Michael Mann has been dreaming of a film about car manufacturer and racing legend Enzo Ferrari for 23 years. Now it has become reality. Ferrari starring Adam Driver (Kylo Ren from Star Wars) celebrated its world premiere a few days ago at the Venice Film Festival (here’s a first impression).
The depiction of a racing catastrophe that claimed the lives of several people caused a stir. In an interview, the director of Heat and Collateral spoke about the research.
12 people died in the accident depicted in Ferrari
In Ferrari, the life of the sports car magnate is viewed through the prism of a race: the 1957 Mille Miglia. The 1500-kilometre frenzy was one of the most prestigious motorsport events in Europe and the fact that the beginning of this sentence was written in the past tense should make people sit up and take notice. Because at the road race of 1957, the so-called Tragedy of Guidizzolowhich is why the Mille Miglia was no longer held in this form.
In an interview with industry magazine Variety ahead of the start of the Venice Festival, Michael Mann spoke about the depiction of the accident in which a car went off the track and killed several passers-by. 12 people diedincluding five children and the two car occupants.
Neon
Adam Driver in Ferrari
For the research, the director traveled to the small town of Guidizzolo near Mantua and spoke to local residents about their memories. According to the Variety article, Mann met a Witness in his 70s. The man survived the accident, Mann said, but his brother didn’t. The director about it:
He told me that he and his brother heard the engines and ran to the street. His brother was older and faster, so he was closerwhen the accident happened. He died but his brother survived because he was slower.
Since there is no film footage of the accident, Mann and cameraman Erik Messerschmidt (Mindhunter, The Killer) studied the better documented Le Mans accident in 1955in which a Mercedes made out of aluminum flew into the audience at 200 km/h, landed back on the track, threw the driver onto the road and burst into flames.
Ferrari does not yet have a German start date.