Adam Driver has a liking for biopics set in Italy. He first starred in House of Gucci, released in 2021, followed by Ferrari, which will drop in Australia on January 4, 2024.
Directed by Michael Mann, this film is based on book Enzo Ferrari – The Man and the Machine by Brock Yates. It follows Enzo Ferrari (Driver), founder of the sportscar brand, in 1957 as he prepares for his cars to race in the Mille Miglia (100 mile) road race in Italy.
The film also touches on Ferrari’s personal struggles at the time, which include him dealing with the death of his son Dino, who he shared with wife Laura Ferrari, played by Penelope Cruz. The boy passed away at the age 24, a year before the movie was set.
The film also stars Shailene Woodley, playing Lina Lardi, Patrick Dempsey as Piero Taruffli, and Gabriel Leone as Alfonso de Portago. Reports say Hugh Jackman was originally set to play Enzo Ferrari, with filming scheduled for 2021. Instead, Driver took on the role, and shooting started August 2022.
According to IMDB, filming took place in two parts of Italy: Modena, a city in Italy’s Emilia-Romagna region, and Brescia, located in the northern Italian region of Lombardy. Ferrari was born in Modena and, today, the brand’s headquarters sit in the suburb of Maranello. Several other luxury car manufacturers, including Pagani, Lamborghini, and Maserati, are also headquartered in the Modena area.
The city is home to The Enzo Ferrari Museum, which focuses on Ferrari’s life and work, through exhibits and sportscar models. Housed in a futuristic building, the museum opened in 2003 and in addition to telling Ferrari’s story, also aims to promote the Modena region’s motoring tradition. At the Modena Race Track, you can even take a Ferrari out on the road.
The Mille Miglia road race, which took place 24 times from 1927 to 1957, started in Brescia, travelling to San Marino, Rome, the north through Umbria and Tuscany before heading back to Brescia.
Today, Brescia isn’t part of Italy’s typical tourist trail, but with several UNESCO Heritage sites and museums, it is certainly worth visiting. Its Mille Miglia Museum reconstructs the famous cultural sporting event within the context of Italy’s history. Another of the city’s museums, Santa Giulia Museum, is set in a monastic complex and tells the story of Brescia from prehistoric times to the present.
The city is also home to Brescia Castle with a drawbridge and ramparts, the Archaeological Park of Roman Brescia, several piazzas, and the Old and New Cathedrals. In the Queriniana Library, you’ll find, among other items 10,000, manuscripts with magnificent examples of illuminated codes.
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