Wondering whether it's worth going to the cinema to see the film Ferrari? Don't hesitate and get your tickets now!

FERRARI is now showing in cinemas across Spain FERRARI, the new film directed by Michael Mann and starring Adam Driver and Penélope Cruz, which tells the story of Enzo Ferrari. Based on the highly recommended book “Enzo Ferrari: The Man and the Machine”, it is a biographical film focused on a very specific period in the history of the Cavallino brand and its founder. In particular, it covers the summer of 1957, ten years after Enzo Ferrari (played by Adam Driver) and his wife Laura (Penélope Cruz in the film), whom he had married in 1923, founded the Ferrari brand for the series production of vehicles, arising from the Scuderia Ferrari that Enzo himself, then a driver for Alfa Romeo -and one of those who won races- had founded in 1929.

Other actors and actresses appearing in the film include Emmy Shailene Woodley as Lina Lardi, Enzo Ferrari’s lover; Patrick Dempsey and Jack O’Connell as the drivers Piero Taruffi and Peter Collins, respectively; and Gabriel Leone as Alfonso “Fon” De Portago. Not to mention a brief cameo by a Spaniard very well known among motorsport fans (and that’s as far as I can say).

FERRARI is not a car movie…

When I heard about the release of the film FERRARI, I immediately marked it as “one to watch” and “essential”… but to take my time with it. The trailer didn’t really excite me, to be honest. I was determined to go and see it at the cinema, even knowing that I might not find what I expected. It wouldn’t be the first time, because trailers, you’re with me on this, very often -the vast majority- don’t reflect what you will actually find on the big screen. But when I was offered the chance to see FERRARI at a private screening before its release, I didn’t think twice.

That the director was Michael Mann was, for me, a real incentive and, in a way, a guarantee. I think I’ve seen all his films, I find it hard to find one I don’t like and, in particular, one of them, Heat, is among my “top 10” favourite films of all time. He also directed Ford v Ferrari, the last film about cars that I really enjoyed. The presence of Penélope Cruz in the cast, however, was not in the least a draw for me; she is not an actress I particularly like, although I have to admit she surprised me here: the Oscar-winning Spanish actress is superb playing Enzo Ferrari’s tormented wife -she had her reasons.

At this point, I must insist again: FERRARI is not a car movie. At least not in the style of films like the aforementioned Ford v Ferrari, Rush or Days of Thunder. Nor does it immerse you in the world of competition like Grand Prix, the 1966 film directed by John Frankenheimer, which is what I thought I would find. It’s more in the style of “Tucker: The Man and His Dream“, by Francis Ford Coppola, also a biopic of a man, Preston Tucker, in this case determined to fight the industry giants with a car ahead of its time.

… although the cars are also protagonists

FERRARI tells, and forgive me for repeating myself, a story. A tale based on real events in which the weight is carried by the people at the heart of the story, and the cars are inevitable, because they are part of it. So don’t worry if you were expecting a car film and, after the first fifteen minutes, you see that the cars haven’t yet made an appearance. The plot gathers momentum and the cars appear.

You’re quickly drawn into the story. If you know nothing about Enzo Ferrari’s history, you’ll enjoy the film. And if you do know it, you’ll surely agree with me that the era it depicts is very well brought to the big screen. On one hand we have an Enzo Ferrari pressured by the financial difficulties that nearly drive his brand to bankruptcy and at the same time obsessed with his cars winning races; his famous line “others compete to sell more cars, we make and sell cars to keep competing and winning races”. On the other hand his wife, in a much less familiar role, with great influence over the company -she was practically the financial director-, facing the death of their son Dino and, as if that weren’t enough, discovering the double life her husband is leading.

And this is where, at last, the cars take centre stage. To save the reputation of the brand, Enzo Ferrari stakes everything on the Mille Miglia. The recreation of the race and the atmosphere of the legendary endurance event held on roads open to traffic thirty years earlier -remember, we are in 1957- is fantastic in terms of setting, crowds and the cars themselves. There is no lack of realism in the cars, though perhaps there is in the way the competition is recreated: in this type of race neither the rivals nor the team-mates were so close together nor had so many “head-to-head” moments. Even so, and although it is not the film’s goal, it perfectly captures what competing was like in that era, in cars with no more protection than a small windscreen to deflect the wind and, in most cases, with drivers wearing the same clothes they might wear walking down the street.

Did I like FERRARI? The truth is, yes. Less than I expected before entering the cinema, and more than I might have thought after the first fifteen minutes. But I’ll also tell you one thing: I think it falls short when presenting Enzo Ferrari as a man… of strong character, to put it in a politically correct way. And it has flaws that for many won’t matter, but will for motorsport enthusiasts, especially since it is a historical film. For example, the appearance of Alfonso de Portago offering to drive for Ferrari as if the Spanish driver had had no previous connection with the Scuderia, when in fact, before taking part in the fateful 1957 Mille Miglia -and I won’t say more, in case you don’t know the story and are going to see the film-, the Spanish driver had already contested five Formula 1 Grands Prix with Ferrari.

Official trailer for the film FERRARI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AuyRjpdS0M&t=1s

Ferrari – The film | Image gallery