VENICE Company on the verge of bankruptcy, pain of loss dSon and marriage in crisis. This is a historic moment in the life of Enzo Ferrari that Michael Mann wanted to immortalize in his biopic. The film that is now on, it is appropriate to say, at the “Golden Lion” in Venice. The Ferrari film, produced by Moto Pictures and based on Brock Yates’ novel Enzo Ferrari: Man and Machine, was filmed in Italy and follows the summer of 1957 for the automaker’s founder. This is a turning point in his life and the history of Cavallino on an industrial and sporting level. Bankruptcy loomed over the business he and his wife, Laura, built from scratch ten years earlier. Their marriage is shattered by the loss of their only son, Dino. Ferrari is struggling to acknowledge another one that happened to Lina Lardy. Meanwhile, the riders’ passion for victory pushes them to the limit as they set off for the Mille Miglia. What is now a historical overview was at that time a dangerous race that crossed the whole of Italy and which, in addition to prestige and a coat of arms at a sporting level, guaranteed the winners an important influence also in terms of the brand. be running. “On Sunday you win and on Monday you sell,” says Enzo Ferrari in the film, played by Adam Driver.
. The saying that time has not scratched at all, on the contrary, finds confirmation only in the current world of Formula 1. But Enzo Ferrari, the predecessor of this, was also a driver before becoming an entrepreneur and sports manager. “Enzo lived for racing, the business was just an excuse to keep racing, his real passion,” Michael Mann says today, telling a “deeply human and universal story that has it all: love, passion, ambition. Everything in Ferrari’s life is condensed melodramatically.”
In order to fully immerse himself in the reality of those years, the director came to Italy, in particular to Modena, long before filming: “I had the opportunity to walk around the rooms of Enzo’s house, look at his diaries, get to know his habits,” says the American director, who also had the opportunity to meet her son Piero, born of Enzo’s extramarital affair, “from whom I have learned and absorbed so much.” The film features a portrait of the Ferrari patron that clearly shows his passion for engines, as well as his austerity, emotional fragility and business savvy. His wife Laura, masterfully played by Penelope Cruz, in turn appears as a determined and strong woman, but tormented by the death of her son. A fundamental figure next to Enzo, even when it seems that everything is about to collapse. This happened after the Guidizzolo tragedy that ended the history of the Mille Miglia, in which nine spectators, including five children, and Spanish Ferrari driver Alfonso de Portago died. The reconstruction of that race and the dusty roads along which these cars raced is amazing. The race has no shortage of adrenaline-pumping moments, also starring the unforgettable Piero Taruffi (in the movie Patrick Dempsey), as well as a thorough storytelling of the Maserati rivalry. “I used to race too, but not as a professional, and two things were clear to me: you focus on one goal, and everything else fades away, and there is a sense of turmoil,” notes Mann. “I wanted the viewer to feel what it was like to drive these cars in the 1950s. It affected everything I shot.”
The roar of the engines is also a fundamental component. “The sound you hear is the real sound of these cars,” the director explains with satisfaction and surprising competence, such as when he talks about the Ferrari Lampredi V12 engine, which has an “original, menacing, but beautiful sound.” The actors also experienced it with an accent, albeit with some differences: “It scared me a lot, especially at night. I couldn’t drive for insurance reasons because it’s very expensive. Nobody wanted me to lead it, I just did it. They didn’t trust us,” smiles Adam Driver, now a “subscriber” to biopics about famous Italian characters (in Ridley Scott’s House of Gucci, he was Maurizio Gucci). “The driving was so exciting, amazing, it was like stepping back in time,” Dempsey counters. The film is an independent production and for this reason is located in Venice. The union’s rejection allowed Driver to walk the red carpet, but that didn’t stop the actor and Mann himself from showing their solidarity with the strikers in Hollywood. Meanwhile, the film was already hyped by critics, who greeted him with applause in the hall.
ON THE RED CARPET
The red carpet of the 80th Venice Film Festival is lit up by America and the red Ferrari. Adam Driver and Patrick Dempsey, the stars of Michael Mann’s Ferrari, in competition at the show today, walked the red carpet with the film’s director and the rest of the cast.
were greeted by the public who greeted them with a standing ovation. The two actors came up to sign autographs at the barriers in front of the Salle Grande, where the caps of many famous automakers stood out. Absent among the stars presenting the film is Penélope Cruz.