While we all know the big titles vying in the Competition slots at Cannes, the festival also does a great job each year of honoring cinema’s past, both by screening restored films and highlighting new projects about legendary figures. And this year, some light will be shining on Steve McQueen, with a documentary about the notorious making of his 1971 film "Le Mans." And a couple of clips have arrived for those who can’t make it to the Croisette.
Directed by Gabriel Clarke and John McKenna, the duo explore a movie that was sort of the "Mad Max: Fury Road" of its day. "Le Mans" featured little in the way of dialogue or plot, but was heavy on driving, as you might expect from a racing movie. However, this was before CGI, and everything was shot on location with actual vehicles during the real race. This meant no shortage of danger, but McQueen — a massive fan of the sport — was undeterred in seeing it through, particularly as the production came during a particularly rocky time in his life. Here’s the official synopsis:
‘Senna’ meets ‘Bullitt’ in ‘Steve McQueen: The Man & Le Mans’ – an extraordinary, moving, white-knuckle drive with one of the greatest movie stars of all time, and the film that almost destroyed him.
By 1970, hot off the back of ‘The Magnificent Seven’, ‘The Great Escape’, ‘The Cincinnati Kid’, ‘The Thomas Crown Affair’ and ‘Bullitt’, Steve McQueen was at the top of his game, and in such a powerful position in Hollywood that he could work for himself, choose his own material and reap the benefits. At last he could make the film that had been his passion for the best part of a decade, centred around the greatest test of driving skill in the world – a 24-hour race in France called LE MANS. And so began a life-changing 6 months for racing fanatic McQueen, both on set and off it. In the middle of filming the most dangerous car race movie of all time, legendary director John Sturges quit, McQueen’s marriage fell apart and his company was on the brink of bankruptcy; and all the while he was in constant fear for his life after learning that he was on the top of Charles Manson’s ‘death list’. Interweaving original insight and revelation with a remarkable sound archive – as well as hours of never-before-seen film that has remained untouched in basements and garages in Paris and LA, ‘The Man & Le Mans’ takes the viewer inside the mind of this driven, complex movie idol as he fought to save his film – set to the soundtrack of his own voice.
There’s no U.S. distribution for this one yet, but hopefully a deal gets wrapped up soon. Check out the clips below along with the film’s poster.
