The Intense Drama of Ferrari: Unveiling the Truth Behind the Movie

The Truth Behind the Movie

Ferrari's F1 revamp needs a reality check in 2023, and Michael Mann reveals in his latest biopic Ferrari, starring Adam Driver as the irascible Enzo Ferrari, that in 1957, the brand was just as close to balancing on a similar knife's edge when it came to competing at the Mille Miglia. In the intense racing drama, which vacillates between the mean streets of Ferrari's personal and professional life, the man behind the car is no longer in the driver's seat of his destiny. He sends drivers to their deaths on increasingly difficult and dangerous racecourses and cheat on his wife Laura (Pen\u00e9lope Cruz) with equally calculated ruthlessness. A great deal about the true story of Ferrari's Enzo Ferrari seems larger-than-life, but truth is often stranger than fiction, and many of the more incredible aspects of his legacy actually happened. Still, certain creative liberties needed to be taken to communicate the message driving the film; everything about Enzo's life was as obsessive as his automobiles. Mann's consummate sense of cinematic tension and introspective struggle means that by the end of Ferrari, whether the film's content is 100% accurate or embellished by the director's taut sense of melodrama, it's the expert blending of both that ensures it crosses the finish line with flying colors.

Adam Driver as Enzo Ferrari in Ferrari

The Unveiled Reality

Adam Driver Goes For a More Restrained Italian Accent. After testing the water in House of Gucci, Adam Driver once again goes for an Italian accent in Ferrari. Enzo Ferrari didn't speak English, but could communicate in French, making Driver's choice (or rather, Mann's) for the steely Enzo to speak in a clipped Italian accent an odd one. Neither Sean Connery in Hunt for Red October, Harvey Keitel in The Duelists, or Chris Pratt in The Super Mario Bros. Movie decided to ditch their native accents and cadences for their roles despite playing characters from other parts of the world, so the precedent has been set, but it should be noted Driver doesn't sound cartoonish or embarrassingly stereotypical.

Adam Driver as Enzo Ferrari Wearing Sunglasses in Ferrari

The Intriguing Details

Italy's Strict Divorce Laws Prevented Enzo Ferrari From Acknowledging His Other Son Piero. It Wasn't Just Enzo's Promise To Laura. After the death of his son Dino, Enzo Ferrari had a son with his mistress Lina Lardi named Piero, who was born in 1945 and kept a secret. In Ferrari, there's a touching moment when Laura, who tolerated Enzo's affairs but treated fostering another family as the ultimate sign of betrayal, tells Enzo he can't acknowledge Piero until after her death, which occurred in 1978. More accurately, it was Italy's strict laws about divorce that prevented Enzo from leaving Laura altogether and embracing Piero, though some script at the end of the film explains how Piero would eventually come to assume a position of authority in his father's company.

Penelope Cruz as Laura tearing up in Ferrari