This historical drama covers a lot of track, but how much is accurate? Time to find out. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re examining the historical accuracy of Michael Mann’s “Ferrari.”
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00 "It was not uncommon in the 1950s for spectators to be killed."
00:04 Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're examining the historical accuracy of Michael Mann's Ferrari.
00:10 "You should assign me control of your stock in the company and the freehold, so I can deal."
00:16 Number 10. The cars. Right.
00:19 "We get in the car, the camera's handheld, and it's in the passenger seat next to the driver,
00:24 you feel the road noise, and you feel the dust on your face."
00:27 Director Michael Mann is well-known for his commitment to authenticity,
00:30 with his films often foregoing CGI in favor of practical effects and gritty realism.
00:36 Ferrari is no different.
00:38 Mann's movie beautifully recreated the vehicles used in the 1957 Mille Miglia,
00:42 including the Ferrari 315S and Maserati 450S.
00:46 "This is an era in which the cars, particularly the Ferraris, made a tremendous amount of power."
00:52 Some of the vehicles were built specifically for the movie,
00:55 including Eugenio's Ferrari 801 Grand Prix, while others were rented, such as the Maserati 250F.
01:01 Whether originals or meticulous recreations, the cars were period-accurate and beautiful to look at.
01:08 "I've always loved this era in motorsports. It's the most romantic, probably the most tragic and dangerous period."
01:13 Number 9. Enzo Ferrari. Mixed.
01:16 "Enzo's relentlessness and ambition and myopic focus, I completely understand."
01:23 While Adam Driver is fantastic as Enzo Ferrari,
01:26 the portrayal deviates in some ways from what we know of the real motor racing driver and entrepreneur.
01:31 For example, the real Enzo Ferrari did not speak English.
01:35 He spoke Italian, of course, and was conversant in French.
01:38 We understand why Mann changed this for the movie, but unfortunately,
01:42 Driver's clipped Italian accent veers a little too far into Mario territory.
01:46 "You have perhaps a crisis of identity. Am I a sportsman or a competitor?"
01:51 The film may have exaggerated his cold-hearted nature.
01:55 While Enzo Ferrari was competitive and ruthless in business and an autocratic leader,
02:00 he's also remembered as a complex man who was driven primarily by passion.
02:04 "He was different with everybody. He was different with the women in his life, he was different with customers."
02:09 "Your highness!"
02:10 "Which highness?"
02:11 "Then he was with racers."
02:12 "That highness! You, get out to the track!"
02:14 Number 8. The Locations. Right.
02:17 "A thousand miles across bad roads with sheep and dogs, anything can happen."
02:22 Michael Mann took great care in crafting the film's setting.
02:25 It would have been easy to film in California or even worse, in front of a green screen.
02:30 But as we said, Mann is a stickler for authenticity.
02:33 So he packed his bags and headed to Italy to film at real locations.
02:37 "Me and Mita was a thousand mile race across open roads,
02:40 through mountains, through towns, through Avena, to the outskirts of Rome."
02:44 Many of the settings were genuine, including the various sites visited by the 1957 Mille Miglia.
02:50 Mann also shot at many different locales in and around Modena,
02:54 including the historical center, the monumental cemetery of San Cataldo,
02:58 and even Ferrari's real barber shop.
03:00 "It's not simply the place, the furniture, the wardrobe, what the streets look like,
03:05 and all that detail which is terribly important, but it's also period accurate."
03:10 Number 7. Enzo's attitude towards streetcars and drivers.
03:14 Right.
03:15 "Ferrari was the man who had been a race car driver to begin with.
03:20 His sole purpose in life is racing."
03:22 Ferrari is one of the biggest names in the auto world, and owning one is a status symbol.
03:27 Yet, Ferrari himself didn't care a lick about his streetcars or their reputation.
03:32 And in this way, the movie is absolutely correct.
03:35 By all accounts, Ferrari made his famous streetcars because he needed to fund his racing cars.
03:40 "Jaguar races only to sell cars. I sell cars only to be racing.
03:44 We are completely different organisms."
03:46 He did want status, but only on the racetrack.
03:49 And when it comes to racing, his one and only interest was the cars themselves.
03:54 Ferrari driver Niki Lauda has said that, quote,
03:56 "Ferrari's only interest was winning. He really didn't care about the drivers."
04:01 Ferrari accountant Carlo Benzi also claims that Enzo
04:04 privately credited his cars for the wins, not their drivers.
04:08 "The reason people think about Ferrari the way they do is because it ultimately
04:12 is about the car and not the driver."
04:15 Number 6. Enzo's secret son. Mixed.
04:18 "Because you were so consoled at Castelvetro, you lost your attention.
04:21 You had another boy growing stronger while Dino was getting weaker."
04:25 "What goes on in your mind?"
04:27 It's true that Enzo Ferrari kept his son Piero a secret.
04:30 The film makes it seem as if Ferrari's wife, Laura Garello, was responsible for the secret.
04:36 Laura tolerates Ferrari's affairs, but she draws the line at Piero
04:40 and tells Enzo that he cannot acknowledge Piero as his son until after she dies.
04:44 In reality, it wasn't Laura that kept Enzo from Piero, but Italy.
05:00 At the time, divorce was illegal in the country.
05:03 Enzo was not allowed to leave Laura, nor could he legally recognize Piero as his son.
05:08 But Laura died in 1978, allowing Enzo to adopt Piero.
05:13 "It destroyed him! It destroyed us!"
05:16 "What do you care? Huh? You have another son, you have another wife!"
05:19 "She's not my wife, but he is my son."
05:22 Number 5. Alfonso de Portago's crash. Right.
05:26 "That he should be killed on the threshold of a magnificent racing career
05:30 is a great loss to racing and to the world of people who still retain an ounce of romance in them."
