Oh yes, no idea this even existed but I'm 2 minutes in and I'm SO happy with the find. I'm at the office but I don't know if I can wait to see it or if I'll just dissappear for some 20 mins.
my great uncle was there that day. He was saved because at the moment of the crash he was walking in the under ground corridor. When he use to spoke about this event, he always said that wen he enter the corridor, the crowd was screaming of joy, and when he came out of it, the only thing he heard was a complete death silence. Then the scream of pain from the injured.. This man has seen many atrocities that day.
Granpa was there, he was barely 16, he LOVED motorsports, but after that event, he changed, i was once watching a F1 race and he looked concerned, i think being so close to death really hit him hard...
I've been to many races in my day and seen some horrific accidents. You learn over time what the 'body language' of a car is and that tells you things. Understeer, oversteer, opposite lock etc. the way the body transitions between corners. When you start to read these things during the course of a race, you understand who to be concerned about crashing and who's fast. I'm sure he saw a dangerous situation and that got him nervous.
There are two kinds of people: those who drop it on the first close encounter with death - and those who don’t even when the number of encounters escalate. Both deserve the same respect.
He was concerned he wouldn't leave his mark on the racing world if he didn't win, but sacrificing the victory makes him one of the most memorable men in motor racing
Last part from French to English: “Mercedes was the only team to retire from the race. They will see the competition again 43 years later. Fitch continued his career working for safety improvements. 80 people died, and it is still today the deadliest crash in Motorsport history.”
@@awesomeone2979 The car exploded in flight. Lots of components have killed many spectators. It was like a flying bomb which exploded over their heads...
@@awesomeone2979 the engine broke free and rolled through the crowd crushing many, the hood bonnet flew through the crowd,my great grandparents were in the crowd and both were decapitated by it, my 10 year old grandfather at the time being missed by inches.
I know this is nitpicky but I'd translate it more this way: Mercedes was the only team to retire from the race. They came back to the competition only 43 years later. Fitch continued his career mainly dedicating himself in road safety. The accident caused 80 deaths, and was the deadliest crash in Motorsports history.
I'm pretty late to seeing this, but this was one of the greatest short-films I've seen on TH-cam. This kind of creativity is what the internet was made for.
Interesting fact: other driver involved in this crash, Macklin (car that was shown here bouncing in barriers in front of protagonists) had another crash in another race next year where 2 more racing drivers were killed. After that he retired from car racing for good and died of old age in 2002.
First time I have seen the story told from Fitch's perspective, he is a much over looked driver in our time, but he was top level in his day and a World War Two fighter ace as well. He is responsible for the development of the crash barriers that look like a formation of yellow barrels if front of highway overpass supports and other large objects along highways. He owned a Chevrolet dealership in Connecticut and sold what is known as the Fitch Sprint Corvair, [like the better know Yenko] he lived to his nineties.
During WW2 strafing from the luftwaffe inspired his design. They had all these empty petrol barrels. His idea was to fill these empty barrels with sand to stop the bullets, then they covered their shelter with these barrels and they were safe there. Fitch was also a fighter pilot and the only person known to have shot down an ME262 jet fighter with his P51 Mustang propeller fighter during WW2.I agree with @Rob Flood this guy was an ace and had no fear. In his 90s he was driving GullWings wide open at Bonneville trying to break speed records. Yes, you may call me a fanboi!
Rob, I hope you don't mind but I used the comment as a description for a FaceBook post. I gave you due credit for it. Hope that's not a problem. facebook.com/EggmanTheRaceFan
The Le Mans disaster was a multiple crash that occurred on June 11, 1955 at the Sarthe circuit, near Le Mans, during the 24 Hours of Le Mans, in which the driver Pierre Levegh and 83 spectators died. It is considered the greatest tragedy in the history of motor racing. However, the race was not suspended, and was won by Mike Hawthorn, Formula 1 champion in 1958, together with Ivor Bueb. At half past six in the evening (local time GMT+1) the Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR driven by Juan Manuel Fangio-Stirling Moss was fighting for the lead against the Jaguar driven by Mike Hawthorn and Ivor Bueb after managing to get a lap ahead of most of its rivals. Hawthorn, in the middle of a battle with Juan Manuel Fangio, overtook an Austin Healey, driven by British driver Lance Macklin, at the entrance to the right grandstand line, but suddenly braked and decided to enter the pits. Surprised, the driver of the car that had just been lapped made an abrupt maneuver to the left without seeing that two Mercedes, at full speed, were coming at him. The first was driven by the Frenchman Pierre Levegh, one lap behind, and the second by Chueco Fangio. The drama unfolded in just a few seconds. In a last reflex action, Levegh raised his hand to warn Fangio of the danger.5 He then crashed into the Austin and, at over 200 kilometers per hour, his Mercedes took off and exploded over the packed grandstands. Pierre Levegh's Mercedes totally disintegrated, the engine and other parts of the chassis left a trail of dead and wounded in its flight over the grandstands, including Levegh himself, whose body was left lying on the track.Among the reasons for the strong deflagration is the fact that many parts of the vehicle were made of magnesium, which generates a strong explosion and makes extinguishing difficult, since the water acts as an enhancer of the flames. The organizers of the event, however, did not interrupt the race, which continued as ambulances came and went, later it was learned that it continued so that people would not impede the passage of the ambulances and could attend to the injured. Spectators in other areas of the circuit took hours to learn the extent of the tragedy.The organization argued that the suspension of the race would have made it difficult to evacuate the injured, due to the probable invasion of the emergency lanes. Pierre Levegh was 49 years old at the time of his death.
