Steve McQueen: The Man & Le Mans Page #3

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superstar, Steve McQueen.

He was admired by

the other drivers

as a real, professional racer.

MAN:
The interweaving of film

and racing was now perfect.

It was a natural.

His next step was the 24 Hours

of Le Mans and to race there.

MAN:
This was going

to be a lasting memory

of Steve McQueen, this film.

Steve wanted to really do the

movie of all time, the movie

for all generations, the movie

that captures the smells,

the noise, the feeling of

car racing like no other film

ever had.

It was a really big deal.

-Hi, guys.

-Bonjour.

How you doing?

[french speech]

Merci.

Wow.

It's been what, 40 years?

[sighs]

Ha!

MAN:
Before Solar

was even started,

McQueen decided he

was going to make

the ultimate racing picture.

MAN:
There was a project called

"The Day of the Champion"

that never got made.

MAN:
It was shut down.

MAN:
John Frankenheimer got

there first, with "Grand Prix."

Oh my god, get out.

Get out of here, you.

Give this guy hell, this driver.

Get the Ferrari out of here.

Change the lens on

that, and let's go.

I've got to remember

which is which.

MAN:
James Garner was

involved in "Grand Prix."

I've been driving it backwards.

MAN:
And that left a very

bitter taste in Steve's mouth.

Jim, where exactly do

you use your brakes?

All right.

All right, good.

MAN:
Another actor, and here he

was, taking the subject matter,

and running with it.

MAN:
Steve's apartment was

above James Garner's apartment

in the same neighborhood.

And Steve would urinate

out the window at night

on the flower boxes

of James Garner below.

And as he performed this act,

he went, you pissed on my film.

And now, I piss on you.

What is that?

Paint?

No, no.

Close your eyes.

[Laughing]

It's all right.

Cut it out.

It's not funny.

I can see him sitting

in the theater,

watching that and

saying, oh, sh*t.

It's just another movie.

His sense of racing

was so personal.

If there was going to be

one definitive movie about

that sport, he wanted to do it.

This is a treatment for "Le

Mans" and general comments

dated October 2nd, 1969.

Ha.

"Grand Prix," a prime

example of a director

playing with himself in public.

[Laughs]

We have to reach high in

a picture like "La Mans,"

or there is no

purpose in making it.

Well, how perfect is this?

OK.

Battle stations.

[Laughing]

MAN:
We all remember the scene

in "Apocalypse Now," where

up the river, Kurtz has

built a piece of America

in the middle of hostile jungle.

That is what Steve

McQueen decided

to lower in to rural Le Mans,

and that was SoLA Village.

[french speech]

MAN:
We want to photograph

the entire race,

and then we want to recreate it.

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