Review: Ferrari
- VENICE 2023: Michael Mann’s take on the legendary Italian entrepreneur and engineer is another clumsy biopic that lacks credibility and is highly stereotypical
In his much-anticipated biopic about Italian entrepreneur and engineer Enzo Ferrari, Michael Mann (returning to the big screen after Blackhat) chooses to set his tale during the four months prior to the 1957 edition of the Mille Miglia, a brutal open-road endurance race which led to the Tragedy of Guidizzolo. Ferrari [+see also:
trailer
interview: Valentina Bellè
film profile] has been world-premiered in the main competition of this year’s Venice Film Festival.
The title role is portrayed by Adam Driver, who seems to have become a favourite – for some unknown reason – to play Italian personalities after starring as Maurizio Gucci in Ridley Scott’s forgettable House of Gucci. Driver does his best to depict a troubled father, an unfaithful husband and a ruthless employer, but his performance remains unconvincing. In fairness, the poor dialogue doesn’t serve him well, but his portrait is ultimately sketchy, as we can clearly perceive that, under his white hair and not-so-impeccable makeup, there is a Hollywood star staging his own – or Mann’s – idea of “being Italian” and being the head of the Scuderia Ferrari.
Penélope Cruz’s portrayal of Laura Dominica Garello is also problematic. Her performance is over the top, from beginning to end. In addition, it’s hard to believe she is playing an Italian woman owing to her thick Spanish accent, and we expect her to switch to her mother tongue at any moment, especially during the most agitated scenes.
More generally, the cast’s “polyphony of voices” ends up sounding like an unpleasant pastiche of Italian slang, Emilian dialect and English – with several characters sporting thick accents. Adding lines such as “Call the banca” and “Yes, commendatore” doesn’t add a thing, except an annoying attempt to exoticise Dante’s language, complete with a Super Mario-like, caricatural effect.
We could also discuss why Italian and foreign characters should be, by default, played by US actors (even where there’s little or no resemblance to their original counterparts), but this a theme too broad to cover in this review. What would work best, however, is to make a choice between using a cast of native speakers, or simply give up on any pretence of “localism”, perhaps sticking to a sort of RP or General American. There are several productions of this kind, and they look much more credible.
On the whole, Troy Kennedy Martin’s script lacks a clear focus. The Mille Miglia seems to be the most eagerly awaited event that the plot should focus on, but the story keeps shifting between Ferrari’s “double” life with his lover Lina Lardi (Shailene Woodley) and his son Piero; Ferrari and Laura’s arguments, and the way they cope with the recent loss of his son Alfredo; the entrepreneur’s turbulent relationship with the press and public opinion; and a hint of the drivers’ love of risk-taking as well as their sentimental interests. Besides this, the actors starring as Ferrari drivers Piero Taruffi (Patrick Dempsey), Peter Collins (Jack O’Connell) and Alfonso De Portago (Gabriel Leone) are also underused.
Even though we’re watching a high-budget feature, the production design feels neglected, and even far from authentic in some cases. For example, we notice radios or TVs turned on in the background, but these play barely visible archive footage with brand-new voice-over tracks boasting – again – this bizarre “newspeak” and other archive footage that clearly looks fake.
Daniel Pemberton’s work on the score is also uninspired. Specifically, adding Lisa Gerrard and Pieter Bourke’s “Sacrifice” to the scene depicting the aftermath of the Guidizzolo incident is a rather “lazy” artistic choice.
Without mincing words, Ferrari is a huge missed opportunity and a film that takes itself too seriously, lacking the development and research work that would have made it look more authentic, and could have helped us empathise – or at least engage with – the vicissitudes of the famed Modena-born Grande Vecchio.
Ferrari was produced by STXfilms (USA), Moto Productions (USA), Forward Pass (USA), Le Grisbi (USA), Bliss Media (USA), Rocket Science (UK), Storyteller Productions (UK) and Iervolino & Lady Bacardi Entertainment (Italy). London-based Black Bear International is handling its world sales.
Photogallery 31/08/2023: Venice 2023 - Ferrari
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© 2023 Fabrizio de Gennaro for Cineuropa - fadege.it, @fadege.it
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