F1: A Great Racing Film and an Adrenaline Rush

As I left the theater I came away feeling, "Wow! That was fun." The iconic riff from Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love" set the tone and the thrills never let up. Brad Pitt, Javier Bardem, directed by Joseph Kosinski (Top Gun Maverick). Perfect casting for every role in the lineup, stellar cinematography and a masterfully crafted screenplay conspire to knock your socks off. 

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS

The four main characters are skillfully developed. Each has an distinct identity and a personal quest. Their destinies will rise or fall based on their success or failure in achieving their personal ambitions... as a team. 

Sonny Hayes (Brad Pitt) was himself once a promising F1 future star in the 90s, but a traumatic crash cut his career short. He hasn't quit racing, but it's on a lesser scale.  When Ruben Cervantes (Bardem) seeks him out to return to Formula One racing, Hayes now has an opportunity to become one of the sport's elite drivers. 

Cervantes has two aims. His primary aim, after nine years of failure, is to win a championship. If he fails at this, his board of directors will pull the plug on their racing program. He second aim is to have his promising young future star Joshua Pearce (Damson Idris) to awaken to his full potential as a driver by learning from Hayes's experience and example.

EdNote: I love the name Cervantes. Has Bardem's character been "tilting at windmills" these past nine years? Is he pursuing an impossible dream?

The fourth critical component in the fictional APXGP Formula 1 team's success is technical director Kate McKenna (Kerry Condon), the team's chief tactician and strategist. Her driving motivation is to prove herself as a trailblazing woman in a male-dominated sport, optimizing the team’s car and strategy to achieve a Grand Prix victory. She also plays the role of mediating conflicts between Sonny Hayes and Joshua Pearce, no small task in itself.

Put all these ingredients together is and you have an electrifying story.

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This past few years we've. been treated to two other superb racing-infused films: Ford v. Ferarri and Ferarri. Each is carried along by its own unique storyline, and F1 is no different. In each story there is something at stake. Ferarri features Adam Driver and Penelope Cruz, at a critical juncture in the future of their company and their relationship. Ford v Ferarri features Christian Bale as driver Ken Miles and Matt Damon as the legendary Carroll Shelby. Can Ford break into the Ferrari-dominated Formula One orbit? Corporate interference, technical challenges and personal battles must all be overcome.

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Gold & Black: There was a lot to like for me personally in this film. For starters, Brad Pitt and Javier Bardem has been two of my favorite actors. With Jerry Bruckheimer at the helm, it seemed almost a certainty that this film was not going to crash and burn. The team's Gold and Black cars had a special meaning for me. When I first joined Cub Scouts, circa 1960, my dad painted my first Pinewood Derby car gold and black. The next three years I painted my cars yellow and black. That last year, my yellow and black car took third place in the Pinewood Derby, a car I built myself. But it's that first car, the gold and black one my father made for me, that I wish I still had today.

Another memory from my childhood was a game called Mille Bornes, which is French for "a thoughsand milestones." It was a card came based on Formula One racing. We also had a Formula One board game. While dirt track racing held a big appeal for us, it was the Indy 500 that brought us nearer to the European racing scene.

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F1 has many classic subplots, most significantly the rookie versus the veteran storyline. I couldn't help think of Jack London's story "A Piece of Steak" which highlights this theme. London's story highlights the career of Tom King, an aging Australian boxer facing poverty and hunger as he prepares for a crucial match against a younger, fitter opponent named Sandel. King, unable to afford proper food, reflects on his past glory and the brutal toll of his career, knowing that a piece of steak could give him the strength he needs to win.

In F1, we similarly encounter the vitality and glory of youth being contrasted with the wisdom and discipline that comes at a price through experience.

Bottom Line: Five Stars out of Five. 

Life, Death, Speed and Passion: Michael Mann's "Ferrari" is a Winner

Adam Driver as Enzo Ferrari

This past week I went to see Michael Mann's latest film without reading the reviews first. Ferrari! I had watched the trailer and knew I needed to see it, having fallen in love with Italy last spring, and being a longtime fan of Penelope Cruz. Being a lifelong racing fan added to my confidence that I would not be disappointed. And I wasn't. 

The film opens with black and white footage of race cars from what must be the 1920s, the camera close up on the grinning face of a young man driving as fast as he can. That smile... exactly the expression on my face the first time I raced in a stock car. We know the man in the film is Enzo Ferrari, who would one day establish Ferrari as one of the most desired brands in the world for its elegance, performance and history. 

