10 replies to this topic

[rl1856]

I saw this movie last night.  It is now in rotation on the US cable network "Starz".

 

I searched for a forum topic regarding this movie, but only found a few references at the end of a Peter Collins thread.    The movie deserves its own thread.

 

The move covers the period from roughly 1954-1959, concurrent with some great successes by the company, at the expense of the lives of many participants.

 

The movie was very good, but also contained some Hollywood melodrama.    The use of recordings of actual participants; Louise King (Collin's wife), Mike Hawthorn's widow, Fon Portago, Phil Hill, Moss and of course Enzo himself lend authenticity and gravity to the story.

 

The movie is anchored by a substantial amount of period footage, much of it in clean gleaming Technicolor film stock !   The quality of the footage is shockingly good, with much "atmosphere"....long shots of the cars, the people, the settings, of the driver's lives off of the track.   An enthusiast has to fight the urge to constantly point and say that's a....and there is....   instead of sitting back and allowing the story to unfold.

 

The story could have and should have continued to the 1961 season, as it would have fit with the overall theme of the movie.   But as is, the movie is also a semi biography of the Mon Ami Mates during their time with Ferrari.

 

And the Hollywood elements detracted rather than added to the movie.   

 

Seek it out over the holiday weekend if you can.

[Rob G]

I watched it a couple months ago on a flight across the Atlantic. I watched it again a week later on my return trip.

[lustigson]

I really enjoyed the film. Have it on Blu-ray to watch it again, sometime. Great stuff!

[SophieB]

I saw this movie last night.  It is now in rotation on the US cable network "Starz".

 

I searched for a forum topic regarding this movie, but only found a few references at the end of a Peter Collins thread.    The movie deserves its own thread.

 

The move covers the period from roughly 1954-1959, concurrent with some great successes by the company, at the expense of the lives of many participants.

 

The movie was very good, but also contained some Hollywood melodrama.    The use of recordings of actual participants; Louise King (Collin's wife), Mike Hawthorn's widow, Fon Portago, Phil Hill, Moss and of course Enzo himself lend authenticity and gravity to the story.

 

The movie is anchored by a substantial amount of period footage, much of it in clean gleaming Technicolor film stock !   The quality of the footage is shockingly good, with much "atmosphere"....long shots of the cars, the people, the settings, of the driver's lives off of the track.   An enthusiast has to fight the urge to constantly point and say that's a....and there is....   instead of sitting back and allowing the story to unfold.

 

The story could have and should have continued to the 1961 season, as it would have fit with the overall theme of the movie.   But as is, the movie is also a semi biography of the Mon Ami Mates during their time with Ferrari.

 

And the Hollywood elements detracted rather than added to the movie.   

 

Seek it out over the holiday weekend if you can.

 

 

Thanks, I will look out for it. Really enjoyed your review, by the way - always good to hear what aspects in particular work for people, and what doesn't and why they think that is. Helps build up an impression.

[Eric Dunsdon]

I seem to remember this being discussed a year or so ago. With input from those involved in the production. I got mine last year from an HMV shop so need to book flights across The Atlantic!. The period covered by the film was an often tragic one with the loss of drivers such as Castelotti, Musso, De Portago and Collins, just names to many these days but true living heroes to many of us in our teenage years at the time. The following years from 1959 onwards were hardly memorable years for the Scuderia.

[Tim Murray]

I seem to remember this being discussed a year or so ago.

Thanks for the reminder, Eric. As mentioned in the OP, we discussed the film in the Peter Collins thread - see this and subsequent posts, which include this review from DCN, who was closely involved with the production and helped them get the facts right:

I think that 'Ferrari: Race to Immortality' - whose premiere I attended last Monday evening - really is pretty darned good - but for that really rather misleading title. The colour contemporary footage quality alone - I promise you - should be sufficient to send any TNFer into unrestrained aerobatics.

And Louise Cordier-King-Collins makes a wonderful verbal and on-camera contribution to the piece.

