Le Mans, Le Womans

I think I got the idea from Larry Ardlette, of the recently departed blog, Welcome to L.A. Mr A is famous for starting and abandoning film blogs, like Bing Crosby does with nightclubs in Blue Skies. I hope he opens another blog soon. He was doing a John Frankenheimer tribute and was praising Grand Prix. So I put that in my queue, but also queued up Le Mans. L.A. said he hasn't seen it, but it couldn't have better racing than Grand Prix.

Now, I haven't seen Grand Prix, but it couldn't have better racing than Le Mans.

The background (as I understand it): In 1969, Steve McQueen comes in second in Sebring, narrowly beaten by Mario Andretti. He is inspired to race the 24 hours of Le Mans, and film it. His insurance co. does not allow this, but he does get a Porsche fixed up with cameras on the front, back, side and dashboard, and enter it into the race. (Even with extra pitstops to change film, it came in ninth). Once he has the footage, he has to wrap a film around it.

The movie has a spare, documentary feel, partly due to all the documentary footage, of course. But the philosophy seems Altmanesque - show everything, and let the viewers figure it out. There is little dialog, and it is mostly obscured by engine noise. Most of the exposition comes from the race announcer over the loudspeaker. The camera treats the stars almost as it treats the extras, more interesting scenery. And cameras are a recurrent motif, with tourists and journalists snapping everything in site, adding a layer of meta to the verite.

I'll skip over the "plot", which involves Elga Andersen, beautiful Le Mans widow. The real plot is the race, a grudge match between Team Ferrari and Team Porsche, with Our Hero driving for Porsche. The race is intense, a 24-hour test of the endurance of drivers and vehicles. The footage from the real race and the interpolated staged action is gripping. My heart was literally pounding for most of the movie.

I was going to "spoil" the ending, but I don't think I'll bother. It is dramatic and satisfying. I can't imagine a better race movie. When we watch Grand Prix, I'll let you know.