Christmas might seem like an odd day to release a movie, but with so many people having the day off work (and the cinema the only place open) it’s a recipe for box-office success. Once the Christmas presents were opened, the Demaras family headed to the local theatre for the opening night screening of ‘Ferrari‘.
Michael Mann is an acclaimed director who brought us ‘Heat‘ and ‘Miami Vice‘ so public expectations were high. Without a doubt, this is one of the greatest racing movies ever made, with some reviewers describing it as ‘The Godfather‘ combined with ‘Grand Prix‘ but that might be stretching it.
The motion picture takes place over a three-month period in 1957. In a manner similar to the final scenes of ‘The Godfather‘ several separate plot lines become intertwined as the film progresses. Enzo Ferrari’s marriage to his wife continues to collapse, after the death of their son Dino, yet she is his business partner. To complicate matters, Enzo had a son with his mistress, and little Pietro is to be confirmed in the church. Still married, Enzo struggles with the decision to give the boy his name. His business is also failing, and Enzo needs a big win at the race track to attract support from a larger company (like Ford or Fiat) to keep him afloat while maintaining control of his race team.
Will his wife financially betray him as he emotionally betrayed her? Will the rapid Maserati defeat him in the Mille Miglia after taking the lap record from Ferrari at Monza? Will any of the drivers survive the most dangerous era of motor racing?
The first hour of the movie focuses on Ferrari, the man. The director does not make him a very likeable character, but shows how driven he is to strive for racing glory. Enzo describes building a wall around himself, emotionally detaching himself from the deaths of his drivers.
But the drivers, the ‘dream team’ of Piero Taruffi, Wolfgang von Trips, Olivier Gendebien, Peter Collins and Alfonso de Portago, assembled to win the 1957 Mille Miglia for Ferrari, are glossed over too quickly. Sure, the Marquis de Portago is given some screen time as the cool ‘playboy’ racer. But other than a funny little moment when Enzo calls 51 year-old Taruffi a geriatric, we don’t learn much about that very interesting man who won the deadly race, the forever retired from professional motorsports.
Considering that the events depicted in the film took place 50+ years ago, there’s no reason to give an ‘spoiler alert’. Just don’t expect a happy ending.
The next few articles in the Fast Films section of this website will explore some of the drivers who raced in the 1957 Mille Miglia. In the meantime, we strongly suggest everyone catches ‘Ferrari‘ on the big screen while it lasts..
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