There was an article in the "Arts" section of last Sunday's Washington Post that I had missed, but that my boss had saved for me. It was about the 75th Anniversary of Steve McQueen's birth, 3/24/1930, and the 25th Anniversary of his death on 11/7/1980. In celebration, New Line Cinema has just released the first season of his breakthrough TV series, "Wanted: Dead or Alive" on DVD and others are releasing collections of his films. For any guy growing up in the late 1950s or early 1960s, Steve McQueen epitomized "Cool" as no other actor, even Paul Newman. His roles in "The Magnificent Seven", "The Great Escape", and "The Cincinnati Kid" created the image of the coolly detached, slightly rebellious outsider that served him so well for the rest of his life. In 1968, with the release of "Bullitt", McQueen added THE iconic carchase to his repertoire. He did the driving of the Mustang during the shooting of those incredible scenes through the streets of San Francisco and I doubt that they will ever be equalled, not with real cars on real streets. That film made him a hero to car guys everywhere.
Then came "Le Mans" in 1971. This film is, quite simply, the best movie ever made about automobile racing and is, again, iconic for car guys. I cannot say enough about how much I love this film. It is, with "The Duellists" a film that I have watched at least every two or three months. There is little in the way of traditional action in the plot as McQueen felt that the race, itself, should provide all of the action that the plot needed. Yes, there are a couple of crash and burn sequences, they cannot be avoided in a car racing film, but they are not what the film is about. The film is about the race, and it catches the flavor better than any effort to do so that I have ever read or seen. I am particularly taken with the scenes of night racing, having worked Flag & Communications at tracks after dark. I am also taken with the way the film shows that Le Mans is so much more than a race. it is, of course, a city in France, but it also becomes a carnival and there is a Michelin 4 Star restaurant right beside the track, part of which is reserved for the drivers and teams as a place to eat and to escape the constant pressure from the crowds. There is a slight nod to romance, but not really, this is a car guy film. The real stars are the cars, the Porsche 917s and the Ferrari 512Ms, and McQueen has the sense to stand back and let that happen. This movie was a financial bust at the time of its release, but it is a true classic and it is one of the great films.
Here is a link to that Washington Post article:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/24/AR2005062400824.html
Then came "Le Mans" in 1971. This film is, quite simply, the best movie ever made about automobile racing and is, again, iconic for car guys. I cannot say enough about how much I love this film. It is, with "The Duellists" a film that I have watched at least every two or three months. There is little in the way of traditional action in the plot as McQueen felt that the race, itself, should provide all of the action that the plot needed. Yes, there are a couple of crash and burn sequences, they cannot be avoided in a car racing film, but they are not what the film is about. The film is about the race, and it catches the flavor better than any effort to do so that I have ever read or seen. I am particularly taken with the scenes of night racing, having worked Flag & Communications at tracks after dark. I am also taken with the way the film shows that Le Mans is so much more than a race. it is, of course, a city in France, but it also becomes a carnival and there is a Michelin 4 Star restaurant right beside the track, part of which is reserved for the drivers and teams as a place to eat and to escape the constant pressure from the crowds. There is a slight nod to romance, but not really, this is a car guy film. The real stars are the cars, the Porsche 917s and the Ferrari 512Ms, and McQueen has the sense to stand back and let that happen. This movie was a financial bust at the time of its release, but it is a true classic and it is one of the great films.
Here is a link to that Washington Post article:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/24/AR2005062400824.html
