Eight years on from Blackhat, with a TV pilot and novel in-between, Michael Mann finally returns to the cinema this fall. Following Neon’s announcement of a Christmas Day release for the director’s long-awaited drama Ferrari, we recently learned it would make a world premiere at the Venice Film Festival. Now, Film at Lincoln Center has announced the Adam Driver-led biopic will make its North American premiere as the Closing Night selection of the 61st New York Film Festival on October 13 at Alice Tully Hall, opting to skip Telluride and Toronto.
Here’s the NYFF synopsis to get your engine in gear: “Michael Mann (Heat, The Last of the Mohicans, The Insider) brings his astonishing command of technique and storytelling to bear on this emotional, elegantly crafted dramatization of the life of the legendary race car manufacturer and entrepreneur Enzo Ferrari at a professional and personal fulcrum. It’s 1957, and the marriage of Enzo (Adam Driver, in an artfully internalized performance) and Laura (Penélope Cruz, a ferocious revelation) has begun to irrevocably fracture as a result of his philandering and the tragic recent death of their young son. Their unsettled domestic world is on a collision course with his work life as Enzo faces a pair of major turning points: financial pressure to increase productivity, which means going against his long-standing desire to only produce race cars, and preparations for the treacherous cross-country open-road Mille Miglia race. Dovetailing these narrative strands, Mann effortlessly shifts gears between elegiac and spectacular, climaxing in an exhilarating and terrifying race across the Northern Italian landscape—a visual and aural wonder of revving machinery against bucolic splendor—that ranks with the greatest set pieces of the director’s career. Aided by a magnificent cast, which also includes Shailene Woodley, Gabriel Leone, Patrick Dempsey, and Jack O’Connell, and glorious on-location shooting in Ferrari’s hometown of Modena, Mann has constructed a marvel of classical cinema.”
“Michael Mann has made many remarkable movies but perhaps never one as simultaneously thrilling and moving as Ferrari,” said Dennis Lim, Artistic Director of the New York Film Festival. “Not just a feat of virtuosity, this is a grand and striking evolution of his career themes and his most deeply personal work. We are honored to welcome him to the festival for what I’m sure will be a Closing Night for the ages.”
NYFF61 runs September 29–October 15, with Passes on sale now and tickets on sale September 19.