Brunello: The Gracious Visionary

When telling an individual’s life story, there are basically two ways to go about it: a documentary or a narrative biography (or docudrama). The former format is generally an objective (and, hence, credible) way of telling the story, while the latter is essentially a form of fact-based entertainment (an informative, if not always accurate, account). However, in this latest offering from writer-director Giuseppe Tornatore, the filmmaker has taken a different path by fusing these two approaches, and, even though it may be an arguably inventive storytelling technique, it doesn’t always work. The subject in this case is clothing designer Brunello Cucinelli, who rose from modest beginnings in rural Italy to become a global force in cutting-edge fashion, style and comfort while becoming a leading advocate of humanistic capitalism and sustainability, noble concepts rooted in philosophical principles associated with beauty, creativity and humanity. The film’s opening half focuses on his upbringing, featuring re-creations of that time in his life, accompanied by asides from the protagonist, who serves as narrator and on-set tour guide in leading viewers through these sequences. In this portion of the film, audiences are introduced to the influential events and ideas that shaped his outlook in fostering his fervor for how to treat others and how to implement a form of capitalism that’s based as much on people (employees, clients and retail customers) as it is on profits. This narrative approach is in place up to the point where he launches his clothing company, a manufacturer of cashmere pullovers in vibrant colors, a radical departure from the traditional neutral hues associated with these garments. From there forward, the picture’s second half adopts a more conventional documentary approach, showing how Brunello built his organization and implemented the principles he learned in his youth into the company’s current operation, one that’s run more like a family than a heartle...