F1LOS’ofia: Ferrari is a film about love, but also about racing

Somehow you and I are at least a little, but still lucky, which rarely happens in these difficult times. However, it so happened that the film “Ferrari”, about which there was so much talk, was released in our country a few days earlier than, for example, in America.

There it is shown only at Christmas, but here – please, it is already in full swing – if you want, watch the dubbed version, if you want, in the original language. I preferred the second. And I wouldn’t rule out wanting to see this movie again.

This text is not a review at all, but simply an attempt to share my impressions of what I just saw, and these impressions are quite strong. Let me say right away that I am not a big fan of the “main art” and I very rarely go to the movies. In my opinion, this year, which is almost coming to an end, was only the third time, the first two of which were with my grandson to the cinema, and not because I like full-length cartoons. But let’s not get distracted.

I generally go to the movies when I can’t. I only have this attitude towards certain works of the world film industry, including films about racing. So I want to warn you that the movie “Ferrari” is not really about racing. Although of course they are there too.

Let’s start at the end: during the end credits, which go to a beautiful nostalgic Italian song, I thought: if the viewer never has tears throughout the film or, as they say, does not get a lump in the throat, then there can are two reasons. Either the creators of the photo did not do enough, even though they tried their best, or the said viewer is a strict, if not insensitive person and not prone to sentimentality.

Now let’s go back to the beginning. One of the first credits you will see when you watch Ferrari will look like this: 1957. The story that the filmmakers tell us in two hours of screen time dates from this year. Moreover, it tells about only a very short part of the biography of the great Commendatore – just a few spring months of 1957. But they were filled to the limit with dramatic events in which the special character of Enzo Ferrari manifested itself in different ways, but this man always stayed true to himself.

It should be believed that the ability to choose your life path and follow it despite everything is what distinguishes people of this type. Surprisingly, the actor who was entrusted with the role of Ferrari is called Adam Driver. The last name is significant, no comment here. And if in the first scenes of the film it seems that in appearance he is not so similar to the Commendatore that we know from countless photos, then this feeling quickly fades into the background, because he plays quite reliably.

But Penelope Cruz is even more convincing as Laura Ferrari, the main character’s first wife. She simply accomplished her mission wonderfully – she is good at anger, sadness and passion – these are the emotions that dominate her heroine, who is going through a very difficult period when everything that was dear and dear to her is collapsing.

The actors and actresses who appear less often on the screen also did not disappoint, and here we must first of all mention Shailene Woodley, who played Lina Lardi, Enzo Ferrari’s girlfriend, and Daniela Piperno, his elderly mother.

We can say that the film is about human passions, primarily about love in its various manifestations, among which, of course, an important place is occupied by the passionate love for speed, fast cars, victories on racing circuits and the fact that all this is There another, dramatic side. Motor racing remains a risky endeavor even today, but in those days it was generally the fate of desperately brave people.

Before our eyes passes a whole gallery of pilots of that time, here is only an incomplete list of them – the Frenchman Jean Berat, the Argentinian Eugenio Castellotti, the British Peter Collins and Stirling Moss, the Italian Piero Taruffi – by the way, he is played by Patrick Dempsey, known in motorsports as a racer and as owner of the Dempsey-Proton Racing endurance racing team.

But most attention is focused on the tragic fate of Alfonso de Portago, a young Spanish aristocrat who had a reputation as a real daredevil on the track and as a playboy off it.

And here it is worth making a comment: the authors of the film had to sin against historical truth and move some previous events associated with De Portago’s biography to the spring of 1957, but probably some is not -compliance with chronology is excusable. But there are more such inconsistencies in the picture, so history experts can look for them if they wish, and this is probably also an interesting activity in its own way, although it has little meaning.

Also try to find the answer to this question: do you recognize at least one familiar face among the people driving Ferrari cars in the film? And we don’t know this man from movies. In general, look good.

Of course, the atmosphere of Italy at the end of the fifties was recreated in great detail and very carefully, somehow you immediately believe that everything was like that. And what kind of cars are there!.. Then I’m not just talking about racing with Ferraris and Maserati, but also about Fiat, Alfa Romeo and other Lancias, which the heroes drive in everyday life.

There are not many events related to Formula 1 in the biographical film dedicated to Enzo Ferrari, but one of the main storylines is the preparation for the legendary Mille Miglia and this race itself, which took place on May 11 and 12, 1957.

At the time it was one of the most dangerous motoring events in the world, and the dramatic side of the sport is very much reflected in the film. Before you go to the cinema, you can read about that race to get the historical background, or you don’t have to – then the perception will probably be sharper.

And for those who are well acquainted with the biography of Enzo Ferrari, for example, from books, it will be interesting to look at his illegitimate son Piero, whom we now know as vice president and co-owner of Ferrari. And in 1957 he was 12 years old and bore his mother’s surname, i.e. there was Piero Lardi, and this is also a separate story around which the events of the film develop.

There is one more character in it, whose invisible presence is felt from the beginning to the end of the picture – this is Alfredo Ferrari, whom everyone called Dino, the eldest son of Commendatore. He died a year before the events described, but Enzo Ferrari experienced the loss of Enzo until the end of his days, and then, in 1957, all this was still very difficult for both him and his wife.

On the way home from the cinema, I replayed some memorable scenes from the film in my head, and I figured if there was anything to complain about, it was the way the races were shown. No, everything is beautifully shot and the replicas of the historic cars we see in the frame look quite authentic, but here the feeling of exaggerated ‘cinematography’ or theatricality, if you like, cannot go away. However, this is quite understandable, because after all, we are not watching a report of the races, but a film made by Hollywood professionals, and they know their trade.

And if after watching “Ferrari” you want to raise a glass of red Italian wine, as the characters do in many scenes of the film, do not deny yourself this desire. I think this will also mean that the authors have somehow achieved their goal.