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Monstrobolaxa
Monstrobolaxa
1
Joined: 28 Dec 2002, 23:36
Location: Covilhã, Portugal (and sometimes in Évora)
Well this week RTP (Portugals main tv station) showed a series about the life of Enzo Ferrari.....in fact it was very interesting......I knew a little about Enzo and respected him but never liked him too much....but he did go through much in his life.....his dad, brother and son (Enzo) died in his hands.....but he also did some "stupid" things.....like test engines in race cars without knowing if they could cope with a road test.....well this cost the life of a test driver........
But the interesting thing was the story of the Prancing Horse......before creating Scuderia Ferrari (known as Alfa Team Ferrari)...he was a driver but because of his wife he put down the helmet.....but when he was a driver after the 1st World War a woman came up to him and gave him a banner with a Prancing Horse and said....."my son used to put thing in his airplane for good luck"....and that's the story of the Prancing Horse.
The series/movie was made by his son (Piero (if I'm not mistaken)), soon after Enzo passed away.
Are you talking about the tv movie with Sergio Castellitto playing Enzo’s character ?
If so it’s better if you don’t take it as an accurate representation of Enzo’s life and surely not of his personality (too gentle in the movie), it’s plenty of mistakes (about his wife, his relationships with drivers etc etc). Here in Italy that movie received lot of critics especially from people who worked with him (I remember an article in particular “Se questo è il Drake...” that started with : “People who knew Enzo Ferrari probably had lot of troubles to recognize him in this Castellitto interpretation”). Many were surprised by the fact that Piero authorized that realization.
I’ve yet to see it, I should have it in a VHS somewhere, but the fact that I don’t like too much this kind of movie (biography in form of a novel... Castellitto is a specialist, he played also Fausto Coppi, a Pope and a Saint...) and the critics I’ve heard have always stopped me.
BTW, the pilot who used the Prancing Horse was Francesco Baracca and since we are talking about the symbol, the yellow backgroung is because of Modena’s color.
At the end a correction, the Enzo’s son who died was Dino, Imola track is in fact the “Enzo & Dino Ferrari” and I’m sure you’ve heard of the car, the Dino.
Location: Covilhã, Portugal (and sometimes in Évora)
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Yiup...my mistake in the sons name....I was writting so quickly I didn't notice I wrote Enzo.....humm....interesting the Horse story I didn't know the woman was a family friend....in the movie it seems like it's a lady that he had never met.
About the movie....I don't know who played Enzo....but you are right about Enzos caracter.....in the movie he seemed to be a very nice guy but I read a few months ago that he wasn't that nice.....so it might be the movie you're talking about....in any case I think it's an interesting movie....it gives more of an idea of the Ferrari story.....even if the facts are not 100% correct.....
About his other son (Piero)......well...then I'd agree that it's strange that he agreed with the movie.....cause at the end it said something like: "Dedicated to Enzo from his son Piero"
Yes, I think we are talking about the same movie (the only one I know Piero authorized), it’s quite recent, we had it on tv about 1 year ago, it was in two parts. From what I know it’s organized as a flash back during an interview with a young driver.
One of the things people were more critical about is a scene with Gilles, Enzo tells to him something like : “if you are scared, then don’t race”, clearly something Enzo would have never said to a driver, not even to Gilles.
Anyway I can’t tell more about that movie cause I haven’t see it yet, I’m planning to do it soon, I’ll post my thoughts. Anyway I’m not really an expert of Enzo’s life, I’ve a book about him as a driver and I’ve seen some interviews and heard many people talking about him, but that’s all. All the critics I’m reporting are from what I’ve read from Enzo’s close friends and collaborators about the movie at the time it was showed on tv.
Monstrobolaxa wrote:Well this week RTP (Portugals main tv station) showed a series about the life of Enzo Ferrari.....in fact it was very interesting......I knew a little about Enzo and respected him but never liked him too much....but he did go through much in his life.....his dad, brother and son (Enzo) died in his hands.....but he also did some "stupid" things.....like test engines in race cars without knowing if they could cope with a road test.....well this cost the life of a test driver........