Once upon a time, it was normal for racing drivers to die during races. It’s so hard for us modern viewers to even begin to grasp what that actually meant, and this short does an outstanding job to convey how it was when death was normal in motorsports and how different they would react even to an exceptionally horrifying accident because of that.
And then you have kids watching modern F1 races and commented how “tame races today have devolved”, how there is no excitement on the race track due to these safety measures implemented on the track and the cars itself, that it’s ok for race drivers to be risking their lives out there, akin to soldiers fighting on the battlefield. This is why we learn history, so that we won’t repeat the mistakes people have made all those years ago.
@@NeroVingian40 but when safety starts to make racing genuienly boring thats a problem. It's like bike helmets. Bike helmets aren't actually safer. Bike helmets make the rider of the bike take more risks and makes the cars around the biker. There's a whole phenomenon around safety, that when you have more safety, you think you're safe, and thus take a lot more risks. And one day you will take a risk too big. If anything, the 2000s were the safest years of F1. 0 deaths. Meanwhile there have apparently been 5 extreme near deaths between 2018 and 2021. Seems like this exact thing is happening.
@@R9naldo So, what do you propose we do with bike helmets then? That phenomenon is a paradox; when you have better safety equipment and on track safety, you are going to take more risks, but when you do find yourself getting on the unlucky side of that risk, you’re going to be dead without those safety equipments and on track safety. Risk-taking has always been in racing since forever, whether or not safety features are implemented or not. It’s whether race drivers will harm themselves and spectators when there were not enough safety features is the question here. If anything, there should be more safety features instead of less.
It was a different time for sure. I do not judge Neubauer for wanting to continue, nor the race officials for not calling off the race. Even after this it would take another 2 decades for people like Jackie Stewart to come in and demand better safety regulations for everyone involved,and even then it was a hard fought battle. We owe the enjoyment we get out of motor racing to people like them, who dragged the sport out of its toxic mindset
Could have red flagged it even though that probably didn’t exist.
5 ปีที่แล้ว +36
@@Cory989 bad idea. Not only red flags weren't in use at the ACO at the time, but also stopping the race would mean tens of thousands of spectators leaving the track and clogging the roads, when the ambulances needed them clear !
@@ultrablue2 Come on... "pushing bundaries of animation". Seriously, stop bullshiting everyone and watch more things. It's a great short movie, but stop being so extreme...
that argument in the tunnel, the best top moments I' ve ever seen. also Mercedes's decision to withdraw EVEN when they are in the lead made me respect em more. They were so affected they didnt even returned until after 43/44 years later
then the 1998 flip happened and it was so scary to them, they pulled out again. They have a serious respect and almost fear of that track from what it's put them through.
A very similar thing happened to Alfa Romeo,when Alberto Ascari's father, Antonio, was leading the French Grand Prix and the team was fighting for the first ever international car racing championship. Alfa had two cars leading and Ascari was dominating. Then he crashed and died instantly and the team retired from the race. Despite this,at the end of the year they managed to begin the first world champions ever.
I love the credits part, where you can only hear the howls of the engines, just like it had been that day... No music, no glory, just the howls of engines, and cars passing by... Probably the most haunting credits i have ever seen...
9:16 This is one of the most powerful scenes I have ever watched. The voice acting and animation, the muffled sound of the cars over head... This is art.
@@jackthorton10 Remember speed never killed anyone, its the sudden stop at the end that gets ya - Jeremy Clarkson. But yea racing was horrifying in the 50's and 60's
Imagine driving a bar of soap with 4 wheels with a powerful engine in it without any safety features or lack of aerodynamics on your bar of soap with 4 wheels while driving on 180mph with only a helmet and some goggles in 1950s
9:50-10:10 You can see and feel Johns Anger,his disgust towards.Alfred and his decision to continue; even though it was one of his cars who killed all of the those innocent people. But he you can also see the sympathy and sadness of all of the people who died;Especially his friend. If a voice actor can tell that emotion just by 2 sentences. And a designer who can show the emotion. That is true talent. Well done to this studio!!
