When Niki Lauda was asked to consult for Rush, he began reading the script. He got to the point where, talking about him and his Ferrari F1, a voice off screen said “the driver got into the car, put on his seat belt, turned the key and started the engine”. Lauda himself told the anecdote some time ago and it says a lot about Hollywood car culture because obviously no driver can fasten his seatbelt himself, let alone the ignition key…
However, even if the origin of the new film “Ferrari” – released in Italian cinemas on 14 December – is the same, we can say that the film is a true masterpiece, probably the best ever made on the world of racing. It cost a fortune (100 million dollars) and director Michael Mann surrounded himself with super experts, from the role of Piero Taruffi entrusted to Patrick Dempsey (third in the GT Class of the 24 Hours of Daytona and second in the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans) to the legendary The Stig, the mysterious Top Gear driver aka Ben Collins, in the role of Stirling Moss. Not to mention the owners of the million-dollar cars that appear in the film – including the real Ferrari 315 S that won the Mille Miglia in 1957 – watched over by collectors who would not allow desecration of the myth.
But given the historical, cultural and introspective level reached by the film, we are sure that Piero Ferrari himself certainly played a significant role in its creation. He will never make it official, obviously (being vice president of Ferrari this would entail direct involvement of the brand) but the imprint of Drake's son can be seen, it is tangible.
Yes, because the film “Ferrari” is truly a masterpiece. And we say this with a bit of difficulty because in one scene the memory of our colleague Rancati is insulted (who supposedly wrote a piece on Drake's command) and in another it is claimed that Enzo Ferrari bribed many journalists with brown envelopes full of cash. Madness (not because of the moral qualities of the category) but because Ferrari was a charismatic man and didn't need to ask anyone for anything. The “news” was himself. Poetic license, in any case, acceptable in a Hollywood film that does not want to be a documentary.
But let's go back to the concept of masterpiece: the film is a masterful ballet around death, a fundamental component of the racing of the past. Today the very young people who follow F1 cannot even imagine the level of passion, suffering and grief that racing brought with it. It is no coincidence that Enzo Ferrari wrote the book “my terrible joys”. And reviving these emotions is truly a meritorious work.
The reconstruction of the era of the Ferrari brand is also beautiful, with the underlining of the refined concept that the Drake lived for racing. Which were his whole life and Ferrari's whole life. And in fact at a certain point in the film, when Enzo's management of the company is challenged, he explains perfectly that other brands are racing to sell mass-produced cars. And that he instead sells mass-produced cars for racing.
The theme is recurring, it was also brought to the fore at a stage of the Mille Miglia, when Ferrari had 3 drivers in the top positions, and the Commendatore was advised to avoid duels to avoid risking breakups. He refuses. “The drivers are here to race and they will. My machines were born to fight and they will do so.”
This is the beauty of the film, telling this visceral passion of the Ferrari men. Who at mass have their minds set on the track record to be beaten, who put races before loves, affections and families. To life itself.
Already the loves. Enzo Ferrari had many, true, but they all came after the races, his cars: Adam Driver / Enzo Ferrari, explains “All of us are drivers, it's our lethal passion”.
In this wonderful historical reconstruction of feelings, the figure of Piero Taruffi stands out – played to perfection by Dampsey – who triumphs in the last road race in Italy. And that the film presents us with all his little foibles, from that of smoking (which makes Enzo Ferrari say “I recommend that during refueling be careful not to throw petrol on the drivers, especially on Taruffi…) to that of his obsessive preparation for racing, for road books, for clothing.
Taruffi completed 1600 km of the Mille Miglia in just 10 hours, 27 minutes and 47 seconds, at the crazy average of 152.632 km/h with the same Ferrari 315 S that appears in the film. And obviously he couldn't have known that a huge tragedy had occurred behind him. Which the film brings to life perfectly: that of the Guidizzolo accident where the Spanish driver Alfonso de Portago and the American co-pilot Edmund Gurner Nelson flew off the road at over 250 km/h, killing nine spectators, including five children, and injuring dozens of people.
For the whole world that accident was a watershed moment and decreed the end of road racing. But Michael Mann doesn't dedicate much space to the accident just for this reason: in the narrative of the film, de Portago's catastrophe is the pinnacle of the story of the danger inherent in racing, in death as an indissoluble component of the competitions of that time. This is why the reconstruction of the accident is so brutal, perfect, tragic (even the crumpled car is identical). And it is no coincidence that the film begins with a fatal accident and ends in a cemetery. Why we won't tell you: the story of Ferrari, the Mille Miglia and Taruffi is well known, but the one told by the film is not. Spoiler risk avoided. The film is so good that it can't be ruined by one review.
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