"If you get into one of my cars, you get in to win."
— Enzo Ferrari
Ferrari is a 2023 American biographical sports film directed by Michael Mann and written by Troy Kennedy Martin, based on the 1991 biography Enzo Ferrari: The Man and the Machine by motorsport journalist Brock Yates. The story is about Enzo Ferrari, the founder of the Italian car manufacturer Ferrari at a turning point where he navigates issues with both his company and family life.
The film stars Adam Driver as Enzo Ferrari, with a cast that includes Penélope Cruz, Shailene Woodley, Gabriel Leone, Sarah Gadon, Jack O'Connell, and Patrick Dempsey.
The film had its premiere on August 31, 2023, at the 80th Venice International Film Festival, where it was selected to compete for the Golden Lion. It was released in the United States on December 25, 2023 by Neon.
Previews: Teaser
, Official Trailer
This film features examples of:
- Advertising by Association: The trailer credits Michael Mann as the "director of Heat + The Last of the Mohicans".
- Artistic License – Geography: Most scenes in which the Mille Miglia cars race in an urban setting, and all of the refuelling stops, are set in different scenic parts of Modena, all within walking distance of each other. If you know the town well, you get the odd feeling that the Mille Miglia consists of racing from Modena to some other place in Italy and back again, over and over.
- Artistic License – History: In the film, de Portago and Linda Christian kiss during the Mille Miglia after de Portago exits his car and embraces her. In reality, their last kiss was famously immortalized in a photo showing Christian bending into the cockpit of de Portago's Ferrari to kiss him.
- Artistic License – Law: In the film, Lina Lardi is depicted as wanting Enzo Ferrari to allow Piero to adopt the Ferrari name for his confirmation, while Laura is strongly against it. In the end, they reach a compromise where Laura signs over the full rights for her shares of the company in exchange for Piero not adopting the Ferrari name until she is dead. In Real Life, Piero was not acknowledged as a Ferrari family member until after Laura Ferrari's death because of how Italian law was at the time - a love child from another relationship could not be legally recognized as Enzo's child while he was still married to Laura and there were no legal means for married couples to divorce until 1975.note Piero didn't drop the surname "Lardi" from his name until 1990, when both Laura and Enzo were dead.
- Awful Wedded Life: Enzo and Laura generally despise each other, but is depicted as overwhelming grief after the loss of their son. There is some moments of tenderness between them but their interactions are far more often business related as Laura owns half the company.
- Bait-and-Switch: At the start of the Mille Miglia, Ferrari tells de Portago that the only danger in the race is from children and dogs. Toward the end of the race, we cut to a small child running toward the road as de Portago approaches, implying that the child will cause a crash. Instead, the child's father catches him before he reaches the road. Portago crashes for a different and unrelated reason moments later.
- Blood Sport: Takes place in a time of massively increased vehicle performance but with very little in the way of safety features for the drivers. Open air roadsters are used at several points and the danger of the job is an accepted risk, drivers would leave goodbye notes to their spouse or girlfriend the night before a race just in case something happened. Alfonso has a freak accident that kills him and a line of spectators watching from a quiet country road.
- Cool Car: Various Ferrari sports cars and racecars, such as the 250 GT, are showcased throughout the film. The final race also features several Maserati sports cars.
- Dare to Be Badass: After Portago yields to a passing Maserati driver, Ferrari gives all his drivers a lecture that they must never accept defeat even if it means that they may die in the process.Enzo Ferrari: If you get into one of my cars, you get in to win.
- Due to the Dead: Enzo and Laura visit their son's tomb separately with flowers.
- Fatal Flaw: Enzo's obsession with victory and being in full control.
- Foregone Conclusion: Ferrari of course did not fold and came to be seen as a premiere exotic car company. The movie is thus more interested in peeling back details of Enzo Ferrari's family life.
- Gorn: The film does not shy away from the horrific aftermath of Alfonso de Portago's crash in the 1957 Mille Miglia. Multiple spectators are crushed by the flying car and left as bloodied corpses, with de Portago himself torn in half with his intestines spilled onto the ground.
- Historical Beauty Update:
- Adam Driver is taller and more physically fit than Enzo Ferrari was at the time when the movie takes place and has more hair on his head even with the makeup being used to age him up. A flashback to 1945, when Lina announced her pregnancy to him, had Driver looking like his natural self while playing the then 47 years old Enzo- while already not looking his age due to his shorter hair and clean shaven face. It doesn't help that Adam was 39 at the time of release while Enzo was 59 in 1957.
- Photos and footage of Laura Ferrari show that she simply did not look like Penélope Cruz. Again, Cruz was younger than the real-life figure she portrayed, having been 49 at time of the movie's release whereas Laura was 57 in 1957- while also not looking her age.
- Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: Both Driver and Woodley received considerable criticism for their attempts at Italian accents, and Woodley's accent sometimes seems too shift within a single sentence.
- Open Secret: Laura knew that Enzo had a mistress but agreed to tolerate it if he was home in time to manage any business calls. It wasn't until much later in the film that she learns of Piero, and that most of the family and business partners already knew.
- Scenery Porn: The 1,000-mile Mille Miglia race involves extensive travel across some of the more scenic areas of Italy.
- Silence Is Golden: There are a few moments of long silence, such as when Enzo and Laura separately mourn their late son.
- Villainy-Free Villain: The Maserati team is Ferrari's chief rival, but they don't do anything villainous or underhanded throughout the film.
