Le Mans - der Film zum Film

    Steve McQueen: The Man & Le Mans is a 2015 documentary directed by John McKenna and Gabriel Clarke. It premiered at the 68th Cannes Film Festival and was one of only two British films to be an official selection for the Cannes Film Festival in 2015.[1]

    The film focuses on the time when film star Steve McQueen tried to take control of his career. After the success of Bullitt and The Thomas Crown Affair, McQueen sought to pursue his dream of creating a film about his passion: race-car driving. The result, Le Mans, was a box-office flop.

    McQueen, who did a lot of his own motorcycle and car driving stunts, drove a Porsche with a broken clutch-foot to finish second at Sebring.[2] Based on previously unseen footage, the documentary interweaves the newly discovered material and McQueen's private recordings with interviews with many of the surviving production team to reveal the true story of how the film was made.[3] The documentary depicts how McQueen set up his own production company called Solar Productions and, with the collaboration of a new Hollywood company named Cinema Center Films, would film the 24 Hours of Le Mans race in the summer of 1970. Cinema Center Films invested $6 million ($37 million today) in the movie, the largest budget ever for a McQueen film.[3] John Sturges would direct the picture; he had worked with Steve in The Magnificent Seven and The Great Escape. Additionally Alan Trustman, McQueen's most trusted writer, was initially chosen to write the script.[4]

    In the film, Hal Hamilton exclaims, "We had the star, we had the drivers. We had an incredible array of technical support, we had everything. Except a script." Haig Altounian, Steve's chief mechanic, said, 'We were winging it." Cinema Center Films (which had not previously been involved in the filming process) took over the production after a few months and suspended production for two weeks (even giving Robert Redford a call to see if he would replace McQueen). Cinema Center Films considered shutting down the film completely, but eventually struck a deal with McQueen, in which he gave up his salary, his percentage of any profits and his control of the film, in order to get it finished.[3] John Sturges walked out, saying, "I am too old and too rich to put up with this shit." McQueen fell out with Trustman and fired him; Trustman barely worked in Hollywood again.[3] McQueen's producer Robert Relyea fell out with McQueen and television director Lee H. Katzin took over.

    During filming several accidents occurred. Derek Bell was one of the drivers involved in a near fatal accident. The Ferrari 512 he was driving suddenly caught fire whilst getting into position for a take. He managed to get out of the car just before it was engulfed in flames and suffered minor burns.[5] David Piper was the second driver involved in a major incident. He had to have his leg amputated as a result. It is revealed in the documentary that after the accident David and Steve never saw each other again. Off screen, Steve crashed a personal car in a major accident, injuring Mario Iscovich, his personal assistant, and the film's female lead, starlet Louise Edlind. In order to avoid a scandal, Mario took the blame for the accident and soon left the set without a job. Steve was extremely paranoid that Louise would reveal the truth and ruin his film whilst filming.[3]

    During this time, Steve McQueen became increasingly paranoid as a result of finding out he was on Charles Manson's kill list.[6] It led him to pursue a license to get a gun to protect himself.[4] His marriage to Neile Adams McQueen was falling apart as well. Clarke says, "after years of quietly tolerating Steve's innumerable indiscretions, Neile revealed that she had had an affair of her own".[2]

    The documentary suggests that the disasters on set and the financial problems that plagued the film had more of an effect on McQueen than anyone thought at the time, leading to the collapse of his business empire and marriage.[3] Chrissy Iley explains how McQueen imagined building a movie empire and taking control of his career as a film maker. His first step would be Le Mans, the definitive racing movie. Le Mans was a creative and box-office disappointment upon its release the following year, although it retains a reputation, particularly among auto sports fans, for the documentary-like authenticity with which it catches the racing ethos and experience.[4] Steve McQueen didn't even bother going to the premiere and he never raced in a car again.[7]

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/…ueen:_The_Man_%26_Le_Mans