Commendatore Enzo Ferrari keeps a straight face while one of his red racing cars flies; the body of speedster Eugenio Castellotti detaches and then is mangled just as the automobile crashes, despair takes over the face of the girlfriend, Cecilia Manzini. Ferrari doesn’t show emotion; he only knows he will need another talented driver, and the door is open to noble Spaniard daredevil Alfonso de Portago.
Professionalism is a characteristic that ‘Ferrari’s director Michael Mann puts a high value on, as seen in Frank (James Caan), the protagonist of ‘Thief’ (1981); Martin Castillo (Edward James Olmos) in the series ‘Miami Vice’ (1984); Hiroto Katagiri (Ken Watanabe) in ‘Tokyo Vice’ (2022 -), and, especially, in Vincent Hanna (Al Pacino) and Neil McCauley (Robert De Niro) in ‘Heat’ (1995). With the man who made a luxury and sportscar brand recognized by even those who don’t care much about motorsports, this trait needed to be portrayed.
Adam Driver gives a competent performance that makes his Enzo Ferrari stand as another layer in the depths of his range. Ferrari feels like a different shade on the palette of the actor who claimed fame by playing a Star Wars villain and went on to portray a broken family man in ‘Marriage Story’ (2019), a coolheaded policeman in ‘BlackKKKlansman’ (2018), and a clumsy fashion mogul in ‘House of Gucci’ (2021).
Though, Penélope Cruz is the MVP as Laura Ferrari. The Spaniard virtuoso goes with ease from comedy to drama, giving the wife and business partner enough room to grow over what would be a supporting character that would only serve as a handle to move forward the narrative of Enzo, but instead gives another side to a story that is more complex than commonly seen in biopics of businesspeople where the rich are pastiches of real-world elite under the veneer of shallow anticapitalistic criticism. Cruz humanizes the tale further.
Brazilian rising star Gabriel Leone captures the audience whenever he is on the screen, even if he doesn’t receive top billing. Leone’s portrayal shows the idea of a European playboy driver with boastful mannerisms that hide suffocating insecurities that would not be perceptible without his talent. Troubled with self-doubt and the need to attest himself to his peers, to his boss Enzo, and to himself, De Portago shows masculine vulnerability, a subject explored by Mann on other occasions, and also acts as the personification of the author’s relationship with the concept of time, its relevance and ephemerality. De Portago is the tale’s most tragic character who also exemplifies the excitement and danger that comes with race car driving and why ordinary people idolize them.
To give integrity to the picture, Ferrari brought actual race car drivers as the actor Patrick Dempsey, who embodies Italian Piero Taruffi, the racing champion who would advocate for more safety in competitions, and former automobilist Derek Hill as competitor Jean Behra.
The majority of the cast composed is of Italians, giving more realism to the picture, which is expected from Mann, who for long has been erroneously accused of favouring style over substance, which is an unfounded speech as the auteur works well with pleasuring images while keeping stark realism.
The cinematography also plays an essential role in Mann’s productions, which in ‘Ferrari’ can exercise the spatial relations and architectural influence that Italian maestro Michelangelo Antonioni exerts on him. The spatial distance between Enzo and Laura or Enzo and his lover Lina Lardi (Shailene Woodley) helps tell the story that only words and facial expressions wouldn’t be enough to capture, as are the athletic bodies of the drivers encased in speeding metal structures that are at the same time beautiful and terrifying, showing how these industrial children of Hermes can be powerful while also fragile.
The chosen scenario and colours show where the story is encompassed and pay a nuanced tribute to the Cinecittà masterpieces of the past. ‘Ferrari’ elevates the ‘car movie’ genre with not only its impressive racing scenes but the complexity of the acting and the masterful eye of Mann, who made the right choice for telling just a crucial part of the impresario’ life in 1957 during the treacherous Mille Miglia cross country race instead of starting with the tired troupe of going from the childhood to his last days.
Mann completes a cycle with ‘Ferrari’ as he has chased this story for decades. On a curious note, in ‘Miami Vice’ where Mann was Executive Producer, Enzo Ferrari demanded the blow-up of the fake Black convertible Daytona Spyder which he would provide a substitute in the form of the White Testarossa that would serve as Sonny Crockett (Don Johnson) and Rico Tubbs’ (Philip Michael Thomas) ride and would become a piece of art itself and a symbol of a decade, thus a testament to the appeal of the brand. ‘Ferrari’ also leaves a taste of what might come ahead in the celebrated director’s career who is 81 years old and still producing classics.
