Things aren’t going to end well in Ferrari. We sense this from very early in the film, when Enzo Ferrari’s (Adam Driver) wife and business partner Laura (Penelope Cruz) fires a gun at him, missing his head (deliberately) by a matter of inches. It’s a warning shot – a warning that goes unheeded. Over the next two hours, Michael Mann’s tundra-cold biopic (out now in cinemas) crawls slowly towards tragedy. It should perhaps be noted at this point that this article will delve into what some would call “spoiler territory”. (Seeing as the film is based largely on true events, however, anyone au fait with their motor racing history will know what happens going in.)
Much of Ferrari builds towards the 1957 Mille Miglia, an auto race held along public roads in Italy. The event was pivotal for Ferrari, with the car company’s future seemingly resting on the make-or-break result of the illustrious race. In the film, Driver’s Ferrari speaks about the importance of risk-taking, of putting one’s own life on the line to gain a competitive edge. Towards the end of the Mille Miglia, he is seen flouting safety practices in order to see out the win; eventually, a Ferrari car driven by 28-year-old Alfonso de Portago suffers a burst tyre. The car flips over, and crushes a crowd of onlookers. Nine pedestrians die, including five children. De Portago’s navigator also dies in the crash, while de Portago himself is cut in half. The Mille Miglia is no more.
The horrific accident is recreated for the climax of Mann’s film. It’s a shocking set piece, a sudden and sickening twist – one that the film is unable to fully reckon with. Ferrari suffers from slightly unconvincing special effects; in this and other crash scenes, automobiles are seen flipping and leaping through the air as if made of cardboard. But the moment when the car collides with the victims is nonetheless grimly effective. In a film that largely consists of conversations and mundanity, it’s jarring to see such quick and extreme violence occur. The aftermath, lingered over briefly by Mann’s camera, is the stuff of horror, culminating in a grisly shot of de Portago’s (Garbiel Leone) cadaver, cleaved in two.
