Ferrari: Race to Immortality

The 1950s were turbulent times for motor racing, with a series of fatalities on the track and among spectators, and this documentary charts those controversies using ruthless team boss Enzo Ferrari as a pivot. In the same style as 2010's awards-laden Senna, director Daryl Goodrich's film features only vintage footage on screen, with voiceovers comprising archive recordings and fresh interviews from several major players. Ferrari's ogre-like presence dominates, his cavalier attitude to loss of life often chilling (when one of his team died after crashing on a practice circuit, his first question was "how's the car?"). Apparently, he pressured organisers of the 1955 Le Mans race to finish the contest, despite the deaths of nearly 80 spectators when a car spun off the track. The drivers themselves fare little better, their rampant egos leaving a nasty taste in the mouth; British Ferrari drivers Mike Hawthorn and Peter Collins are described as "irresponsible schoolboys". A visual treat for fans of fast cars, but the desire for immortality uncomfortably trumps any sense of morality.