Le Mans 1955 (film)

Last updated
Le Mans 1955
Le Mans 1955 (film).jpg
Written byJulien Lilti
Story byl M
Directed byQuentin Baillieux
Music byAli Elvis Helnwein
Country of originFrance
Original languagesEnglish, French
Production
ProducerNicolas de Rosanbo & Carole Lambert
EditorBenjamin Massoubre & Vincent Tricon
Running time15 minutes
Original release
Network Canal+
ReleaseJune 30, 2018 (2018-06-30) [1]

Le Mans 1955 is a 2018 French adult animated short film directed by Quentin Baillieux and produced by Nicolas de Rosanbo & Carole Lambert [2] inspired by the 1955 Le Mans disaster. The short has been presented in a number of festivals including in the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival and the Annecy International Animated Film Festival in 2019, [3] [4] [5] and won awards such as the St. Louis International Film Festival for Best Animated Short Film [6] award, qualifying it for the Oscars.

Contents

Plot

24 Hours of Le Mans, 1955. 300,000 spectators are in attendance. Mercedes-Benz's Silver Arrows, fielding an international all-star team of drivers, are the favorites to win. For their team manager, Alfred Neubauer, it is his final race before retirement. As such, he hopes to win big, and is pinning his hopes on his first team of Juan Manuel Fangio and Stirling Moss. The team's second car, driven by Pierre Levegh and John Fitch, is to support them and make sure they keep the lead. Fitch is disappointed that they aren't being trusted to take the lead spot, but Levegh assures him that they could still be the winning car, as "anything can happen in 24 hours."

The Le Mans start sees early trouble for the Mercedes team when Fangio's car stalls at the start, leaving Levegh as the primary car. As Fitch watches, Levegh tries to catch the leading Jaguar of Mike Hawthorn, while Fangio struggles to make up for lost time. At 6:26 p.m., as the Mercedes drivers are preparing to switch for the next leg, a huge fireball erupts in the stands across from the pits. Fangio, coming in to switch with Moss, reports that the source is Levegh's car, which has left the track and crashed into the crowd, killing many people.

After observing the carnage, Neubauer notices that Moss is moving up, and mentions to Fitch that they can still win. Fitch berates Neubauer for his apparent cold-heartedness to the situation and urges him to withdraw Moss's car, which Neubauer is reluctant to do. In the early light of dawn, just as Moss takes the lead, Neubauer makes the decision to pull Mercedes-Benz out of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, declaring, "We are racing drivers, we're not monsters."

The film ends with intertitles explaining how Mercedes-Benz were the only team to withdraw from the race and did not compete in motorsports for 43 years, that Fitch dedicated himself to road safety, and that with a death count of 80 people, the crash remains the deadliest accident in motorsports history.

Cast

Awards

Since its launch, the film has received numerous awards, and selected in more than 75 festivals around the world. [8]

YearPresenter/FestivalAward/CategoryStatus
2018Off Courts - Trouville (France)"Best animated short film"Nominated
Warsaw International Film Festival (Poland)"Best animated short film"Nominated
St. Louis International Film Festival (USA)"Best Animated Short Film"Won
2019French Animation Film Festival, Rennes (France)"Grand Prix for a Professional Short Film"Won
Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma (France) César Award for Best Short Film Shortlisted [9]
Annecy International Animated Film Festival (France)"Best Animated Short Film 2019"Nominated
Animamundi Film Festival (Brazil)"Best Animated Short Film"Nominated
Animayo, Las Palmas, Canary Islands (Spain)"Best Art Direction"Won
Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia, Tokyo (China, Japan)"Best CG"Nominated
HollyShorts Film Festival - Los Angeles (USA)"Best Animated Short Film"Nominated

Historical inaccuracies

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pierre Levegh</span> French racing driver (1905–1955)

Pierre Eugène Alfred Bouillin was a French sportsman and racing driver. He took the racing name Pierre Levegh in memory of his uncle Alfred Velghe, a pioneering driver who died in 1904. Levegh died in the 1955 Le Mans disaster which also killed 83 spectators during the 1955 24 Hours of Le Mans automobile race.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alfred Neubauer</span> German racing driver and team manager (1891–1980)

Alfred Neubauer was the racing manager of the Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix team from 1926 to 1955.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jaguar D-Type</span> Race car produced 1954–1957

The Jaguar D-Type is a sports racing car that was produced by Jaguar Cars Ltd. between 1954 and 1957. Designed specifically to win the Le Mans 24-hour race, it shared the straight-6 XK engine and many mechanical components with its C-Type predecessor. Its structure, however, was radically different, with innovative monocoque construction and slippery aerodynamics that integrated aviation technology, including in some examples a distinctive vertical stabilizer.