Don't forget good people that at those hours nobody actually knew how tragic was this accident. Nobody knew the numbers, and even the organizing body was afraid to stop the race because leaving people could block the roads from the ambulances and firefighters. Moreover, the Mercedes cars were built of electrum, an alloy with high magnesium content and the firefighters weren't prepared to cope with magnesium fire. When they tried to put it out with water, magnesium spat blindingly white flames and sparks and went even more savage. After some tries they decided to let Levegh's car burn down by itself. (I did quite a lot of research of this accident as I wrote the Wikipedia article for Hungarian Wikipedia on this tragedy.) I think this is the most powerful and due tribute to the lost souls of this accident and those fantastic sportsmen like Levegh, Fitch, Neubauer, Moss, Fangio et al. At Circuit de la Sarthe there is only a tiny plaquette commemorating the tragedy. It is strange that the film leaves out the third Mercedes car bearing the number 21 and driven by Karl Kling and the Frenchman André Simon. Also there is a wrong information that Mercedes was the only team to step back from that race. Even before Mercedes act Donald Healey, team principal of Austin Healey team ordered his cars to stop. (Actually one of his car was involved in Levegh's crash-the film shows Macklin's Austin Healey ricocheting between the walls by the pits.)
That was a little bit dramatized, Alfred Neubauer was ready to call off his team from the race just as John Fitch realized they had to. They just can’t because they still needed approval from the higher-ups, which was given after a voting session via telephone.
My great grandpa was in that race. He was a man working on one of the cameras. When Levegh went flying, he ducked just in the nick of time. But his other cameraman was killed and mutilated. He describes it as one of the saddest things he had ever saw. RIP his best friend/cameraman.
"We must think about our future.." Sometime in the future : *Winning 6 of F1's Driver's Championship and the constructors championship 6x in a row* Well damn..
6 In A Row WDC and WCC with Hamilton and Rosberg 3 WDC and 2 WCC with McLaren F1 as a supplier 1 WDC and WCC with Brawn GP as a supplier That is one hell of a comeback by the Silver Arrows!
Even though safety improvements have been majorly improved in the last decade, motorsports will be dangerous and always will be, Antoine Hubert at spa 2019 was killed in a side on collision and romain Grosjean nearly lost his life in a horrific accident very recently.
This sadly will, cuz... what do ya expect? Pixar has the money to just BUY the votes, nothing in such a Price event is real anymore, everything is just bought and stolen, if you want to have sucess nowerdays, you need to lie your way up
KMS Bismarck Drache191200 Who cares about Oscars anyway? For the piece thats more on the artistic side, as this one is, the independent festivals awards are what counts.
@@drazenbudis7881 because it can and it should, like when Spirit Away won, I understand independent festivals and awards exist(which are less bias and actually care about the movies) but movies like this get buried and forgotten just because they didn't win on Hollywood.
Man, this is something else. I was there in 2013 when Allan crashed. The silence over the race track was, well nothing like any of the 6 other times I was there. I can imagine it was much worse back then. Le Mans 24H is and will always be the craziest race to ever have been raced.
A beautiful film. John Fitch is one of my all-time heroes whose innovations were responsible for saving countless lives on racetracks and public highways.
I’m here just shaking my head in awe. This short is amazing. Every motorsport lover needs to see this, but also anyone who enjoys animated shorts and filming in general will also enjoy this work of art. Thank you to the team responsible of creating this masterpiece
Speechless. In just 15 minutes they managed to summarize a whole universe of humanity. The pride of progress and effort, technical and human prowess, the losses and tragedies that can occur, the decisions that are made to accept and overcome them, the value of teamwork, the knowledge that there are things more important than a precious momentary prize. All told with such a delicacy and fine art, so direct and simple within its depth, that it makes one feel close in many ways: over time, with the protagonists of history (and with those of History), with men and women both anonymous and renowned. In short, an unexpected little Great Work of Art. Thank you for taking the time and effort to tell it.
I was brought from the algorithm and seeing Ford V Ferrari 2 weeks ago, I thought might as well check it out and I'm honestly just stunned. It's a really good short film and the emotions behind it is meaningful, instead of having it just because.
This movie has perfect timing. I am actually working on a documentary about Juan Manuel Fangio for a school project and this video really just put into perspective through what times he must’ve sometimes gone through
That must have been a very cool project to work on, we were told to make a presentation about an athlete, I wanted to write about Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher, but the teacher claimed they weren't 'real athletes'
@@shaunfernando56 your teacher really know shit, you should stand your ground! And educate that ignorant fu#$ck The amount of forces the body has to withstand, the reflexes needed, the stress of possible dying at every moment, the mental and body preparation needed to do this is only reserved for crazy people Im footballer, and anything compares with the danger of Motorsport, leave alone 24hs du Mans
it’s been 3 years since this came out and I can say that this by far is my favorite short film I’ve seen. with the voice acting, visuals, and music being my favorite. the voice actors do deserve their praise, I don’t think I’ve gotten so choked up over something when I first watched the argument with John and Alfred. Nathan Willcocks (John’s VA) and Joe Sheridan (Alfred’s VA) gave it out their all, whew! but like I said, all time favorite short film. *edit*: the soundtrack at eleven minute mark makes my eyes water, I love Ali Helnwein’s music for this so much.
