NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� Michael Mann, who gave Crockett on 鈥淢iami Vice,鈥� pummeled cars with bullets in and set the thriller in a taxicab, has had an affection for automobiles since growing up in Chicago.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a city in which you drive, you know?鈥� Mann says. 鈥淚t rains and things get quite beautiful. The streets get black and the cars get reflective. I like motion. I like speed.鈥�
Mann has also been a racing hobbyist. Off and on for years, he competed in the Ferrari Challenge 鈥� a four-day race, he fondly recalls, during which 鈥渢he rest of the world just goes away.鈥� So, the driving instructions that Enzo Ferrari (Adam Driver) gives in 鈥� 鈥淏reak later, hold the line鈥� 鈥� are familiar to him.
鈥淟et me put it this way,鈥� Mann said, grinning, in a recent interview. 鈥淎t one point I was practicing on a road in Atlanta and I did 75 laps without stopping.鈥�
But what Mann remembers from those laps 鈥� or at least the four of five good ones he strung together 鈥� is the taste of what real mastery of the car might feel like.
鈥淚f I can have a sense of something, I can project and imagine it pretty fully,鈥� Mann says. 鈥淪o I do truly understand the passion and addiction 鈥� what Jean Behra the race driver described as the ecstasy of when there鈥檚 this unity, a harmonic between you and the machine.鈥�
Mann, the 80-year-old filmmaker of 鈥淭he Last of the Mohicans,鈥� 鈥淭he Insider鈥� and 鈥淭hief,鈥� has himself long exhibited a rare harmony with the machinations of filmmaking. He makes fine-grained, visceral dramas that thrum with existentialism. The fervor of his obsession, the rigor of his research, the intensity of his drive has often mirrored the compulsions of his single-minded protagonists.
鈥淗e said to me one time, 鈥業t鈥檚 hard not to get philosophical about an engine鈥� 鈥� which I think is so much who he is,鈥� says Driver. 鈥淪o many things have to be operating down to the millimeter for an engine to work and the timing and all these movable elements. Then there鈥檚 the driver. It鈥檚 similar to him and the camera.鈥�
鈥淔errari,鈥� which opens in theaters Dec. 25, is Mann鈥檚 first film since He's wanted to make it for three decades. Its script, based on , was written by Troy Kennedy Martin, who died 14 years ago.
But while you will find plenty of speed and gorgeous, rosso corsa-colored cars in 鈥淔errari,鈥� that鈥檚 not what compelled Mann, for so many years, to make the movie. The film, set in 1957 Modena, Italy, captures Ferrari in the tumultuous lead-up to the , a 1,000-mile cross-country race. He's struggling to keep his troubled business afloat while splitting his personal life between wife Laura (Pen茅lope Cruz) and another woman, Linda Lardi (Shailene Woodley), with whom he has a young son, Piero.
鈥淭hose torrid passions, almost operatic, and powerful emotional driving forces, that鈥檚 why I did the movie. Not because of the cars,鈥� Mann says before adding with a laugh: 鈥淭here鈥檚 nothing wrong with the cars. I love the cars.鈥�
鈥淚f you really understand what Ferraris are, the right ones anyway, you go buy one,鈥� adds Mann, who, for the record, owns a couple. 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 have to go make a movie about them.鈥�
Death hangs over 鈥淔errari.鈥� When we encounter Enzo and Laura, they're both still grieving the death of their son, Dino, from the year before. For Enzo鈥檚 fleet of drivers, the prospect of death on the road is present on every hairpin turn and in every crack in the pavement.
