Movie Review - Le Mans

Le Mans (1971) - How is this not the greatest movie of all time?  It has Steve McQueen and race cars.  It is one of the greatest auto racing movies of all time.

OK, it's NOT the greatest movie of all time.  But it is a stunning racing movie.

The first thing you need to know is that this movie isn't about the people in it.  The first line by any of the major characters comes 37 minutes into the film.  There's not a lot of other dialogue prior to that either.  Mostly background chatter and the race announcer (which, if you know little about racing and especially Le Mans, is incredibly educational) but nothing that is vital the plot.

The story is very simple.  Michael Delaney (Steve McQueen) was involved in an accident last year at Le Mans that resulted in the death of a Ferrari driver.  This year he must not only compete with the other drivers but must deal with the demons of that accident and the presence of the Ferrari driver's widow Lisa (the stunningly beautiful Elsa Andersen).  The only other story line is with one of the other drivers (Ritter played by Siegfried Rausch) who is contemplating making this Le Mans his swan song.

The rest of the movie is about the racing.  If you're one of those people who watch races waiting for the crashes there are a couple of spectacular crashes.  (and if you are one of those people you're a cretin)

This is old school racing.  Safety harnesses had been introduced less than a decade before, the race tracks lacked modern shock absorbing barriers and run off areas.  Le Mans is a different kind of racing than most Americans know.  This is endurance racing.  Now before some Indy 500 fan or NASCAR fan starts yapping about their 600 mile races think about this.  Le Mans winners routinely log 3,000+ miles in 24 hours of driving.  All at speeds well in excess of 100 miles per hour.  In the end speed is not the essence of the race.  The technical name for this race is The Gran Prix of Endurance and Efficiency.  The goal is to endure.  24 hours with only the shortest breaks, 3 drivers rotating through the race, every system of the car stretched to its utmost.

If you're an auto racing fan this is a must have, ***** rating movie.

Rating - **** Recommended

Movie Review - Senna

Senna (2010) - This is for racing fans.  The documentary follows the racing career of the great Brazilian Formula One driver Ayrton Senna through his tragic death at Imola in 1994.  Senna put the world on notice  from the moment he slid down into the cockpit of an F1 machine.  Astoundingly fast, intensely competitive and brilliant in the rain Senna was beloved by fans (especially in his home country).  At the same time he was something of an anomaly in the racing world being overtly religious and unapologetic about it.  That faith led him to be far more direct and honest than is sometimes wise in the extremely political world of F1.  His rivalry and crashes with the great French driver Alain Prost added to the drama.  In the end result if Senna had a good car under him he could be virtually unbeatable.

Unfortunately in the final racing season of his life Senna did not have a good car.  In fact the argument could be made that no one did.  The previous season had seen the addition of many electronic driving aids that disturbed the competitive balance and removed some of the influence of the driver's skills from the race.  The resulting cars were skittish and hard to handle.  The San Marino Grand Prix was marred by a series of accidents.  Young Brazilian driver Rubens Barichello had a tremendous shunt during qualifying, rookie driver Roland Ratzenberger was killed later in qualifying and then at the start of the race proper there was a spectacular accident on the grid when Pedro Lamy drove right up the back of JJ Lehto when Lehto's car stalled.  Just 7 laps later Senna's Williams race car would fail to make the turn at the Tamburello curve and slam into a retaining wall.

The movie does a wonderful job of presenting all the sides of Ayrton Senna.  His brilliance, his humility, his ruthlessness, his spirituality.  Fans of Alain Prost may have reservations about the less than complimentary view of him.  Formula One is filled with strong personalities and lots of politics.  The movie itself makes great use of Senna family movies, in car footage and news coverage.

A split rating for this one.
Rating = **** Recommended (for the average viewer) ***** Gotta Own It (if you're a racing fan)