f you could set a time
machine’s controls
for any year in
modern history, 1966
would be a good place to stop.
The Beatles released Revolver.
England won the World Cup.
And the history of motorsport
was changed forever in the
most exciting race ever to
scorch the tarmac. It doesn’t
matter if you haven’t heard
of the ‘24 Hours of Le Mans’.
All you need to know is that
this round-the-clock event in
northern France is the longest,
hardest and hairiest contest in
visual spectacle is the human
story behind the horsepower.
Matt Damon has never been
better as ace US automotive
designer, Carroll Shelby, tasked
with the seemingly impossible
job of creating a Ford race
car that can trump the Italian
stallion. And with gifted-but-
unpredictable British driver
Ken Miles (Christian Bale)
behind the wheel of Shelby’s
new Ford GT40, the pair will
either be popping champagne
on the podium – or leaving
France in a wooden box.
This odd couple’s fiery
“It’s a film about friendship
more than anything else”
the motorsport calendar. And
with Le Mans ’66, director
James Mangold’s true story
catches the high-speed thrills
and personal drama of the year
when Ford’s plucky engineers
took on the mighty Ferrari.
Motorsport fans will flock
to Le Mans ’66 hoping for
action – and they won’t be
disappointed by the big
screen’s most heart-in-mouth
racing sequences to date, so
real you’ll flinch behind your
popcorn bucket as the cars tear
round hairpin bends. But what
lifts this movie above a simple
chemistry might not always run
smooth: along the way, there
are fall-outs, fist-fights and
black eyes. But with Mangold
pushing the same emotional
buttons that defined his
previous hits like Walk the
Line and Logan, you’ll be
drawn in by a classic David-
versus-Goliath tale that sees
two underdogs bond in the face
of adversity. “It’s a film about
friendship more than anything
else,” says the director. Start
your engines on 15 November!
Le Mans ’66 – out 15 November
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