Ferrari

Great film, exactly the kind of biopic I like - they pick out one important chapter in the life of a particular person, and when well written and filmed, they manage to say everything that matters. From that perspective, though, Ferrari is a bit more cunning. It may be about Enzo or Piero, it may be about both at the same time, but it’s most likely about the name Ferrari and its bearers and wearers. Michael Mann has it down to a tee, from the opening black and white scene with the eye-popping rear projection, to the quiet and loud dialogue and the amazing theatre scene, to the racing sequences with the camera damn low to the road, and the crash scenes (the ugly visual effects in the trailer is thankfully not so ugly  in the cinema). Still, it's not the roaring engines that propel Ferrari forward, but the brilliant performances of Adam Driver, who is once again someone else entirely and can steal any scene, the vivacious Penélope Cruz and her perfect counterpart Shailene Woodley. Daniel Pemberton's stamping music and the beautiful cinematography complete the experience and enhance it. Once again, a true big screen film. (01/06/2024)

After many years, Michael Mann has fulfilled his dream and he does so with honour. But I can't help feeling that if he had taken the time to make it in his golden era in the 1990s, the result would have been much more daring. After all, this film about the fastest cars of its time doesn't exactly pull off the double whammy, surprisingly, especially on the track. As far as the Italian household of Ferrari is concerned, it's two gears better there thanks to the diabolical Penélope Cruz. Outside of the domestic tussle, however, on a comparable budget to the 4-year-old Ford vs Ferrari, Ferrari alone delivers considerably less value in terms of scale, suspense and action (the outlined rivalry with Maserati is just worthy of this bracket). Yes, the Millie Miglia was a completely different motorsport event from Le Mans, but the drama is always created by the racers themselves anyway, andin Mann's rendition they are bland. A great shame given the otherwise historically turbulent development of this race. (10/29/2023)

Michael Mann tells the story of one short period in the life of the owner of the famous car company. And unfortunately he tells a story that is not very attractive or engaging. In addition, Adam Driver plays a distant, cold professional who keeps his emotions in check, resulting in a rather dull film. This changes in the last part, when the racing starts and Mann shows that he's still good at directing action, even if he can come across as somewhat old-fashioned. Overall, though, Ferrari is a pretty uninteresting film about people struggling with a personal crisis and a once-in-a-lifetime loss, only that one of them happened to be a car designer. (01/17/2024)

The opposite of Le Mans in many ways. In terms of time narrative, it is a small, intimate racing film, a study of the tormented genius of Enzo Ferrari from the surprising perspective of a family drama, not a flashy driving symphony of speedsters. It's not that there's no driving, and it even has a nicely retro tone with an extreme dose of realism and physicality (except for those awful digital flying cars), but Enzo's living room, bedroom and office are the primary focus. Michael Mann has made a dream come true, in a largely un-Hollywood, non-mainstream way. It's going to be hard to make a lot of money with this film, but the production values are solid. It's not the genre we're used to with Mann, and some of his traditional trademarks are not and can't be here, but he hasn't disgraced himself. (03/03/2024)

Enzo Ferrari teaches his son that when things work well, they are pleasing to the eye. Michael Mann follows the same maxim. Ferrari, another of his portraits of an obstinate professional in an existential crisis, is a joy to watch thanks to its narrative cohesiveness and the fact that it rhythmically fires on all cylinders. During practically every shot in the exposition, we learn some important information that will be put to good use later in the film. At the same time, the exposition introduces the governing stylistic technique consisting in the use of duality and contrasts (e.g. light scenes with Enzo’s mistress vs. dark scenes with his wife). Slower scenes regularly alternate with faster ones, movement alternates with motionlessness and the melodramatic (and utterly operatic in one scene) exaggeration of certain emotions, particularly sorrow, which both spouses deal with, each in their own way. Mann follows the example of classic Hollywood directors like Hawks and Sirk and lets the mise-en-scéne tell much more of the story than other contemporary directors would allow. At the same time, he defies the conventions of classic biographical dramas as he focuses only on a brief period of Ferrari’s life and, instead of creating artificial conflicts, he superbly dramatises everyday encounters and ordinary business operations (paying wages, signing documents, concluding agreements with investors). This feel for detail also contributes to the believability of the fictional world. Ferrari’s work always clashes – either constructively or destructively – with his personal life (Ferrari finds common ground with his son thanks to his work, but he also loses his wife because of it). The lion’s share of emotion and excitement is typically found in the cinematically brilliant scenes of races, which represent Ferrari’s greatest passion. Unlike other sports movies, however, such scenes do not bring catharsis, but rather recall the fragility of life (thanks in part to the excellent sound design, the race cars of the time really do not seem safe) and recognition of the fact that however hard you try to have everything under control, certain events cannot be foreseen and you ultimately have no choice but to accept them and somehow incorporate them into your life story. 90% (01/07/2024)