Remo Girone was persuasive playing men accustomed to being obeyed, and good at giving them something human beneath the menace. The recurring bosses could feel familiar; his Ferrari had a convincing concern for quality.
Fi1m perspective
Enzo Ferrari presides over Ford v Ferrari (2019) as a man who expects his judgement to be accepted. Remo Girone makes the carmaker's concern for quality credible, giving us a reason to respect someone so accustomed to deference. We warmed to his Ferrari because there is something to him beyond the pleasure of being in charge. This was Girone's particular strength in roles of this kind: he could make a powerful, calculating man worth watching without making him agreeable.
The part that established him was Tano Cariddi, the crooked banker he began playing in La Piovra in 1987 and returned to across several seasons. He brought humanity to the menace, giving a villain enough depth to sustain interest beyond the immediate threat. The later international work often kept him in familiar territory, including mob boss Maso Pescatore in Ben Affleck's Live by Night (2016). The reservation is about the repeated casting: another criminal or imposing superior could leave too little room for anything else.
James Mangold's Ford v Ferrari makes useful room for that imposing presence, though we recommend it chiefly for Matt Damon, Christian Bale and the driving. Their friendship is persuasive, and the racing is gripping enough to justify the long evening. The corporate interference becomes repetitive before the script is finished with it. Girone's performance need not be blamed for that, or inflated into the main reason the film works.
The Equalizer 3 (2023) offers a change of occupation: his Enzo Arisio is a doctor helping the protagonist in Italy. That is a welcome departure from the bosses, though the film itself is a weaker prospect. Denzel Washington remains watchable, but the handsome small-town setting and savage violence cannot make up for the shortage of ideas. Start with Ford v Ferrari for Girone's imposing side; save the doctor for an evening when Washington's company is enough.
Biography
Remo Girone (1948–2025) was an Italian film and stage actor. He trained at the Silvio d’Amico National Academy of Dramatic Arts in Rome and worked in theatre, cinema and television from the mid-1970s.
He was best known for the role of Tano Cariddi in the Italian television series La Piovra (1987–2001). His film credits include Live by Night (2016) as Maso Pescatore, Ford v Ferrari (2019) as Enzo Ferrari and The Equalizer 3 (2023) as Dr Enzo Arisio. He received lifetime achievement awards at the Venice International Film Festival and the Flaiano Awards in 2021.
Girone was married to actress Victoria Zinny.
