When this 1958 Testarossa arrived on set on the Arizona/Utah border, I was struck by its curvaceous beauty. Our initial leaning was to shoot head on and we did exactly that, but when I saw the car in profile, its length and ground hugging architecture was visually arresting. I knew that I had to play on this and where better to do this than in Monument Valley - John Ford’s favourite playground? He kept returning here as he knew he had found a topographic stage without equal. In his own words “it afforded him an extra character for free”.
John Ford was a stickler for horizons and camera angles. Anyone who watched the Fabelmans, specifically the last scene, will know what I am getting at.
I am a lucky man. To be filming with this car, in this most grand of settings, with the female powerhouse that is Brooks Nader, is like getting the first, second and third at the Kentucky Derby. When I set the shot up, I wanted to glorify the length of the car and the vista behind stirred the alchemy that gave us this celebration of life on earth.
It is a beautiful world. Ferrari gets it, John Ford got it and I am learning all the time.