This is not, however, a racing film per se. It's a very human story with combustible emotions and tragic flaws. 

Adam Driver is the embodiment of Enzo Ferrari, the fiery founder of the iconic automobile brand, while Penelope Cruz smolders as Laura, his fiercely loving, yet deeply frustrated wife. The film, like a high-octane race across Italian landscapes and tumultuous decades, plunges us into the heart of Ferrari's world, where ambition and passion threaten to consume him.

The film is an exploration of a complex man driven by obsession, though beneath the steely exterior is an inwardly vulnerable human being full of irreconcilable emotions. Driver captures this duality of Enzo Ferrari who is, on one hand, a visionary, pushing the boundaries of automotive engineering and creating coveted symbols of speed and luxury. On the other, he is an obstinate businessman, haunted by the death of his son and consumed by a hunger for validation. 

The problem many people seem to have with this film is not the film itself, because the script by Troy Kennedy Martin and Brock Yates is (in my opinion) flawless. Rather, the problem is that Driver delivers this duality with serious subtlety, conveying both the chilling charisma of a titan and the vulnerability of a man crippled by grief and even fear. He's already lost a son and is on the verge of losing the Ferrari enterprise as well.

Cruz stands tall beside him as Laura, a woman whose resilience and fiery spirit match Ferrari's own. Their relationship is a tempestuous dance of love, defiance, and betrayal, reflecting the emotional toll of life in the fast lane. Their simmering tensions and explosive arguments crackle with raw emotion, highlighting the price of living in the shadow of a legend.

What's amazing is how much of the story is told in the very brief opening scenes. First we see young Enzo racing, then we cut to a morning bedroom. The man is waking, a woman beside him still half asleep. He rises, dresses and we note that the woman is not Penelope Cruz, though we do not yet know who she is. Cut to: Enzo enters his home in Reggio Emilia a moment later his wife Laura enters the room holding a gun, gives him a dressing down and fires a shot past the left of his head. Message is clear: "Do I have your attention? We had an agreement." 

The gun in Laura's hand immediately brought to mind Chehov's rule about guns. Don't bring a gun into the play unless you intend for it to go off. It doesn't take long for Mann (or Laura) to settle that question.

The scene indeed gets your attention, setting up the roiling undercurrent of Ferrari's personal life. In addition to wrestling with the personal crises he's grappling with, he is also being forced to face up to the potential bankruptcy of the Ferrari factory.  

Michael Mann directed the film and I cannot imagine any other setting that would have worked. The story required being filmed on location.  Nothing captures Italy's allure like those sun-drenched Italian landscapes, manicured trees and gleaming race circuits. Mann went out of his way to capture the feel of 1950s Italy, much of it still there today. On my Italy trip I passed through Reggio Emilia where the Ferarri's home was located. At one point I'd hoped to visit the Ferrari factory while being so near, and would have had I known this film was in the works. Alas. 

Though he knew he was on the verge of bankruptcy, he also knew that winning a major race like the thousand mile Mille Miglia would re-ignite interest in the vehicles he was producing, hence the third component of this story. Racing!

Racing has always been a risky business, but it's unbelievable that back in the fifties they didn't have roll cages or any of the safety features we find on today's cars. Ferrari himself understood the game from first hand experience. He'd also lost friends. He knew both the risks and rewards of the sport.

What makes it a near perfect film is the weaving together of these various strands so that the racing sequences, as well as his philosophical admonitions to the drivers, become a metaphor for Ferrari's internal struggles. I look forward to reading the screenplay some day.

Some might say the film is a meditation on the seductive yet destructive nature of obsessions. I think it's more than that, but for sure it does show how greatness has a sometimes soul-crushing cost.

The reviews at imdb.com are mixed. I suspect that in some cases it's due to the expectations people brought to the film. Here are some of them, with the ratings the reviewers offered:

Brilliant characterisation impressively Italian.      10

This film has some serious flaws.      5

7 1/2 stars really… Penelope Cruz was amazing.          8

Not one of Michael Mann’s best movies but still solid.         6

I was expecting more….      5

Stylish biopic with strong characters and great performances.       9

A lot of missed potential.       6

My favorite of the “Ferrari” movies.        8

Very disappointing.       4

A palpable emotional drama.       8

Intense, vibrant and emotional movie.       10

A misfire on all 12 cylinders.       1

One reviewer said the film lingers long after the credits roll. I agree. I've been thinking about it all week. I have but one regret. That I didn't follow through last April on that inner tug to take a day trip to the Ferrari factory in Maranello while staying in Parma. If I could do it all over again I would have added one additional day to that trip of a lifetime.  

