the only one I have ever really, truly loved,” replies Andrew.
Madson attempts to console Andrew, but only exacerbates the situation.
“We had a great time in San Francisco, one great night. And maybe there was a chance but … I get the feeling you don’t have many great nights with people. Am I right? So when you do it feels huge. It feels life changing,” says Madson.
Madson begs Andrew for the truth about his life. He spins another yarn about his wealthy parents, but Madson’s face shows he doesn’t believe a word about it.
“Your parents must have loved you very much,” Madson says through clenched teeth.
Later at a gay bar, Andrew’s on the hunt for a fix. He buys some crystal meth. In a drug-induced fantasy, he imagines Gianni Versace dressing him while bemoaning the selfishness of the world in the face of his unending generosity. The fantasy turns persecutory, with Cunanan imagining Versace as a kind of antagonist.
“We’re the same. The only difference is: you got lucky,” Andrew tells Versace.
He returns to the club for more drugs the next day. He doesn’t have enough money to pay the dealer. He goes back to his former patron’s mansion, begging to be let in. The police are called.
Andrew finds his mother in a shabby motel. She bathes him gently before declaring that his “smell” has changed. Something’s off about her: when Andrew admits he’s unhappy, she keeps chattering. She proclaims the world is meaningless without children. She doesn’t seem to understand that Andrew is gay, or is in emphatic, perhaps delusional denial about it.
“We always had so little, they always had so much,” she says, comparing herself to rival families growing up. She still believes Andrew to be the lies he tells: she thinks he works as a costume designer for operas.
Andrew tells her that he’s heading to Minneapolis.
“They have an opera house in Minneapolis?” asks his mother.
“No, Mom. I don’t think they do,” he responds. She kisses him goodbye.
Ryan Murphy has been using this season of American Crime Story to tell a nuanced story about the complexities of gay identity. Andrew’s web of lies may be seen as pathological parallel to the deception so many queer people must maintain to be considered respectable by society. But Andrew’s proclivities take him too far, and he overcompensates to make up for his very real deficits.
The illusory nature of wealth has always been a fascination of queer culture, from Oscar Wilde’s obsession with abundance to the ballroom scene’s fascination with opulence. In a society organized around the marginalization of sexual minorities, obtaining material success is seen as a spiteful rebellion (not so dissimilar from the rap world’s fascination with getting paper) against the forces that try to keep queers down. But Andrew’s obsession with wealth, forged by his mother’s jealousy of her adversaries, goes too far. The facade of happiness, which in the age of Instagram must be even more carefully maintained, falls apart so fast — especially for queer people, who are almost expected to fail.
Murphy appears to be using Cunanan’s tale as warning, and surely queer men will see something of themselves in not only Cunanan’s loneliness, but also his desires. But Murphy’s Cunanan is a sort of fun-house mirror, exaggerating the blemishes of queerness and turning them into something monstrous. Few sympathetic portraits of Cunanan have been made since his crime spree occurred, and although Murphy clearly shows his viciousness as an aberration, he also appears to be asking how different many gay men are from the notorious killer.
Don Lemon, Judith Light, and Ricky Martin attends the 26th annual Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Awards Viewing Party at The City of West Hollywood Park on March 4, 2018 in West Hollywood, California
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