Le Mans '66 (Ford v Ferrari) and Car Culture in the UAE

James Mangold’s latest film Le Mans ‘66 (aka Ford v Ferrari) is based on the true story of the American car designer Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon) and the fearless British-born driver Ken Miles (Christian Bale), “who together battled corporate interference, the laws of physics, and their own personal demons to build a revolutionary race car for Ford Motor Company and take on the dominating race cars of Enzo Ferrari at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France in 1966”

I watched the film twice in the cinema here in Dubai, the second time was on IMAX which is a better way to see it. Dolby Cinema would be a good way to see it too.

I am not a car person or into motor racing but this film intrigued me because of the corporate politics and marketing, American chauvinism and underdogs vs the establishment.

I invited motoring journalist Imthishan Giado who is also a cinephile to talk about this film with me for the Tea with Culture podcast. We talked about the themes I mention above, and also how chaste the film is for a story about sexy fast cars (I was struck by the lack of horniness in the film).

Our discussion was also about car culture in the UAE, the prestige of owning expensive fast cars versus motor racing culture in the region. We also discuss the 1981 Dubai Grand Prix which I wrote about here a few years ago, Dubai Rally circa 1980s-90s, Dubai Police car fleet, and if motor racing in the United Arab Emirates is culturally accepted or relevant.

Imthishan Giado shared valuable historical insights about the film and about car culture in the region which I enjoyed listening to and hope you will too.

Le Man ‘66 is still in cinemas. It’s an “action film for grown ups” as James Mangold said in a recent interview I heard, so if it’s screening somewhere near you, go see it on the biggest screen possible. The car racing scenes and the sound design is impressive.

It’s also worth watching for the good cast too, especially Christian Bale as Ken Miles, Tracy Letts as Henry Ford the second and Jon Bernthal as Lee Iacocca.