I have to say this is the first time I ever though about this tragedy from Pierre perspective, I am Argentinian, and I always heard the story about how Pierre was hero for signalling so Fangio did not crash into him, but man, this is very touching. I loved the animation style and the story was very well refreshing to hear... needless to say I loved every second of it
Ce film est poignant. Extrêmement bien réalisé, dessiné et construit. L'époque est parfaitement respecté, les voitures sont belles, le circuit est magique... Grand merci à toutes celles et tous ceux qui ont réalisé ce film. Grand bravo. Un passionné des 24 Heures comme moi l'a dévoré et m'a fait ressentir beaucoup d'émotions. La première fois que je regarde les 24 Heures à la télévision c'était en 2005. Ca été une découverte totale et un virus qui est resté chez moi depuis. Alors que les Audi du team Champion + Oreca et les Pescarolo se bagarrait en tête, France 2 a parlé de ce tragique accident. Je n'avais que 10 ans mais je me souviens du moment ou je découvre ces horribles images d'une voiture explosée et des débris volés sur plusieurs mètres, j'étais glacé... Triste... On a du mal à imaginer qu'un tel accident se produise surtout à ma génération ou la sécurité existe depuis longtemps. Ce court métrage me rappelle les émotions que j'ai ressenti à l'époque ou je découvrais cet accident. Le moment ou on voit des corps recouvert de draps, avec une voiture en feu et le son des voitures qui continue de foncer j'ai a nouveau été glacé et vraiment triste de la même façon qu'il y a 14 ans... Ca me rapelle aussi 2013 ou j'entendais les Lotus B12 Toyota Rebellion hurler dans les lignes droites des Hunaudières tout en apprenant le décès d'Allan Simonsen. C'est toujours glaçant... Aujourd'hui je roule sur un Kart de compétition, ce film m'a mit une claque qui rappelle que ce sport est dangereux et le restera toujours... Mais quoi qu'il arrive, on l'aimera toujours justement pour ce danger et rouler sur le fil du rasoir.
Tu as tout dit 😭👍❤💖je suis entièrement daccord avec toi ça touche vraiment le cœur ton commentaire j ai passer 1 minute de bonheur à lire ce commentaire
Tu as vraiment capturé la essence de cette filme merci pour votre commentaire. J'avais les memes sentiments quand je regardais cette filme éxtraordinaire.
@@vitreo1363 You definitly should go ! Ticket is about 80 euros for the entire week. But you have to think of the cost of traveling, food, sleep somewhere, equipment like sun glasses, a chair, etc. But I would say even though you spend 500 euros for the all week, it's so worth it compared to a F1 Grand Prix.
Why youtube decided to show me this today I dont know, but Im so glad it did. This is powerful.. I watch the 24 Hours of Le Mans every year and I know its history, and this incident.. To who voiced John here, an amazing pwrformamce, I got chills during the dialogue between John and Alfred in the underpass. I can only imagine how he felt after hearing "we can win" after seeing what he had. And seeing whats left of the Benz in that plume of red smoke, accompanied by this beautiful art style, was truly chilling... This more than deserves an Oscar.
At first I thought, why not just continue?, then I understand what john was thinking. Also the reason why he said "we must think of our future". Why would they win if they are also gonna be responsible for the lives of 80 innocent people? Respect for that. For not being egoistical at winning like winning is everything. It's not just about the result, it is also about progress or how to get the result.
This was 10 years after the end of WWII. A German car just caused 80 deaths, and that would not sit well. Can understand the anguish, of being able to win, but not at that cost. Excellent short, and not what I expected when I clicked on it.
@@patrickvolk7031 80 deaths of French citizens on French soil while "fighting" the British. You could still see the guard towers from the camps from the track. John Fitch was talking with Pierre's wife when the accident happened. He helped take care of the some of the injured in front of the pits (Macklin's car hit a police man, a journalist and a camera man when it bounced across to the pit wall). Fitch realized that the radio reports were likely getting out about the crash and felt he needed to call home to ensure his family that he was ok, while he was doing this he heard a journalist confirming at least 48-64 deaths. He went to the head designer of the Mercedes cars to talk to him about pulling out. There was no disagreement from him or anyone else on the team (outside of Moss who wanted to win LeMans). Mercedes delayed pulling out because it took so long for the upper management to make the decision as they were spread all over and it was the middle of the night. The Mercedes managers at the track that day knew they needed to pull out, but had to get approval first.