鈥淭here鈥檚 death all around, and all around this movie,鈥� says Mann, noting the post-WWII context of Italy. 鈥淏ut Ferrari is in the present and he鈥檚 looking for what鈥檚 next, what鈥檚 next.鈥�
鈥淗eat,鈥� which Mann recently revisited in co-written with Meg Gardiner, was a crime epic of causality, in which each character's decisions mark their fate. In 鈥淔errari,鈥� the price of passionate determination is just as clear. Still, Enzo keeps moving relentlessly forward in 鈥淔errari鈥� even as the movie builds toward catastrophic collision.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 feel there鈥檚 a price to pay for it. I think bad outcomes go with the territory. You don鈥檛 win,鈥� says Mann. 鈥淵ou have to be able to overcome adversity and setbacks and soul-destroying disappointments. You have to be able to find the means to overcome that or you can鈥檛 accomplish anything.
鈥淚 think wanting to accomplish, wanting to exceed limits, that鈥檚 an absolutely universal human trait,鈥� Mann continues. 鈥淥ur whole history as a species is to run faster, go further, discover what hasn鈥檛 been there before, move beyond the limited circumstance we find ourselves in when they鈥檙e terrorizing us or limiting us or even just boring us.鈥�
It can be tempting to see Mann as a technical stylist, a movie engineer. But spend five minutes with him and it鈥檚 clear he鈥檚 overwhelmingly consumed by the psychology of his characters. Driver estimates character psychology was 90% of their conversations.
鈥淗e鈥檚 not after technical things," Driver says. "The technical things are to support emotion and feeling, which is an intangible thing that he can鈥檛 control. He鈥檚 always after moments.鈥�
In playing Enzo, Driver acknowledges he was also to a certain extent playing Mann. 鈥淭here鈥檚 something I stole from him that made its way into the movie that I won鈥檛 give away,鈥� the actor says.
The two found a connection, Mann says, in their self-critical intensity. 鈥淚f something鈥檚 not working right, my first thought is it鈥檚 my fault,鈥� the director says. 鈥淚 think he鈥檚 the same way. We鈥檙e both, for better or worse, afflicted with that sense of responsibility.鈥�
Mann is currently developing 鈥淗eat 2鈥� as a film, potentially with Driver playing a young Neil McCauley, the character played by Robert De Niro in the original. (鈥淲e鈥檒l see what happens with 鈥楬eat 2,鈥欌�� says Driver. 鈥淲ho knows.鈥�)
鈥淚 look at Michael and I think, 鈥楾hank god we鈥檙e in the same orbit, relatively,鈥欌�� says Driver. 鈥淚 feel very emotional about Michael, that he exists.鈥�
On set in Modena, Driver witnessed Mann deal with all kinds of setbacks 鈥� waning time, location issues, distracted extras. 鈥淎nd Michael will just will his film into existence from sheer focus and tenacity," says Driver.
鈥淔errari,鈥� with a reported production budget of $95 million, was financed independently. The indie distributor Neon is releasing it. The movie is, by any measure, an exception. It's a film about racing devoted to character, a big-budget original movie in a film industry that usually devotes such resources to sequels or reboots.
鈥淚 make these movies,鈥� Mann shrugs. 鈥淚 make the movies I want to make.鈥�
Even in his 80s, Mann has lost little of his velocity.
鈥淚 know for myself, I鈥檓 better at doing a picture that has me on the frontier,鈥� Mann says. 鈥淲here it鈥檚 something I haven鈥檛 done before.鈥�
In that, it鈥檚 hard not to hear echoes of Vincent Hanna, Al Pacino鈥檚 detective in 鈥淗eat.鈥� 鈥淚 gotta hold on to my angst,鈥� Hanna said. 鈥淚 preserve it because I need it. It keeps me sharp, on the edge, where I gotta be.鈥�
鈥淚鈥檓 usually oriented to: I鈥檓 totally f---ed. What am I going to do next?" Mann says. "That tortures me.鈥�
Has anything changed in Mann's taste in movies over the years, either those he makes or watches? He ponders the question, mentioning an oft-returned-to favorite (John Huston's 鈥淭he Asphalt Jungle鈥�) and a recent favorite (Greta Gerwig's 鈥淏arbie鈥�). Then he answers.
鈥淚 probably have less patience for slow.鈥�
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Jake Coyle, The Associated Press
