STEVE MCQUEEN, A GENERATIONAL ICON

Steve McQueen is of course considered as a titan of the Hollywood of the 60s and 70s, thanks to his attitude outside of the norms and his stubborn behaviour, which always brought the actor actor against directors and producers.

Unfortunately modern generations know little about Steve, though he was beloved by their parents; however, there could be a solution for this snag.

“Steve McQueen: The Man & Le Mans” is a documentary on what should have been his greatest undertaking - to shoot the ultimate movie on the 24 hours of Le Mans - but instead it costed McQueen the highest price both in artistic terms, as his career was about to end definitely, and in economic terms, since McQueen invested lots of money in that project. Moreover, the actor felt inside him the experience had compromised also his health; it still means the pleural mesothelioma, a cancer associated with asbestos( according to McQueen used in race drivers’ protective suits),was the main cause of his death.

This movie, directed by Gabriel Clarke and John McKenna, puts together interviews to McQueen’s family, inventory material and overall archives footages from the three hours shot on set of of the 1970, a behind the scenes of the project that was hidden in garages in the US for almost forty years.

Among the testimonies which restore the star’s obsession for racing cars, stand the one from his son Chad. “For me this movie is a sort of revenge. When _Le Mans_ came out, everyone crucified it. I had talked with the director two months before his death and he told me the movie wasn’t a box-office flop, considering that it was a work about racing cars. But everyone in Hollywood knew my father was at the head of the project and blame him for the failure. Many people though this was the end of my father’s career, but they were wrong, because then he starred in _Papillon, The Towering Inferno_ and __The Getaway_. Toward this film I have mixed feelings... but eventually it contains the vision on the racings of my father, on cinema and on life. He wanted to convey sensations closer to reality. If we are talking about it now, after almost fifty years, it means that there was something right in what he did.

This documentary does show the real short-tempered character of my father, the infidelity. He was a human being. He made some mistakes, like everyone else. When my parents split up I wanted to be with him, and I stood by him until his death, in Mexico”.

When he passed away, Steve McQueen was 50 years old, while his son was twenty : “ I had lived with him for so long. He had a terrible childhood, as an orphan. That’s why he wanted us, my sister and I , always on set with him. He was a great father : he was funny and very curios and it was a pleasure for me to stand by his side. The strongest memory I have is a motorcycle race on the desert, in the middle nowhere, just my father and me.”

Chad too has a passion for racing, which costed him much : in fact he is forced to wear sunglasses in order to protect the right eye, injured in 2006 after a bad accident in the 24 hours of Daytona. “But I don’t regret it, I had wonderful adventures. When you’re riding, everything is quiet. I believe that racing for my dad was a way to relax, switch off from the world, carried only by the roar of the car”.

The other aspect that emerges from this documentary is the ability as a fighter of Steve McQueen : “ He was not an aggressive guy, but if someone started a quarrel with him, he was able to defend himself, both physically and not only. He had a great experience with martial arts”.

That’s the reason why “The King of Cool” is still one of the most beloved Hollywood’ star, capable of challenging the majors by creating his own production company, the Solar, in order to do thing in his way. “My dad came from the street, he didn’t fear anybody or anything. When the major tried to order him thing he always said ‘ *_I* *don’t care, I don’t need their money , I don’t want anything from them_*’. He was made from the same mould of Charles Bronson, James Coburn, John Wayne...Today everything seems too politically correct”.

McQueen Jr hopes that “The Man & Le Mans” could represent a way to let the young generations discover his father. “ My son’s fellows don’t know even who he was. Perhaps some boys, watching this documentary, can get a sense, they will watch his movies and they will talk about it with other friends : “ Ehi, I have seen an awesome movie, called _Bullit_ ...”.