“Ferrari Focuses On A Pivotal Moment In The Career Of The Italian Team’s Owner

Actor Adam Driver, who plays Enzo Ferrari in the just released biopic | Photo: YouTube reproduction

In 1957, Enzo Ferrari turned sixty. His automobile company is on the verge of collapse, and his family life is also beginning to falter: after the death of his son Dino, his relationship with his wife and partner Laura becomes cold and distant. It's no secret that Enzo Ferrari has a mistress with whom he has a son who could become his heir. The solution to your problems, or at least many of them, is to win the Mille Miglia this summer.

The book that inspired the screenplay of Ferrari, a film that hits Brazilian cinemas this Thursday (22), is subtitled “Man, the Cars, the Races, the Machine”. It is not for nothing that the feature film shamelessly compares Enzo Ferrari with his machines and shows him in constant competition, at the limit, on the verge of catastrophe. Unlike car racing, he's not sure what the final outcome will be or what needs to be done to win. He is divided between two women, between two children, between two types of vehicles, between two business models… And the only thing he knows is that he has to keep competing and running.

The work of Adam Driver, who plays the protagonist, is excellent, nuanced and subtle. It's more interesting when he talks to his wives, children and employees than when he appears in front of the press. Penélope Cruz plays a strong Laura, an Italian mother affected by the death of her son and resigned to keeping her head held high in a loveless home. Shailene Woodley is the standout actress for the role of Lina, the lover, seemingly an anodyne woman but a perfect counterpoint to his wife Laura. The rest of the characters don't matter.

The technical aspects are impeccable. Director Michael Mann, who returns to the screen after eight years, has an excellent team in the areas of photography and production as well as editing and soundtrack. The only regret is that the film may be too cold for the uninitiated. And there are also some sexual comments that are irrelevant.