Summer of 1957. The life of designer, entrepreneur and former racer Enzo Ferrari (Adam Driver) is bursting at the seams. Ferrari, which he founded with his wife Laura about 20 years ago (Penelope Cruz), close to destruction. The recent death of his son Dino effectively destroyed his marriage, which was already based on (dis)honest promises. Second family – mistress Lina Lardi (Shailene Woodley) and his son, Pierrot – becoming increasingly difficult to hide (but it seems everyone already knows, except his wife). Some of these problems may be solved by the upcoming Mille Miglia, a thousand-mile endurance race on public roads. Winning promises to increase car sales, which will keep the company afloat.
Less than two years after Ridley Scott’s “The House of Gucci,” Adam Driver is again performing in the “Man and Steamboat” genre, playing the president of an Italian family brand who doesn’t get along with his wife (fortunately, it didn’t escalate to the point of contract murder, but There’s generally enough blood in Michael Mann’s Ferrari). Considering that Driver will next star in the sequel to Mann’s Heat, the pattern is clear: two films per director, one an armor-piercing film and an instant classic (at least we hope so), the second a frankly boring and sprawling biopic. Where eminent artists speak in a funny Italian accent (it is worth noting here that the Russian dubbing completely destroys the charm of Ferrari, so look for sessions with subtitles).
Everything should look good and there doesn’t seem to be anything criminal under the hood, but the Ferrari still moves strangely; he regularly skids and abuses pit stops. It feels like the movie is walking along during the dialogue (in this area, it’s the expressive Cruz, not the restrained Driver, who has the most horsepower). But the speeding cars blossom as soon as they enter the frame, switching to the familiar Mannovsky masculine cinema coach and driving at full speed without stumbling over questionable graphics (at some point you’ll have to say goodbye to physics, which is partly due to Driver calling someone a bad name during a controversial screening, the film’s most challenging scene decrease the degree). Once upon a time cinematographer Eric Messerschmidt was discovered by David Fincher (He directed “Mindhunter” and won an Oscar for “Mank”)) has been generally generous with its spectacular adrenaline car chases this year – as well as Ferrari, its name also appears in the credits of Fincher’s The Killer.
The film is also similar to “The Killer” in that it emphasizes the desire for simplicity. Mann began this project more than 20 years ago (he was supposed to produce a series of “Ford v Ferrari” films at one point, but that didn’t pan out; but the “executive producer” mark remained, so the films now overlap in his filmography): In the intervening time, Ferrari ‘s main screenwriter, Troy Kennedy-Martin, has also died. (“The Italian Job” 1969) and David Rafiel (Frequent partner of Sydney Pollack), finalized the text with the director.
But the years must have been beneficial to the film. Mann does not reinvent the wheel here, preferring to stick to the simplest formulations and images. Hero Driver explains to his riders with his fingers (played by Gabriel Leone, Jack O’Connell and Patrick Dempsey, among others), no two objects can occupy the same point at the same time (if anyone doesn’t know, races are built on this principle). The rest of Ferrari’s content fits this simple matrix: two women, two sons, life and death, greatness and, let’s say, humanity. The winners in this race (spoiler) are inherited death and greatness. It also turns out that it is quite possible to win and lose at the same time.
As, for example, in the film’s most chilling (not to be confused with grim) scene – the final scene where Mann chooses the family cemetery as a place of initiation of sorts for little Pierrot, who eventually takes the name Ferrari. . Did he win or lose? Interesting question about a man worth $6.4 billion.