Le Mans

There's not much story here but there isn't much pretense, either. It's a racing movie and a damn good one at that. I'm not particularly devoted to the genre, but I found the footage to be very realistic and exciting. The script is there just barely enough to keep this from being a documentary. It does contain a tiny bit of insight, when a deceased racer's widow asks McQueen why is it worth risking one's life just to drive really fast. (I thought he had a pretty good answer.)

This movie is a well-rendered insider's view of a spectacular event from a bygone era. If this sounds like it might have some appeal to you, by all means, check this title out.

The reason why most racing movies fail, is because the Hollywood people try to tie in some cheesy plot to the highly professional sports of auto racing. In real life car racing, there is no dramatic love story, no struggle between good and evil, no rebel against the authority. In real life, racing is all about speed, physical strength, and concentration, anything else is just distraction.

Rather than put in a third rate plot to make a crappy story out of it like Driven or any other racing flick has done(including the Grand Prix), Steve McQueen's Le Mans has chosen to walk the different path, to bring the true spirit of car racing on the big screen. Who cares if there is no plot, no conversation, or no love story. If you are looking for those things, you are watching the wrong movie. The sound of the 917 blast down the Mulsanne at full throttle is well worth the time to watch this movie.

Sadly, this is probably the last of the true racing movies. The world today is impossible to make a movie out of real racing car(every single race car in Le Mans is real. The Porsche 917, the Ferrari 512S, The Lola T70). Driven uses mock CART car based on Indy Light, plus a whole lot of crappy CGI car, Grand Prix uses the F2 car that looks like the F1 at the time. A movie like Le Mans probably will never be made again.

In parts this is classic cool 70s cinema. Widescreen jazz infused. In other parts it's down and dirty trackside racing. Never quite a documentary, but close enough to the action for anyone interested in motor racing. Le Mans is a fascinating race and this is every bit the love letter to it. Dialogue is sparse, McQueen is quiet and brooding. The plot is simple, although could've been a bit more engaging. It's about the racing though, pure and simple and with several sequences that are nothing short of staggering cinematic brilliance, it can be forgiven for any inadequacies elsewhere. With watching racing, it's as much about what's happening off the track, the strategy, the politics and it's exactly the same with this film, the production fraught with issues and squabbles, the trivia section on IMDB is riveting!

Steve McQueen stars in this film that recreates the race at Le Mans, France. However, he is less the star and more the object of the camera's focus more than any of the other racers--but it's a very unusual film. As a result, "Le Mans" is one of the more difficult films I have reviewed. That's because its style is nothing like a traditional film. The narrative is nothing like a standard film and it plays like a fictionalized version of a documentary. So, if you are looking for dialog and an interplay of characters, this is NOT a film for you! Instead, it's as if the entire 24 hours of Le Mans were crammed into a nearly two-hour film. To do this, the middle section of the race was condensed heavily, but the beginning and end of the race is live and it's clearly like you are there watching all the action--up close as if you are in the car or next to it. And wow, is it tense--as I found my arms and legs moving and contracting with the action. And, in this sense, it's a brilliant film and is the closest most of us will ever get to driving a race car ourselves. Exceptional but I cannot compare it to anything I've ever seen before--you just need to see this one to understand what I am talking about in my somewhat vague description. Sorry...it just seems to defy mere words.

jrfranklin01 mentions that it doesn't make sense to put McQueens character in the car when he's just had a crash caused by a lack of attention. I can't remember the precise dialogue, but he definitely mentions the problems of following a slower car.

This is a typical Le Mans accident and I think the point is that the team manager knows that Delaney is his fastest driver and that even the best can get caught out by slower cars. Indead Jo Bonnier who did some of the driving for the film was killed at Le Mans (1971, I think) in an incident with a slower car.

Also of note, my DVD copy of the movie came free with my programme when I attended the race this year. They know that many people's love of the 24 hours has a lot to do with the atmosphere created in this movie. You will appreciate this movie more if you've been woken by the sunrise and the sound of racing engines at the circuit :-) Ben