There's actually quite an interesting youtube video on this by Adrian Millward which more accurately represent the race and the mindset of the mercedes team boss and drivers, specifically of Fitch, at that time. Look it up.
Safety has a come a long way but Motorsport will always be dangerous, Antoine Hubert died in a side on collision at spa and romain grosjean was nearly killed in a fireball after his car penetrated the barrier and was spilt in half, in 2011 Robert kubica suffered a rally incident where a metal barrier went through the front of the car and came out the other side, it was so severe that it nearly severed his right arm and almost every bone on the right side of his body was broken, it reminds us that Motorsport still has a long long way to go in terms of safety
it has. but the most f'd up thing is that the year the factory Mercedes got back into Le Mans their new CLR lift off on the Mulsanne straight, making them leaving the event for the second time (so far) never to return. It is like they can't catch a break.
Jorge Soyche They were in Le Mans and sport car racing before those accidents with CLR’s occured. First at the dawn of group C with Sauber colaboration and their C9 and C11 winning cars, and then in GT rules with CLK’s GT. When CLK’s evolved into CLR’s, those horrific takeoffs happened.
@@drazenbudis7881 Way before then, actually, if you account for the fact that the first ever motor race in history was won by a car with a Mercedes engine.
It was an interesting decision to take away the visual focus from the crash itself. I feel like many other animators or directors would dedicate 5 to 10 minutes to the destruction and visible deaths of many people, but this short was a lot more subtle with it. I think it works wonders, and helps put the focus of the short on the people around the tragedy instead of the crash itself.
I saw a documentary about that crash once and it dedicated quite a bit of time to who was at fault. Because we don’t see the crash here, only the aftermath, that question never comes to mind.
ehhh, but if you aren't already familiar with the wreck, you would have no idea how bad it really was, this just looks like a crash, and its barely implied to be more.
I personally found the next line, "These innocent people! Look at their faces! Tell me you want to continue." better because of how it hits his point home like a railroad spike. But that's just me.
He was such a great man, as an engineer, racing driver, WWII fighter pilot (once downed a Messerschmitt ME262 jet-even if that was just taking off) and POW who escaped back to his squadron… I think he is terribly underrated now.
Except the events have nothing to do with each other besides being at Le Mans. Ford wasn't in the picture yet and Ferrari would not be competitive again until the 1958.
Wisnu Setioko the opening scene you're talking about was the 1959 24 hours. I guess it shows an interesting background to the event as a whole, but not exactly related
Voilà, ça c'est la fierté française de l'animation, l'histoire, le graphisme. Fierté française. Merci messieur pour cette page d'histoire. Le message est passé, merco a eu du coeur, au moins à cette époque.
Oscar’s don’t care about stories involving straight white men, so of course it will lose, the superhero short involving the black crippled pansexual transsexual donkey lover will of course win.
Bravo à tous ceux qui ont participé à ce court métrage, très beau et très juste à la fois, un bel hommage aux victimes en somme. Le fait que l'accident ne soit pas directement montré et qu'on nous montre plus ce qu'il se passe ensuite est une décision appréciable
This was the most moving and beautifully animated short film I've seen in many years. This deserves more than just a nod. I don't care what the competition is. Great cinema has the power to move you to real emotion. This animation did that. Thank you and best of luck.
This animation was created with such love and care, and the attention to detail... Keeping the crash out of the spotlight, but still keeping it onscreen behind the main character, Jogn Fitch, who is the focus of the story, brings a new perspective to the 1955 Le Mans disaster.
This highlighted a lot about the crash that isn't that commonly known: 1) The crash was a *highly* local event. Most of the fans along the racecourse were unaware it occurred, until much later. The carnage was absolutely horrific in that one area, but the short wisely chose not to linger there. There are plenty of other videos out there that show the graphic aftermath of what happens when large pieces of a racing vehicle go cartwheeling through an unprotected crowd at 100+ mph. 2) The race was not red-flagged but continued, in part to prevent panic from spreading through the crowd and potentially causing many more casualties. This was, to say the least, a highly controversial decision later. 3) The Hobson's Choice that was faced by the Mercedes team. Their decision to withdraw after the crash also remains controversial to this day, but the short sheds new light on it. "We are racing drivers... we're not monsters" was incredibly powerful. And once they withdrew, they left auto racing altogether for over 43 years.
They actually raced to the end of the 1955 racing season, and then withdrew. A prudent decision none the less. Sometimes the Germans are portrayed as emotionless automatons. But the way their moral compass points North in individual situations like this...maybe detatched and calculating? is the way forward. WWII thought them ALOT.
