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| Le Mans
Year: 1971
Classification: Action/Adventure
Directed:
- Lee H. Katzin
Actors/Actresses:
- Elga Andersen
- Siegfried Rauch
- Steve Mcqueen
a film for true race fans
Of all the classic race movies out there this is probably the most minimalistic and puristic one. Don't watch this movie for the rudimentary love story (if one can call it that way). Don't watch it for dialogue - Steve McQueen does not speak more than a 100 words in this film I would guess. Watch this movie for the breath-taking drama that develops in the pictures, since in racing a picture says definitely more than a 1000 words. The camera work is outstanding, and the story is built in a very detail-minded, documentary-type style that matches the coolness of McQueens persona. We see his charcter develop almost entirely in his actions, in the powerful flashback to an accident a year ago that he reflects upon as he returns to the same scene on the same track. As he drives to the track, stops his Porsche at the scene of the accident and stares back into the past, we begin to understand what kind of a racer he is .We see the quiet, yet passionate rivalry between him and his major competitor for the title in the Le Mans 24 hour race and we see his equally quiet interaction with the widow of the fellow driver who perished in that fateful accident. While personal interactions are very subdued, the true passion erupts on the race-track and this movie is superb in this regard. We see a generous and well-filmed display of the greatest prototypes and road-racers out there at the time. If you are a race-fan, you must see this movie, if you are not, you probably won't get it. As a race fan I give 5 stars.
Living tension
For anyone who went to the Sarthe circuit for the Le Mans 24 hour in the 1970s this is the film that captures it all, far better than any home video ever could. The cars are the stars, the PA system with its irregular English update provides the commentary, and the drivers are the hired bit players.
Anyone who bags this film does not understand the tension and drama of most dangerous motor race in the world, and shouldn't be reviewing the film. Most dangerous motor race in the world? Nudging 400 kph at night in a rainstorm is dangerous!
The dialogue is sparse, and so it should be: the racing engine whose deep bellow rises to a crescendo, the tortured tyres that screech at every misguided change in direction and the chilling sound of shattering fibreglass, perspex and composite alloys tell the viewer what is really happening.
How real is this film? The camera car, which is seen in at least one scene entering the pit straight, came ninth outright. One of the drivers lost his leg during a practice shunt that is caught on film. There are fudges in the filming; note when MacQueen destoys his car the back wheels are still spinning long after the Porsche has bounced off a few armco fences. The accelerator was wedged open to prolong the crash.
Steve MacQueen's legacy to the motor racing enthusiast is one of the purest films made.
It will bore you indefinitely....
The photography is really amazing, but the movie is simply boring. Al least, at the end the victory goes to Larry Wilson, not for Steve "Michael Delaney" McQueen, what is a good turn to the movie. (The POrsche cars wew driven by pilots such as Jacky Ickx).
The idea of this movie was to document the suspense, drama, power and energy of a 24-hour race at Le Mans (the 1970 edition. It accomplished its purpose, but it's not a great movie experience.
Buy Le Mans at Amazon.com
Buy posters at Allposters.com
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