Le Mans (1971)

Director: Lee H. Katzin

Starring: Steve McQueen, Siegfried Rauch, Elga Andersen

Two car racing champions, an American and a German, face off on the world’s hardest endurance course: Le Mans in France.

Ok, this was a weird movie. If you enjoy watching Grand Prix, then you will love ‘Le Mans’. If, like me, you expect to be entertained by a movie, then you’ll be disappointed. This was like watching a live broadcast of Grand Prix racing instead of watching a movie. With the lack of film score, it felt like I was streaming a real-life event. They even used footage of the actual event in the film…

‘Le Mans’ is nothing more than an advertising vessel for the sponsors. The film’s draw card is Steve McQueen, who actually does almost nothing in the movie, except driving, and looking dashing. ‘Le Mans’ doesn’t follow any of the rules of film making. There is no antagonist, no protagonist, and hardly any dialogue. The bit of dialogue there is, wasn’t even all that interesting. Almost an hour into the film there hardly were any character introductions. There’s no story, no inciting incident, nothing. It literally is just a race.

As the camera panned across the spectators, there were images of people looking bored – which was an illustration of how I felt. I mean, is this an actual movie? If it wasn’t for Steve McQueen I’m sure the film would have gone unnoticed.

‘Le Mans’ is strictly for car racing enthusiasts, and McQueen fans. As for me, I was bored.

Would I watch it again? Nope.