Critic Reviews

Tornatore has produced an immaculate and inspiring film. The dramatized scenes are just as gorgeous as the town of Solomeo, where Brunello brought beauty and grace. Up until now, I had never heard of Brunello Cucinelli, nor had I enough money to buy his suits. Yet through the power of film, I find myself in admiration of the man. It’s not a political documentary; it’s a human one.

With as skilled a filmmaker at the helm as Cucinelli is a designer and entrepreneur, one may not mind being swept along by its rhapsodic portrait, even if you quickly become convinced that “The Gracious Visionary” is too generous to be fully honest about its subject.

One of the problems with Brunello: The Gracious Visionary is that it spends the first half of its 127-minute runtime (that’s another problem) on the penurious Italian childhood of future fashion designer Brunello Cucinelli.

Was there no one in this man’s circle imbued with sufficient trust and authority to take him aside and warn him that buffing one’s own halo isn’t good PR?