Ferrari is the latest example of Hollywood’s love of brands

MMichael Mann The glamorous but limited ‘Ferrari’ is a fitting film for the end of 2023, a year dominated by brand films (‘Barbie’), Above all) and autobiography (“Oppenheimer”, “Napoleon”, “Maestro”). “Ferrari” is a combination: “brand autobiography”. The film, which was released in America on Christmas Day and in Britain the next day, follows the sports car company’s founder, Enzo Ferrari (played by Adam Driver), as he grapples with the dual chaos of his company and his personal life. .

The year is 1957. Dino, Ferrari’s beloved son, has died of muscular dystrophy. His cold marriage (and business partnership) with Laura (Penelope Cruz) is pushed to the brink of collapse by her discovery of his long-time lover; The company faces bankruptcy, as well as humiliation at the hands of the up-and-coming Maserati. Their drivers have to win the Mille Miglia race across Italy to sell more cars. If they fail, the company will collapse.

You know the Enzo type: the flawed genius, the purist in the face of change. He sells cars to win races, not the other way around. But that’s not how the wind blows. “The game is changing, Enzo,” says the Maserati boss, in one of the film’s many lame lines. television It will bring big audiences and bigger markets. The era of small automakers will soon end. (In 1969, Fiat was now part of a group whose largest shareholder owned the company The Economists main company, He bought 50% of Ferrari, and the stake was later raised to 90%.)

Add in the mid-century Italian decor, and this drama makes an attractive, elegant side dish to the movie’s meat: handsome men driving nice cars. The roar and roar of the engines alone is worth the price of admission. You can even forgive Mr. Driver’s ridiculous Italian accent, which makes him sound, at best, like an Israeli pretending to be Russian.

Films are one of the few cultural products whose returns are commonly discussed and even celebrated. But increasingly commercial acts are in front of the camera too, in the form of what we might call “commercial films,” such as the two highest-grossing films of the year worldwide, Mattel’s “Barbie.” And Nintendo’s “Super Mario Bros. Movie.”, And other “brand biopics”, such as “Air” (about a Nike training shoe), and “Flamin’ Hot.” (Cheetos) Excellent Canadian film “Blackberry” (smartphone), “Tetris” (classic video game) and now “Ferrari”.

These are films in which the heroes (and sometimes the villains) are the inventors and entrepreneurs who created the modern world, or the consumer products they created. (It is perhaps no coincidence that Mann, like Sir Ridley Scott, got his start as a director of commercials.)

Masses have long been used for product placement. As early as 1896, the Lumière brothers used Lever Brothers soap on “Washing Day in Switzerland.” But a brand biopic is more like a product replacement — movies aren’t vehicles for selling brands, brands are vehicles for selling movies (some of which are about vehicles, or like this year’s “Gran Turismo” video game spin-off)., virtual vehicles).

This does not mean that films about brands are bad films. “Barbie” It was an aesthetic delight. “Ferrari” It’s a fun mix of family drama and car porn. Some brands have become so embedded in the collective imagination that they deserve a dramatic reimagining; And business, with its mix of risk, ingenuity, competition and charisma, makes fertile ground for movies. Just think of “The Social Network,” released in 2010, an early example of the genre, or the films (“The Wolf of Wall Street,” “The Big Short”) that helped establish finance as a worthy subject in Hollywood.

However, it is hard not to see the increasing emphasis on familiar brands, such as that on familiar franchises, as another example of the film industry’s risk aversion. Like superhero series, brand biopics attract a ready audience of consumers and fans, making them a safe financial bet for studios. Interestingly, many of the titles are names the audience already knows. “Ferrari” marks the end of a year in which all but two of the 15 highest-grossing films in the United States were sequels, remakes, tie-ins or spinoffs.

Next year will bring more of the same. In 2024, moviegoers are promised a series of prequels and sequels (such as “Dune: Part Two,” “Gladiator 2,” “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” a new King Kong movie, a new Joker movie, and Mad Max, and the Transformers prequels., the new Lord of the Rings movie); Remakes (“Mean Girls”, “Ghostbusters”, “Twisters”, “Beetlejuice 2”), and spin-offs (“The Garfield Movie”)., A female Spider-Man movie, a female John Wick movie), at least two Mattel films (“Barney,” “Masters of the Universe”) and a bunch of biopics (of Bob Marley, Michael Jackson, Amy Winehouse, and KISS). As any brand developer will tell you, innovation is a risky business. ■