La passione (1996) User Reviews

Brilliant. Good luck finding a copy though.

[neilcoo · 10/10 · 2 August 2011]

I loved this movie. OK I'm English, a classic car nut and I love Chris Rea's music anyway but I found this movie really resonated with me. I especially loved the vintage movie sequences featuring old racing Ferraris and the late 50's 'jet set' in their natural habitat. If you are of a certain age and European, I dare you to see this movie and not be moved by nostalgia for 'simpler times'.

This movie was obviously a personal labour of love for Chris Rea. It unashamedly has the feel of an art-house project rather than the boringly formulaic over-productions that the Hollywood megastudios excrete. I understand others who have had little exposure to anything else might misinterpret La Passione's difference in production values as a shortcoming, however I think they only serve to make the movie feel more personal and unique, which is all the better for it.

Shirley Bassey was a fantastic choice for her role in this movie. She looks and sounds as amazing as ever. She is evidently getting even better with age as only the truly great musicians and artists do.

My only disappointment is that this movie appears still to have never been released on DVD or Blu-Ray. I would love the opportunity to buy and watch La Passione again without the significant image and sound quality loss inherent with VHS.

Definitely a passion but not for everyone

[jezz223 · 5/10 · 11 February 2005]

I sat down to watch this film with great anticipation as I like Chris Rea, a nut for classic racing cars and also for everything Italian. Well, I was disappointed. This film is very slow and the story tends to meander and at times goes off at tangents. Apparently the story is semi-biographical of Chris Rea and I can understand why he would want to make it. The story centres on a young boy who has inherited his Italian father's passion for Motor Racing and in particular the Ferrari team.>SPOILER> The story culminates on the death of a racing hero,Wolfgang von Trips,(a real event)and the effect it has on the young boy. La Passione may appeal to die hard racing fans but being one,I wouldn't choose to sit through it again. There is a special feature on the video about the making of the film which is very interesting and goes into detail of how Chris Rea commissioned a replica to be built of the Ferrari "shark nose" car that was used for filming.(none of the original cars remain). I have given a vote of 5 but only for the racing footage and for the special feature.

shirley, do you own a ferrari?

[mihranqwerty · 2/10 · 22 February 2022]

Quite dreadful. Perhaps some poignant childhood memories... but really badly put together and no plot.

I give it more than one star because we left the cinema half way through and maybe something miraculous saves it (i read the plot many years later on wikipedia... no miracles).

My then girlfriend took me to see it because i like cars and she likes italy... we've been married 24 years and we always remember how much we both did not like this film.

Comically bad.

Worst film I've ever seen

[ccrobertson78 · 1/10 · 11 April 2018]

My personal opinion, this was the worst film I've ever seen. It was so boring and the storyline was poor. Some will love it I hated it each to their own!