05:36 Ferrari ends in dramatic fashion, with Gabriel Leone's Alfonso de Portago crashing at the
05:41 Mille Miglia. Portago refuses to change his tires and later suffers a blowout,
05:46 causing his car to crash and kill multiple bystanders.
05:49 Unfortunately, this was not made up for the film.
05:52 On May 12, 1957, Portago suffered a blowout at 150 miles per hour and crashed into the crowd
05:59 lining the highway.
06:01 "The car left the road, somersaulted, hit the bank and disintegrated.
06:04 De Portago was killed. Edmund Nelson, his navigator, was also killed.
06:09 Nine spectators were killed."
06:13 Nine spectators were killed, as were Portago and his co-driver Edmund Nelson.
06:17 This devastating event tarnished the reputation of the Mille Miglia,
06:21 which was already considered extremely dangerous.
06:24 It came to an end following the Portago crash, and has not been raced since.
06:28 "The Mille Miglia was a thousand mile race around Italy on normal roads
06:33 with millions of spectators lining the roads, and it was incredibly dangerous."
06:39 Number 4. The fallout from the crash. Wrong.
06:44 "The Mille Miglia was never run again. That was one thing,
06:48 but beyond that there was a manslaughter charge."
06:50 Perhaps the biggest omission from the film is the manslaughter charge that Ferrari faced
06:55 after the Portago crash.
06:57 In the film, Ferrari is publicly blamed for the deaths and his reputation takes a hit,
07:01 but he doesn't face any significant penalties.
07:04 "If Anthony is looking for a scapegoat, then here I am."
07:08 In real life, both Ferrari and the tire manufacturer Engelbert were charged with manslaughter.
07:14 The criminal prosecution was very lengthy and public,
07:17 and only dismissed several years after Portago's 1957 crash in 1961.
07:23 If Ferrari were a miniseries, this case would have certainly been included.
07:27 As it is, Mann decided to leave it out of the film.
07:31 "There was an air of revulsion, and the Vatican was horrified."
07:35 Number 3. Ferrari's business dealings. Wrong.
07:38 "This is Enzo Ferrari, the Ferrari who makes some of the fastest
07:43 and most expensive cars in the world."
07:45 It's not just the manslaughter case that Ferrari glosses over.
07:48 It also takes a few liberties with Ferrari's business decisions.
07:52 In the movie, Enzo tells a reporter to run a fake story about Ford potentially buying Ferrari.
07:57 In fact, Ford really was considering this, but in the 1960s after the movie's timeline.
08:03 "He played us. Old man Enzo had no intention of selling to us. He used us to up his price."
08:11 Enzo Ferrari backed out when Ford wouldn't promise him control of the company's racing department.
08:16 By the end of the movie, Ferrari's financial troubles have seemingly disappeared.
08:21 But Ferrari's commitment to racing was quite financially burdensome.
08:25 It was made a public company in 1960, and in 1969, 50% of its shares were sold to Fiat.
08:32 It remained a subsidiary of Fiat until the mid-2010s.
08:36 "He drives a Fiat 128. When it comes to cars, you can't fool a Ferrari."
08:42 Number 2. Dino's death. Right.
08:44 "I did everything. Table showing what calories he could eat. What went in, what came out."
08:51 In the movie, Enzo and his wife Laura are grieving the death of their son Dino.
08:55 His absence hangs heavily over the film,
08:57 providing narrative momentum and character development. And sadly, it's accurate.
09:02 "And Dino's death, of course, was a shattering blow to him and to his wife."
09:08 Alfredo Dino Ferrari was born in 1932 and was close with his father,
09:13 even working under him as an engineer.
09:15 But Dino fell ill and was eventually diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
09:20 He was cared for by Enzo, but the disease claimed his life in 1956 at just 24.
09:26 While he was in the hospital, Dino discussed the technical details of an engine with his father.
09:31 Ferrari later produced this engine, which was named after Dino.
09:35 "I completely love the experience. I'm feeling the car a lot more raw,
09:38 without so many systems, without so much technology. You really feel what's underneath you."
09:44 Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to get notified about
09:48 our latest videos. You have the option to be notified for occasional videos or all of them.
09:53 If you're on your phone, make sure you go into your settings and switch on notifications.
09:57 Number 1. Ferrari's Risk of Going Out of Business.
10:03 Wrong. The film hangs the entire future of Ferrari on the 1957 Mille Miglia.
10:09 If Ferrari doesn't win, it will go out of business.
10:12 "You're going broke."
10:14 "So what do I do?"
10:14 "Win the Mille Miglia, Enzo. Or you are out of business."
10:18 But according to Luca Dalmonte, author of Enzo Ferrari,
10:22 Power, Politics and the Making of an Automotive Empire, this is quote, "totally inaccurate."
10:27 The company wasn't what it is today, but Ferrari was still in a pretty good place.
10:32 "What do you want me to say? Mr. Ford, we have a deal,
10:36 but first I must wait until I ask my wife for permission?"
10:39 "Yes, you can say that."
10:40 As Dalmonte explains, the late 1950s was quote, "not a particularly hard time for Ferrari,"
10:46 thanks in large part to street car sales and Italy's post-war economic boom.
10:51 In Dalmonte's own words, quote,
10:53 "I understand that this could make a good story, but it's not necessarily accurate."
10:57 "I don't have half a million."
10:59 "You will if you make a deal."
11:01 Do you care about historical accuracy in films? Let us know in the comments below.
11:05 "You were supposed to save him."
11:07 "You blame me for his death?"
11:09 "Yes."
11:10 Did you enjoy this video? Check out these other clips from WatchMojo,
11:14 and be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to be notified about our latest videos.
11:18 [Music]