But as an honest kind of cove, I must admit that I am biased.

If you have a bored moment, take a look at:

https://www.goodwood...to-immortality/

DCN

[Doug Nye]

Nice to see this thread appear.   I worked closely with the British crew who put that movie together and much admire their end product - even if it urned out as an 85-minute build-up to making me look a precious prat.  

 

For my taste rather more Le Mans disaster footage was used than I would ever want to see - but almost every other inch of original archive movie used is indeed simply magical.

 

I can understand the idea that 1961 should have been included - but that is really an entirely different story, ironically (and tragically) coming to its climax just a few weeks after Mr Ferrari finally thought that the 1957 de Portago Mille Miglia disaster had been expunged from his largely blameless company's record.  

 

Anyway - it is really nice to hear that the crew's intense levels of care, commitment and technical expertise really is appreciated out there. On their behalf - thank you.

 

DCN

[doc knutsen]

I saw this movie last night.  It is now in rotation on the US cable network "Starz".

 

I searched for a forum topic regarding this movie, but only found a few references at the end of a Peter Collins thread.    The movie deserves its own thread.

 

The move covers the period from roughly 1954-1959, concurrent with some great successes by the company, at the expense of the lives of many participants.

 

The movie was very good, but also contained some Hollywood melodrama.    The use of recordings of actual participants; Louise King (Collin's wife), Mike Hawthorn's widow, Fon Portago, Phil Hill, Moss and of course Enzo himself lend authenticity and gravity to the story.

 

The movie is anchored by a substantial amount of period footage, much of it in clean gleaming Technicolor film stock !   The quality of the footage is shockingly good, with much "atmosphere"....long shots of the cars, the people, the settings, of the driver's lives off of the track.   An enthusiast has to fight the urge to constantly point and say that's a....and there is....   instead of sitting back and allowing the story to unfold.

 

The story could have and should have continued to the 1961 season, as it would have fit with the overall theme of the movie.   But as is, the movie is also a semi biography of the Mon Ami Mates during their time with Ferrari.

 

And the Hollywood elements detracted rather than added to the movie.   

 

Seek it out over the holiday weekend if you can.

I am intrigued as to the identity of "Mike Hawthorn's widow"...

[Garsted]

Hawthorn never married, but the mother of his son is mentioned here

 

https://www.mike-haw...rg.uk/child.php

 

Steve

[DCapps]

I just watched this last night on Starz.

 

It tipped me off early when it was noted that it was based upon Chris Nixon's, Bon Ami, Mate! This meant to me that it really was not about OMF, but about Peter and Mike. OMF was simply a means to glue it together into a slightly larger narrative.

 

As with DCN, the footage of Le Mans 1955 was a bit more than necessary I thought, and had little to do with Ferrari and was all about Hawthorn, of course,

 

Giving credit where credit is definitely due, some of the film was not that familiar to me and tended to be quite excellent -- although there were many moments when what was being discussed was not necessarily what was being discussed, something difficult to near-impossible to avoid, Having said that, it was handled quite well, much better than the vast majority of such efforts.

 

That there were so few historical gaffs suggests a real effort to get as much correct as possible. Although the narration of most such efforts can range from mere cringe-inducing to the cause of major migraines, it was another pleasant surprise in that it worked in almost every instance, which is quite remarkable in and of itself. I find that most of these sorts of things are best observed without the sound, but not in this case.

[MartLgn]

I must confess that I ignored this film on release as I assumed it would be more of the same irrelevant footage with an inapropriate voiceover. Well boy how stupid do I feel now?

 

I agree that the images used for Le Mans 1955 were totally unecessary as was the footage of the restored cars that added absolutely zero to the narrative yet must have cost a fortune to shoot given the number and calibre of people inolved. The period footage was absolutely stunning, the first hand contributions were invaluable!!

 

Any project involving messrs Nye, Roebuck, Williams and Windsor will have an impeccable pedigree and to base it on the work of the much missed Chris Nixon put the cherry on the cake for me!