Le Mans

The first dialogue in this film comes at 37 minutes after the first glimpse of Steve McQueen's Porsche 911. That about sums up the priorities of this unique film. Apart from McQueen, the actors are not terribly well known, it's the cars that are stars – the Porsche 917 and the Ferrari 312P.

For someone who has fallen out of love with motor racing this movie really involved me. I wasn't aware that it was the British Grand Prix this weekend, though I could have easily predicted the winner. Ferrari is no longer a romantic name for me. There is no plot in the film, and the action is episodic. Yet again, this is a film that cannot be made today, and a part of it is a big chunk of nostalgia. The atmosphere of rural France in 1970 is really palpable, and the dirt and danger of the racing is apparent in every frame. Also the use of lenses and focus and film grain is very beautiful.

The on track scenes are really fantastic. The two major crash sequences are beautifully filmed in slow motion and somewhat horrifically beautiful. The way the cars bounce between the rails is almost balletic. The knowledge that one of the stunt drivers lost a leg in the making of the crash sequences adds to the poignancy. This was a real film, a quasi-documentary, shot with real cars on the real track with real drivers like Jacky Ickx and Steve McQueen himself

The acting, what little of it there is, works very well as it is so restrained. The melodrama is kept to an absolute minimum. The off track story never lasts more than a few minutes and usefully breaks up the on track action. The Michel Legrand score is lovely and complements the film without distracting from the raison d'etre – the cars and the race.

Again I am watching films from the late 60s / early 70s. This period really feels like the end of an era, after which films started getting more commercially oriented, more marketing driven. Another film of the same ilk is of course Grand Prix. From what I remember this has much more melodrama off track, but as the main leads are Yves Montand and Eva Maria Saint, that's OK by me. Of course Grand Prix has the benefit of being able to see on screen the racing starts of the day, memorably spoofed by Robbie Williams in Love Supreme. And the split screen racing shots stick in my mind too. These days racing is just not dangerous enough.