Ferrari
Directed by Michael Mann
- history
- drama
The story
Set during the summer of 1957. Ex-racecar driver, Enzo Ferrari, is in crisis. Bankruptcy stalks the company he and his wife, Laura, built from nothing ten years earlier. Their tempestuous marriage struggles with the mourning for one son and the acknowledgement of another.
What it’s like
Hot, dusty Emilia-Romagna light: sun-bleached roads, heat shimmer over the Modena flats, and the dark wood and cream plaster of Enzo and Laura's villa, lit by harsh afternoon sun through shutters and warm lamplight after dark. Michael Mann shoots with handheld intimacy and long, observant takes, the camera drifting close to faces during quarrels and pulling back to frame the mud, smoke and roar of the Mille Miglia. The palette is earthy and muted, broken by the saturated red of the cars, and the digital image has a crisp, slightly gritty texture rather than soft nostalgia. The soundscape leans on engines, crowds, and a restrained, mournful score that falls away into near silence in the domestic scenes. Its vibe is weary, tense, and melancholic, a tough-minded grief drama with a volatile marriage at its centre. Violence is brief but sharp: the racing crashes are abrupt and bloody, though the film is otherwise unsentimental and not gory. It suits a late evening watch for people drawn to period drama, male ambition, and complicated marriages, and to anyone who likes their car films more about people than speed.
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