MUCH more can be said here, but this is were I sign off. 

Related Links

Where was Ferrari filmed? Uncovering the real Enzo Ferrari in Italy

16 Stories from My Italy Adventure

Check Out Hubert Phipps' Ascending in the Miami Design District

If you’re in the vicinity of Miami and want to see an unusual art show, check out Hubert Phipps: Ascending at the ARES Modena showroom in the Miami Design District. The showroom features an ARES S1 supercar model surrounded by paintings and sculptures by the artist. 

Cars and art have a long history together. A noteworthy aspect of this show is not the car, but the artist who was himself a racecar driver on the SCCA circuit from 1979 to 1985, the same years Paul Newman won four national championships racing in the Sports Car Club of America. Phipps’ team mates included Danny Sullivan, who won the Indianapolis 500 despite a 360 degree spin-out late in the race, and Michael Andretti of the legendary Andretti family. Considering the caliber of the competition, it is impressive that Phipps had numerous race wins and one year captured the SCCA Formula Atlantic National Championship.

Hubert Phipps comes from a noteworthy family as well. His grandfather Henry Phipps, Jr. grew up with Andrew Carnegie, making a fortune in steel and real estate. Like Cargnegie he devoted his later years to philanthropic pursuits.

As an artist, Phipps became known for his paint pigment drawings and abstract sculptures. The materials he has explored working with include steel, bronze, wood, composites, plaster, glass and marble. 

Rocket

"Hubert Phipps' racing background and his passion for automobiles shine through in the kinetic energy of his sculptures," said Mo Elarishy of ARES Miami. The artist's monument-sized Rocket was recently slected for an Art in Public Places program spearheaded by the Boca Raton Museum of Art. (For the unfamiliar, Boca Raton is within eyeshot of Cape Kennedy on Florida's east coast.

Aviation is another facet of the Phipps heritage. Hubert Phipps acquired his aviators license at age 16 and has logged more than 4,000 hours of flight time. According to the press release he likes to fly his Airbus Helicopter H-120 to Florida from his art studio in Virginia.  

ARES has its headquarters in Modena, Italy where the world's most legendary automakers have been active: Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini and Pagani, a European equivalent of Silicon Valley except these designers, craftsmen and engineers apply their imaginations and skills to an alternate passion.

The Ascending show will be on display here in Miami through January 31. 
Miami Design District: 151 NE 41 Street

Hubert Phipps (Publicity still)

Photo showing context for Phipps' creations.

Photos: Gary Firstenberg, with the exception of publicity still courtesy the artist.

Related Links

Inside the Mind of Hubert Phipps

Gary Firstenberg: Turning Negatives Into Positives 

AMSOIL Duluth Nationals

This weekend the snowmobile racing world comes alive as the AMSOIL Duluth Nationals are underway. Enthusiastic masses descend upon Spirit Mountain to stand outside in frigid temps drinking beer and beating their chests. Will it be Polaris, Arctic Cat, Ski-Doo or Yamaha atop the podiums at the end of it all? Naturally, I will be rooting for D.J. and Shaun on the AMSOIL Polaris sleds.

The AMSOIL Duluth Nationals is akin to opening day at Yankee Stadium. You just gotta be there if you are part of the snowmobile scene.

Despite the lack of Northland snow, the temperatures plunged enough to make plenty for the races. On the far side of the track the base must be close to 25 feet deep since the event is held on a ski slope that slopes away and down from the lodge. With the Aerial Lift Bridge in the background and the full moon illuminating all last night, it was quite a spectacular site.

The locals, as well as all the AMSOIL people present, were thrilled by the exhibition Team AMSOIL put on. Local hero D.J. Eckstrom literally smoked everyone in the Winter X qualifiers. Shaun Crapo likewise showed that the AMSOIL sleds will be something to reckon with as he, too, won his feature almost effortlessly. The boys are looking strong and the sleds dominant, thanks to the tireless work of Steve Scheuring and his team of mechanics.

At the end of day one the season looks promising. But it is a dangerous sport and no one takes anything for granted.

Thought food: Some of these riders have flown over 130 feet through the air on their snowmobiles, sometimes getting as high as 30 feet off the ground. The Wright brothers' first flight was only 120 feet, and I do not think they went quite that high, yet they called it flying.