Car Movies We Dig: "Le Mans"

The 24 Hours of Le Mans is this weekend and per my ritual I will watch the 1971 Steve McQueen drama, “Le Mans” before the big race. I watch this movie alone because I can’t imagine that my family would enjoy a two-hour plus pseudo-documentary about a car race.

I say “pseudo-documentary” because there isn’t a lot of dialogue or a strong plot. The cars are awesome. The scenery of the track and town are ideal. Plus you get Steve McQueen. “Le Mans” is largely for gearheads or McQueen devotees, not for the casual fan in either genre.

“Le Mans” is McQueen’s opus and attempt to produce a masterpiece in motorsports cinema that have never been seen before and would never be eclipsed. One could make a strong argument that he succeeded in making the greatest motorsports movie, off the top of my head “Rush” is on the list and so is “Ford vs Ferrari”, but this isn’t the deepest genre for great cinema.

At the very least McQueen succeeded in bringing true racing action to a mainstream culture (movie goers) that would have been largely ignored by non-racing fans. His vision of using real drivers on the track and splicing it with actual footage worked for cinematic purposes in that you feel like part of the race and this is also why “Le Mans” can sometimes seem like a documentary.

Is the documentary-style of “Le Mans” the appeal to gearheads and Steve McQueen fans?

I think so, as a gearhead and McQueen fan, that the simple nature of the production with minimal dialogue and plot is kinda’ cool. Yes there is drama and some legit actors in “Le Mans” (Louise Edlind is great in a supporting role) but for the most part you are focused on the cars and the track. I’m a big fan of “Rush” and I think Ron Howard did a good job putting it together but a few of the more dramatic moments were a bit contrived as a means to appeal to a larger audience, as opposed to just F1 fans.

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“Rush” is good and I’ve watched it numerous times but it’s not a “serious” motorsports movie. I’m using “serious” in that it takes some creative liberties in storytelling, as opposed to the straight dope. But movies like “Rush” make money and “Le Mans” wasn’t a big draw at the box office.

It’s lack of wider appeal is apparent when you consider for movies released in 1971 “Le Mans” was the 48th in box office gross, just ahead of “Duck, You Sucker”.

But that’s not the point for a McQueen movie released 50-years ago.

The point is that “Le Mans”, though a flawed production, is still iconic for motorsports fans after all these decades.

Not many films can stay relevant for half a century and “Le Mans” pulled it off.

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Car Movies We Dig: “Le Mans”

By David Castro | Aug 19, 2021

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