In this week’s episode of The Discourse, host Mike DeAngelo gets in the driver’s seat to discuss “Ferrari” with director Michael Mann (“Heat,” “Collateral,” “Ali”). The film is based on the real-life of Enzo Ferrari, founder of Ferrari—the Italian luxury sports car manufacturer, who is played by Adam Driver. It focuses on a particular point in Enzo’s life in 1957 when bankruptcy was looming over the company, and the always-composed Italian carmaker was also experiencing heightened drama in his life due to hidden secrets coming to light. All this occurs while Ferrari bets it all on a must-win, 1000-mile race in Italy. The film also stars Penelope Cruz, Shailene Woodley, Patrick Dempsey, and more.
During the interview, director Michael Mann discussed the long road to getting “Ferrari” made – a journey that started back in the ’90s.
“Sidney Pollock and I began on the film together with Troy Kennedy Martin, the writer, and we started sometime in the 90s; we tried to get it going,” Mann explained. “They tried to get it going again in 2004 and then again in 2008 and 2015. And I could have made it earlier if I wanted to cut it. But I wanted to make it only one way, the right way, which is costly, or not making it at all. And so it became possible to do it for a number of reasons in the last two years. It became possible because of the wonderful Italian tax credit and funding. “Ford vs. Ferrari” came out and did very, very well, and prior to “Ford vs. Ferrari,” no race car movie ever made money. And this is not a race car movie. It’s a drama with a lot of racing in it. And all Ferrari cared about was racing. So it’s obviously got racing in it. But that’s so it became possible, particularly as Formula One became a lot more popular with women as well as men in the last three, four years.”
Speaking of “Ford v. Ferrari,” actor Christian Bale, who ended up starring as Ken Miles in the 2019 film, was once attached to play Enzo Ferrari before Adam Driver came on board. Mann, who some might see as slighted that Bale would star in another movie surrounding Ferrari, shared that couldn’t be further from the truth.
“There’s a very collegial attitude amongst us—with directors to directors, directors to actors, Christian’s an old friend. He called and asked me if I objected to him; I said, ‘No, not at all, go and do it.’ I was doing a different film when that film came to the point of being made. After I worked on it and oversaw the script, which Jez Butterworth wrote and Joe Kosinski was going to direct it. And then his approach to it didn’t work. And then 20th Century Fox got sold. I mean, these things move around that way. They don’t move around when I own and control the project, but they do when somebody else does. And so I had a call from Jim Gianopulos, my close friend who was running 20th at the time. He said, ‘We have a way of making this movie.’ I was in the middle of shooting ‘Blackhat’ in Hong Kong. So, you know, go for it. This is quite common.”
Michael Mann’s films are not only beloved by audiences but by other directors, as well. Christopher Nolan, Ben Affleck, and more have been quick to admit their admiration for Mann and his films, even acknowledging that they ripped certain aspects of their movies right from Mann’s work. So, how does Michael Mann feel when he watches “The Dark Knight” or “The Town” and sees his influence on other filmmakers?
“Let me put it this way— Chris Nolan is a friend and I know what are the characteristics of ‘Heat’ that influenced ‘The Dark Knight. ‘It has to do with a large concept and some underpinning of a philosophical idea that you could also do on a large scale for a mass audience. I think that’s probably the structural thing that’s very similar. When we did a [Heat] screening at the Goldwyn, it’s a 1200-seat theater at the Academy, all the cast came together, and Nolan moderated it. And there are other movies that have inspired me. And then, if some of my film work inspires other filmmakers to go further, there’s a big gratification in that. You’re supposed to pass it on. That’s what’s supposed to happen. Pale imitations, I ignore. They don’t bother me. I don’t bother looking at them. But other work that is really worthy – there’s a lot of gratification in that.”
“Ferrari” is in theaters now via Neon. You can hear the full interview below:
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