@@daphnejames3571 Especially since the crash was in no way their fault, but the fault of a terribly designed track that could not handle the speeds that they were going at that time. Had they had a separate pit lane and/or a decent crash barrier between the track and the crowd, it never would have happened.
i think for time it was correct decision to not cancel the race if it was cancelled the traffic comming from the track would be it hard time for medical vehicles to get to the site
émouvant, touchant, un drame que personne n'a oublié, félicitation aux créateurs de ce court-métrage pour la sobriété et la puissance des images et du montage
Magnificent. ( It was believed that the race continued because if had been stopped, the departing spectators would have jammed the roads blocking the first responders. And being German- WWII- being very recent history there were serious social and political ramifications...)
i need to put this into words.. the visual of the insides of the car laid bare with such a stark red contrast to the muted environment, it gives off a visceral flair of carnage and gore, and yet in truth, no actual gore is ever shown. the bodies are whole and clean, and only the damage of the car itself is so mangled and red. its a metaphor in visual form, no need to show blood or guts when such a visual metaphor does more than that. especially the first shot of the car as it is left burning, looking like a body with its ribs torn open and all the oil bleeding out as if blood. the artists knew how to make it look violent without ever once using violence. i paused it there and just stared in shock. i guess what i am trying to say is this.. they represented the death and pain that took place through the body of the car, and used it to act in place of those who died, a fitting stand in for the setting. thematic and poignant. while the entire movie is good, I was most affected by those scenes. may all who died that day rest in peace, and thank you to all of those who made this work of emotional art.
This is a brilliat animaton that, among other things, shows you that you don't require ultra-smooth animation to tell a compelling story. You "just" need good photography, cinematography, directing and voice acting. RIP, Pierre Levegh and the spectators that were killed.
This is such a poetic take on how much of a life and death affair racing used to be. How people were ready and willing to give their lives to etch their name in the history of racing. But it became clear that the line was drawn when those who werent willing or ready to give up their lives, did.
Ça laisse sans voix...un grand bravo à toute l'équipe d'avoir pu mettre en œuvre ce film....et Merci...oui merci de nous proposer de ce genre de vidéo pour nous, les passionnés que nous sommes !!!
The deadliest motorsports accident in history Not just by the death toll but also the human logic on what to do when an accident happen. It really surprised me that the race still continued with that much casualties. I'm relieved that today's motorsports are much more caring to the safety of everybody involved.
They argued that if they called off the race, the ones that weren’t already dead would not be able to receive the appropriate treatment to potentially save their lives
I was so ready to see the crash and all the craziness after it.......at the end of this I'm glad it was left out and understood that it's not what this was about....Bravo and thanks
A breathtaking animated short film on the darkest moment in the history of motorsport.
Alfimate Maybe even in the whole history of sport at all
@@drazenbudis7881 nah football stadium human crushes have resulted in deaths in the hundreds, though motorsports deaths imo are more shocking
Bowen Xu exactly, but footbal stadium crushes were not a direct consequence of the sport itself, it would be more of an architecture tragedy.
@@AugustinianThomist He said history of Motorsport
@@dairegraham6955 he edited it to motorsports, it said sports at first
Biggest payoff of yt’s algorithm I’ve ever seen. Well done
Josh Duarte by far
Oh yes, no idea this even existed but I'm 2 minutes in and I'm SO happy with the find.
I'm at the office but I don't know if I can wait to see it or if I'll just dissappear for some 20 mins.
I couldn't agree more man. Was just randomly watching some Group B Rally goodness and this popped up. Glad it did, this is spectacular.
Same wtf did it come from but was so worth ir
YEAH SERIOUSLY! 11/10 video youtubes robots did well her
my great uncle was there that day.
He was saved because at the moment of the crash he was walking in the under ground corridor.
When he use to spoke about this event, he always said that wen he enter the corridor, the crowd was screaming of joy, and when he came out of it, the only thing he heard was a complete death silence. Then the scream of pain from the injured..
This man has seen many atrocities that day.
Damn bro, that must have been tough
Must have been sad
My god
My apologies
Can't imagine how he felt that day, it must be terrifying
Your great uncle , an Angel prottected him 🙏
Granpa was there, he was barely 16, he LOVED motorsports, but after that event, he changed, i was once watching a F1 race and he looked concerned, i think being so close to death really hit him hard...
I've been to many races in my day and seen some horrific accidents. You learn over time what the 'body language' of a car is and that tells you things. Understeer, oversteer, opposite lock etc. the way the body transitions between corners. When you start to read these things during the course of a race, you understand who to be concerned about crashing and who's fast. I'm sure he saw a dangerous situation and that got him nervous.
Aw :(
There are two kinds of people: those who drop it on the first close encounter with death - and those who don’t even when the number of encounters escalate.
Both deserve the same respect.
When
@@FloridaManRacer Your comment is spot on.
Just wow. Ending with no music, only the cars sound was a great touch.
As a car guy, I've would of found it soothing but instead gave me good bumps
i love it
"We're racing drivers.. we're not monsters."
that was powerful.
