John
Fitch saw plenty of checkered flags in his career, but his real legacy is the
development of “Fitch barriers,” a low-cost, easy to implement method of
minimizing the impact of roadside accidents. The 1955 24 Hours of Le Mans is
the reason why. Terrible wrecks were a constant peril of the famous French endurance
race, but the crash that killed his racing partner and eighty-four spectators
remains the worst in motorsport history. Fitch and the Mercedes team director respond
to the shock and horror in Quentin Baillieux’s animated short film, Le Mans 1955, which screens this weekend
as part of Anima Syros 2019.
Fitch
and his partner Pierre Levegh are explicitly instructed to serve as the wingmen
of Mercedes’ A-team, Juan Manuel Fangio and Stirling Moss, to help them win.
That does not sit well with the competitive Fitch, but the plan appeared to go
up in smoke when Fangio stalled at the starting line, while Levegh got off
quickly. Fitch’s partner was running strong until his fatal accident. As a
result, the team director Alfred Neubauer faces some hard decisions, but the
right thing to do seems obvious to Fitch.
The
sleek animation of Le Mans 1955 might
be familiar to anyone who has seen Baillieux’s groovy video for Charles X’s Can You Do It?, which was included in
last year’s Animation Show of Shows.
Clearly, he has an affinity for racing sports, because that early work features
a fanciful horse race through the streets of Los Angeles. Tragically, viewers
and the drivers will not be able to enjoy the full-throttle power of the 1955
Le Mans. Instead, his film focuses on the dynamics of a team, during its
darkest hour.
Yet,
Le Mans 1955 is still wildly stylish.
You can imagine something like film noir and Speed Racer pureed in a blender, but with distinctly French
seasonings mixed in. It is definitely a cool look, which makes Baillieux an
animator to watch. Highly recommended for fans of animation and motor sports, Le Mans 1955 screens today (9/21) and
tomorrow (9/22), during this year’s Anima Syros.