John Cooper Fitch was an American racing driver and inventor. He was the first American to race automobiles successfully in Europe in the post-war era.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR</span> 1955 racing car

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The 1955 Le Mans disaster was a major crash that occurred on 11 June 1955 during the 24 Hours of Le Mans motor race at Circuit de la Sarthe in Le Mans, Sarthe, France. Large pieces of debris flew into the crowd, killing 83 spectators and French driver Pierre Levegh, and injuring around 120 more. It was the most catastrophic crash in motorsport history, prompting multiple countries in Europe to ban motorsports nationwide; Switzerland only lifted its ban in 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mercedes-Benz W196</span> Formula One racing automobile

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The 1955 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 23rd 24 Hours of Le Mans and took place on 11 and 12 June 1955 on Circuit de la Sarthe. It was also the fourth round of the F.I.A. World Sports Car Championship. During the race, a crash killed driver Pierre Levegh and 83 spectators while injuring 120 others in the deadliest accident in motor racing history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1953 24 Hours of Le Mans</span> 21st 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">1955 Mille Miglia</span> Motor race held on public roads around Italy in 1955

The 1955 Mille Miglia was a 1,000 mile motor race held on a course made up entirely of public roads around Italy, mostly on the outer parts of the country on April 30-May 1, 1955. Also known as the 22. edizione Mille Miglia, the 992.332 mile (1597 km) route was based on a round trip between Brescia and Rome, with start/finish in Brescia. It was the 3rd round of the 1955 World Sportscar Championship and for the Coppa Franco Mazzotti.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1955 RAC Tourist Trophy</span>

The 1955 RAC Tourist Trophy took place on 17 September, on the roads around Dundrod,. It was also the fifth round of the F.I.A. World Sports Car Championship, however it was the first championship race following the horrendous tragedy at Le Mans. It was also the Golden Jubilee year for the RAC Tourist Trophy. Going into the race, Ferrari were leading the Manufacturers Championship by four points from Jaguar. Victory for the Italian marque would put them in a strong position to win a third successive title.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1955 Targa Florio</span>

The 39a Targa Florio took place on 16 October, around the Circuito delle Madonie, Sicily, Italy. It was also the sixth and final round of the F.I.A. World Sports Car Championship as the Carrera Panamericana was cancelled and the Targa was allowed to take the late season slot, as a second Italian round after the Mille Miglia in May. The title lay between Ferrari, Jaguar and Mercedes-Benz, with Ferrari leading 19 points from one win to 16 from the other two marques which had two wins each, but no other results. Mercedes had skipped the first two heats and withdrew from Le Mans after the disaster, while leading the race. Jaguar did not show up in Sicily at the unknown 72 km long road track, but Mercedes came three weeks early to practice with seven cars. Finishing 1-2-4, Mercedes secured the championship.

References

  1. ↑ @canalplussport (29 June 2018). "24H du Mans, 1955 📚 La course est grandiose 300 000 spectateurs 🏟️ Jamais les bolides n'ont été aussi rapides, aussi beaux. Les "Flèches d'argent" de Mercedes sont les favorites 👀 "Le Mans 1955", court-métrage d'animation à 0H30 dans la nuit de samedi à dimanche @canalplus" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  2. ↑ Kroustallis, Vassilis (13 September 2018). "Sneak Preview - Le Mans 1955". Zippy Frames.
  3. ↑ "Clermont-Ferrand : La tragédie du Mans en 1955 en court-métrage d'animation". France Info. 7 February 2019.
  4. ↑ "Le Mans 1955 - Festival d'Annecy". Annecy Festival.
  5. ↑ Dreyfus, Stéphane (13 April 2019). "Annecy Festival 2019 : 9 promising short film in selection". La Croix (in French).
  6. ↑ "27th Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival Awards Presented Nov. 11, 2018". 11 November 2018. Archived from the original on 5 September 2019. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
  7. ↑ "Voix off / Doublage". 18 July 2019.
  8. ↑ "Le Mans 1955 Career - Studio Wasia". Studio Wasia.
  9. ↑ "FOCUS SUR LES COURTS MÉTRAGES SÉLECTIONNÉS POUR LES CÉSAR 2019". Archived from the original on 2019-08-10. Retrieved 2019-08-12.
  10. 1 2 "1955 24 Hours of Le Mans - History, Profile, Information and Photos". Sports Car Digest. 2011-06-15. Retrieved 2020-09-13.
  11. ↑ Spurgeon, Brad (11 June 2015). "On Auto Racing's Deadliest Day". The New York Times. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
  12. ↑ Bukola Blessing, Amujo (2 August 2021). "Here's What Happened At The Tragic 1955 Le Mans Disaster". Hotcars.
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