Quiet furry
Ok wheather or not he is a furry its still a quote he pointed out
James Phillips no
haha look guys furry bad i made funny
jmac2002 yes.
He was concerned he wouldn't leave his mark on the racing world if he didn't win, but sacrificing the victory makes him one of the most memorable men in motor racing
Respect to Neubauer and specially Fitch
John Fitch has arguably done more for racing as an advocate for motor safety than he would have as a great racer.
Alfred Neybauer make silver arrow's even before war, his name in Autosport history forever even without his retirement in Le Mans 55
But if they didn't quit they would be more memorable (in a wrong way)
Well, [sniff] in a way, he left his mark. ~Sniffle~
Last part from French to English:
“Mercedes was the only team to retire from the race. They will see the competition again 43 years later. Fitch continued his career working for safety improvements. 80 people died, and it is still today the deadliest crash in Motorsport history.”
@@awesomeone2979 The car exploded in flight. Lots of components have killed many spectators. It was like a flying bomb which exploded over their heads...
@Stephan And the explosion ignited the car’s magnesium alloy, showering flaming debris on the spectators.
@@awesomeone2979 the engine broke free and rolled through the crowd crushing many, the hood bonnet flew through the crowd,my great grandparents were in the crowd and both were decapitated by it, my 10 year old grandfather at the time being missed by inches.
@Awesome_One the car exploded and flew into the public. Check the real images if you have a strong heart
I know this is nitpicky but I'd translate it more this way:
Mercedes was the only team to retire from the race. They came back to the competition only 43 years later. Fitch continued his career mainly dedicating himself in road safety. The accident caused 80 deaths, and was the deadliest crash in Motorsports history.
I'm pretty late to seeing this, but this was one of the greatest short-films I've seen on TH-cam. This kind of creativity is what the internet was made for.
yes
It’s never too late to see this. It was beautiful when it came out & it’s still beautiful to rewatch now.
Indeed Josh, amazing short film.
You are never too late to any TH-cam video. Remember that, and don’t go saying people are “necroposting” elsewhere on the internet.
Absolutely brilliant.
Interesting fact: other driver involved in this crash, Macklin (car that was shown here bouncing in barriers in front of protagonists) had another crash in another race next year where 2 more racing drivers were killed. After that he retired from car racing for good and died of old age in 2002.
Macklin wasn't involved in the accident at Dundrod, but he did crash whilst avoiding it
@@Ramtamtama ...and that Dundrod accident was also in 1955, not the following year.
he was lucky to live, but also unlikely to have killed people unintentionally.
The other driver involved in the accident, Hawthorne, would die in a car crash less than five years later.
@@VRichardsnyeah. And the crash which killed him involved a Mercedes.
First time I have seen the story told from Fitch's perspective, he is a much over looked driver in our time, but he was top level in his day and a World War Two fighter ace as well. He is responsible for the development of the crash barriers that look like a formation of yellow barrels if front of highway overpass supports and other large objects along highways. He owned a Chevrolet dealership in Connecticut and sold what is known as the Fitch Sprint Corvair, [like the better know Yenko] he lived to his nineties.
Interesting, thankyou .👍
During WW2 strafing from the luftwaffe inspired his design. They had all these empty petrol barrels. His idea was to fill these empty barrels with sand to stop the bullets, then they covered their shelter with these barrels and they were safe there. Fitch was also a fighter pilot and the only person known to have shot down an ME262 jet fighter with his P51 Mustang propeller fighter during WW2.I agree with @Rob Flood this guy was an ace and had no fear. In his 90s he was driving GullWings wide open at Bonneville trying to break speed records. Yes, you may call me a fanboi!
Interesting. He also had a 'Fitch Corvair', something like the Shelby Mustang. I remember admiring it as a kid.
Rob, I hope you don't mind but I used the comment as a description for a FaceBook post. I gave you due credit for it. Hope that's not a problem.
facebook.com/EggmanTheRaceFan
A lot of drivers back in this era were pilots; makes sense when the personality types match.
I clicked on this thinking it was some kind of CG animated re-creation of the crash. Man, was I wrong. I enjoy being wrong from time to time.
Like i knew nothing much about Le Mans & motorsports before watching Ford V Ferarri and now this really makes me want to dig more into this.
Wow, that voice acting was incredible, didn't expect that
The sound design was amazing I almost felt like i was there at a race
That and the sound design, it sounded like it was filmed in live-action.
The Le Mans disaster was a multiple crash that occurred on June 11, 1955 at the Sarthe circuit, near Le Mans, during the 24 Hours of Le Mans, in which the driver Pierre Levegh and 83 spectators died. It is considered the greatest tragedy in the history of motor racing. However, the race was not suspended, and was won by Mike Hawthorn, Formula 1 champion in 1958, together with Ivor Bueb.
