
The Ferrari Film Debate: Low-Speed Crash or Cinematic License?
The Ferrari Film Debate: The controversy over how the car crash is depicted in Michael Mann’s “Ferrari” movie lies in whether — the scene in question was filmed accurately or whether it is embellished for the big screen. Here’s a summary based on recent conversations and reviews:
FACT: The movie depicts the 1957 Mille Miglia crash of Alfonso de Portago, which killed not just de Portago and his co-driver but also nine bystanders (five of them children). The dangers of racing on public roads will lead to the demise of the Mille Miglia race.
Woven Into the ’90s: Director Michael Mann and screenwriter Eric Roth may have inserted a lot of drama into the movie’s events, but both spent a great deal of time reading everything they could about the real-life history before their characters were this good. The visual effects are far from realistic and the crash itself has been described as “cheesy”. Some critics and VFX artists have noted that the wreck scene in the film appears to defy physics, with the vehicle sailing higher than it likely did in real life, meaning that some cinematic license was taken.
Public and Critical Reception: The depiction of the scene has divided opinion. And while some admire this attempt to replicate the terror of the day, others — including VFX artists the Corridor Crew — have blasted the moment on a technical basis, specifically calling foul on the car’s trajectory and the staging overall. And perhaps the most fundamental question: Should you want to re-create real-life tragedies for entertainment purposes, when people were actually killed?
The Director’s Take: Mann, himself, admits to making some alterations for cinematic purposes: He says he downplayed some elements of the actual event to make it more watchable on screen. He also incorporated firsthand accounts from survivors or witnesses for emotional impact, suggesting a mix of fact with narrative exigence.
Bottom line: The “Ferrari” film’s crash scene is the result of both historical re-creation and cinematic license. The intent is clearly to pay tribute to the tragic event, but the execution has sparked conversations around artistic license versus enthusiasm when it comes to accuracy in film. The debate highlights the challenges of dramatizing actual tragedies in a medium sometimes criticized for its treatment of reality as something to be entertained by.
This is a complex conversation that mirrors larger dialogues around historical accuracy in biopics, as well as the ethics of dramatizing real-life disasters.
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