The history of Great Men is not dead yet. That is the takeaway from Michael Mann’s latest film, a biopic of the late great Enzo Ferrari. Ferrari does not attempt to tell the whole story of Enzo’s life but rather a snapshot of certain events centered around his affair and the 1957 Mille Miglia race that ended in the infamous death of The Marquess of Portago. It is overwhelmingly a dark film filled with loss and tragedy, the rawness of human emotion at all ends of the spectrum is on display. It is through this darkness though that we get to explore the greatness of Enzo Ferarri himself.
Adam Driver plays Enzo and delivers a strong performance of the man. His furrowed brow, his joy, his sadness are all believable and the presence generated on screen gives us some inkling to the power of the real life Il Commendatore (the Commander). This was a man on the edge, pursuing greatness through speed and defying death. This was the age of deaths in motor racing and Enzo himself had lost friends, death was ever present and plays out in the crash that kills Portago later in the film. This death is the knowable death though, the one every racer accepts in his quest for greatness but there is a darker death that haunts Enzo. The death of his son. Dino. It tears apart his marriage and continues to drive him.
That marriage is effortlessly portrayed by the aging Penelope Cruz, somewhat unfortunately she feels typecast as the jaded ‘other woman’ these days. Nevertheless she delivers a great performance, she is angry and hurt at Enzo’s betrayal but her rage is really understood as a rage at the death of their son. He was robbed of the vitality and life that Enzo has, that she wanted for him. In spite of this rage and sadness she pushes on and their collapsing marriage is not turned into some nonsense feminist moment of the modern age. It is a true Greek tragedy played out on the screen for us, there are no winners and her ancient desire for honor and respect has a timeless quality that gives the watcher the unique experience of sympathizing and respecting her whilst also cheering for Enzo’s own outcome. Not many films can deliver this so it is a credit to Mann and Cruz they were able to get there.
Such films often require an ensemble cast and this is no exception, it is perhaps where elements of the film get away from Mann. Portago’s story is folded in somewhat awkwardly, despite his relative prominence in what transpires and his playboy aristocratic status he doesn’t shine as much as he should. Peter Collins, who tragically dies but a year later in the 58 German Grand Prix gets almost as much screentime and presence here. Portago is the other side of this story of course, the racers. We have had a few of those films recently, the embellished but enjoyable Rush about Hunt vs Lauda so it is fitting that Ferrari focuses on the men behind the cars but still Portago and his death feel a bit awkwardly folded into this story.
That aside the rest of the ensemble cast work well. Ferrari’s relationships with his bastard heir is charming without veering into cheesy. His conversations with his accountant and lead engineers are believable and advance character development as required without feeling hamfisted. The performance delivered by the ‘other woman’ Lina Lardi is acceptable. A few passing moments of Ferrari’s mother just about avoid becoming stereotypically comic (Italian mothers eh!). This though really is the story of a great man, a titan of industry. Ferrari are iconic, the brand represents something in our imaginations about Italy and racing. Italy is home to other great racing pedigrees, Maserati (who play our antagonists) and Ducati. Every little boy at one point has wanted a Ferrari, has been bewitched by the lines of the cars or enthralled by the power and speed of racing. My most passionate years of interest in Formula 1 were when the great Schumacher was at Ferrari. Seeing that iconic horse, hearing the Scuderi roar at Monza. Red, the color of winners. But behind all that was a man, Ferrari is a name and he’s always loomed. Great men still exist of course, their stories are still out there to be told. By all accounts the other ‘Great Man’ film of 2023 was a flop, Napoleon cucked by an aging Ridley Scott who bastardized the story before the woke idols of our time.
Mann seems to have resisted all that, the film is ethnically correct of 1950’s Italy. That is to say the cast is white and there are no ham fisted insertions of black mechanics, spectators, or even passers by. He tells Laura Ferrari’s story well without making it into a paean to feminist rage. There is no real moralizing about Enzo’s failings, his affair. It is what happened and her negotiation represents an understanding of ancient ideas of honor: her only request is that Enzo not recognize his bastard until after she has died, out of respect for their son. Such messages feel few and far between in modern cinema. This isn’t a perfect film but it has a beauty to it amidst the darkness, and it has the courage to tell the story of a great man in one modern arena.