Ferrari: Venice Film Review
Michael Mann has been working on a biographical drama about Italian car magnate Enzo Ferrari for more than 20 years. Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman were both in the frame to play the leading man before it finally went into production with Adam Driver.
The film takes place in Modena, Italy in 1957, 10 years after Ferrari, a former motor racing driver, founded his namesake company. Maserati has just beaten his speed record and he wants to reestablish Ferrari as the top dog. He enters five of his drivers into the Mille Miglia race to achieve two things – to reclaim his crown and to drive more car sales. Ferrari, the company, is on the brink of financial collapse and he needs to save his business.
You might be wondering why Mann chose to focus on 1957 considering many periods of Ferrari’s life would have been equally interesting. Well, there are two main reasons. One, the 1957 Mille Miglia race is very important, and two, it is set one year after the death of his son Alfredo ‘Dino’. Both Ferrari and his wife Laura (Penelope Cruz) are grieving the loss of their only child and their marriage is suffering as a result. It doesn’t help that Ferrari has been secretly keeping a mistress named Lina Lardi (Shailene Woodley) for many years.
This compelling film deftly balances the business drama, the domestic disputes and exciting racing scenes and switches back and forth between them for much of its 130-minute runtime. If you were expecting a biopic that covers a lot of Ferrari’s life in broad strokes – like a film version of his Wikipedia page – then you will be disappointed. But I would argue that 1957 is an important year for Ferrari and we gain a much richer insight into the man himself, his business and his relationships than if Mann had simply run through his greatest highs and lows.
Having already seen Driver as an Italian businessman – Mauricio Gucci in 2021’s House of Gucci – we already know that he can do the accent. Italians may disagree but he seemed convincing to my English ears, or at least, the accent wasn’t so patchy that it distracted me (like Woodley’s, which seemed to come and go). Driver’s performance is understated when it could have been very big, considering the stresses he’s dealing with at home and work.
Cruz, on the other hand, goes very big at times. Granted, she’s a grieving mother who has an unfaithful husband and every right to be sad and angry. But her performance felt a bit melodramatic at times and I couldn’t help but laugh at the way she walked (I’m not sure if Laura has a waddle or if this was a creative choice!)
There are many great members of the supporting cast such as Gabriel Leone, Patrick Dempsey and Jack O’Connell as Ferrari racing drivers Alfonso de Partago, Piero Taruffi and Peter Collins. Woodley’s Lina is a refreshingly low-key and undemanding kind of mistress but I’m not convinced that she was the right romantic match for Driver.
The second half is certainly stronger than the first thanks to the exhilarating racing sequences. But overall, Ferrari is a compelling portrait of the famed businessman at one of the most challenging times of his life.
Screening in competition at the Venice Film Festival