But the interesting thing was the story of the Prancing Horse......before creating Scuderia Ferrari (known as Alfa Team Ferrari)...he was a driver but because of his wife he put down the helmet.....but when he was a driver after the 1st World War a woman came up to him and gave him a banner with a Prancing Horse and said....."my son used to put thing in his airplane for good luck"....and that's the story of the Prancing Horse.
The series/movie was made by his son (Piero (if I'm not mistaken)), soon after Enzo passed away.
The Prancing Horse belonged to the son of Count Baracca. He was a fighterpilot in WW I but died, apparently he was in the same regiment as Enzo's brother. Count Baracca and his wife advised Enzo to use the emblem of their son on the racecars. Only the horse should be preserved, the white background could be altered and Enzo chaned into the Modena Gold.
Anyhow, as a Ferrari-fan I respect Enzo a lot. He created a legacy, which no other constructor could do. He made some of the worlds finest racing and road cars, which at that time were unbeatable, like the Daytona. But he was also very stubbern. He did what he wanted and if the others disagreed, he just didn't care. E.g. he didn't want too many modern stiff on his road cars, it spoiled the driving/racing experience and if it wasn't for his stepson Dino, he'd still be making front engined road cars. He wanted 100% commitment from employees, drivers.......
Ok, I’ve seen it, first part this morning and second this afternoon, and now I really do understand the critics.
As I’ve already said I don’t like very much this kind of movie, but maybe it wouldn’t be a bad one if it wasn’t for the assumption that it should be a representation of Ferrari’s life, too much fantasy at work IMO. A couple of things are particularly “unacceptable”.
The first is the Enzo’s answer to the Last Question from that mysterious guy, that answer is unbelievable. I don’t want to enter in the details because many people haven’t seen the movie but I just can’t believe that Ferrari could have even thought something like this, it doesn’t fit with what I know of him.
The second one is simply a stupid mistake, not the only one and maybe not even the biggest, but definitively the most stupid. When, in the garage, Enzo is talking with Gilles (“You have to stop to destroy my cars, you have to start to win”), it’s probably the 1979 (Dijon’s duel on tv right after). Close to them there are two bodyworks, one is from the right years but the other one... it’s a 643... the Prost & Alesi car of the 1991... featuring a “Gilles Villeneuve” sticker on the engine cover. Also a full underfloor (carbon fibre made) is on the background. I can understand that sometimes you can’t use the right car, a similar model of about the same years is good enough, I really can accept it. But, come on, 12 years are definitively too much... it was really necessary to put it on the background ? especially considering that another car was already there. And that sticker suggests that it wasn’t a last minute choice...
Then as a personal opinion the scenes with cars, especially the most recent, are way too short, it's true that if it was for me the whole movie should show just cars... On the contrary I’ve really appreciated the choice of the actress playing Lina... a very good choice. Actually I would have appreciated even more an entire movie with cars running on the track and “Lina” at the steering wheel... or with me at the steering wheel and “Lina” on the passenger’s seat... am I asking too much ? If so, well, it hasn’t necessarily to be a movie...
OT : Monstro since you are from Portugal you can help me : what is the right pronunciation of Benfica ?
I’ve always thought (and heard) the accent on the “i”, but recently I’ve heard in the Suisse tv channel (the Italian Suisse) a couple of journalists saying Bènfica, with the accent on “e”, who’s right ? Thank you.
Location: Covilhã, Portugal (and sometimes in Évora)
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LoL....
Well Reca it's hard to say cause I'm used to reading it in Portuguese....
But lets try to explain....hummm....I think the germans are very close to portuguese in terms of Benfica.....we just don't read the e so hard. I lived in Canada for a few years....and the "en" sound is hard to reproduce in english.....but thy taking the en from english...the "B" from german....and that's how you pronouns "Ben" ....fica...."f" .....the "i" you read as an english "e" and the "ca". well at least that's the closest you can get.
Reca wrote:. When, in the garage, Enzo is talking with Gilles (“You have to stop to destroy my cars, you have to start to win”), it’s probably the 1979 (Dijon’s duel on tv right after).
Also, it was that woman's family sign.