At half past six in the evening (local time GMT+1) the Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR driven by Juan Manuel Fangio-Stirling Moss was fighting for the lead against the Jaguar driven by Mike Hawthorn and Ivor Bueb after managing to get a lap ahead of most of its rivals.
Hawthorn, in the middle of a battle with Juan Manuel Fangio, overtook an Austin Healey, driven by British driver Lance Macklin, at the entrance to the right grandstand line, but suddenly braked and decided to enter the pits.
Surprised, the driver of the car that had just been lapped made an abrupt maneuver to the left without seeing that two Mercedes, at full speed, were coming at him. The first was driven by the Frenchman Pierre Levegh, one lap behind, and the second by Chueco Fangio.
The drama unfolded in just a few seconds. In a last reflex action, Levegh raised his hand to warn Fangio of the danger.5 He then crashed into the Austin and, at over 200 kilometers per hour, his Mercedes took off and exploded over the packed grandstands.
Pierre Levegh's Mercedes totally disintegrated, the engine and other parts of the chassis left a trail of dead and wounded in its flight over the grandstands, including Levegh himself, whose body was left lying on the track.Among the reasons for the strong deflagration is the fact that many parts of the vehicle were made of magnesium, which generates a strong explosion and makes extinguishing difficult, since the water acts as an enhancer of the flames.
The organizers of the event, however, did not interrupt the race, which continued as ambulances came and went, later it was learned that it continued so that people would not impede the passage of the ambulances and could attend to the injured. Spectators in other areas of the circuit took hours to learn the extent of the tragedy.The organization argued that the suspension of the race would have made it difficult to evacuate the injured, due to the probable invasion of the emergency lanes.
Pierre Levegh was 49 years old at the time of his death.
Levegh was the same age as Dale Earnhardt Sr when he was killed in the Daytona 500 46 years later.
thank you for the explanation🙏🙏
I never knew that reason since I thought The Race Organizers continued purely of without morality I think this reason now i understand
Wow. That's an amazing story. Thanks for giving all the details. I never heard this story before.
Once upon a time, it was normal for racing drivers to die during races. It’s so hard for us modern viewers to even begin to grasp what that actually meant, and this short does an outstanding job to convey how it was when death was normal in motorsports and how different they would react even to an exceptionally horrifying accident because of that.
That’s formula one back then. Le Mans only had 20 drivers die while formula one had many more.
"you can get used to watching soldiers die, but never civilians" that's how drivers see it when the crowd has casualties.
And then you have kids watching modern F1 races and commented how “tame races today have devolved”, how there is no excitement on the race track due to these safety measures implemented on the track and the cars itself, that it’s ok for race drivers to be risking their lives out there, akin to soldiers fighting on the battlefield.
This is why we learn history, so that we won’t repeat the mistakes people have made all those years ago.
@@NeroVingian40 but when safety starts to make racing genuienly boring thats a problem. It's like bike helmets. Bike helmets aren't actually safer. Bike helmets make the rider of the bike take more risks and makes the cars around the biker. There's a whole phenomenon around safety, that when you have more safety, you think you're safe, and thus take a lot more risks. And one day you will take a risk too big. If anything, the 2000s were the safest years of F1. 0 deaths. Meanwhile there have apparently been 5 extreme near deaths between 2018 and 2021. Seems like this exact thing is happening.
@@R9naldo So, what do you propose we do with bike helmets then?
That phenomenon is a paradox; when you have better safety equipment and on track safety, you are going to take more risks, but when you do find yourself getting on the unlucky side of that risk, you’re going to be dead without those safety equipments and on track safety. Risk-taking has always been in racing since forever, whether or not safety features are implemented or not. It’s whether race drivers will harm themselves and spectators when there were not enough safety features is the question here. If anything, there should be more safety features instead of less.
the race went on and the spectators weren't allowed to leave as that would cause the ambulance to be delayed
indeed. and for some time most spectators had no idea of the severity of the wreck.
It was a different time for sure. I do not judge Neubauer for wanting to continue, nor the race officials for not calling off the race. Even after this it would take another 2 decades for people like Jackie Stewart to come in and demand better safety regulations for everyone involved,and even then it was a hard fought battle. We owe the enjoyment we get out of motor racing to people like them, who dragged the sport out of its toxic mindset
@ROB112 That is wrong. The official inquiry held the wreckage for twelve months before it was returned to Mercedes-Benz.
Could have red flagged it even though that probably didn’t exist.
@@Cory989 bad idea. Not only red flags weren't in use at the ACO at the time, but also stopping the race would mean tens of thousands of spectators leaving the track and clogging the roads, when the ambulances needed them clear !
This is simply incredible. This goes beyond animation and straight into a new territory of expressional and narrative art.
I've no idea what any of that means - but I probably agree
@@nelsonclub7722 It means nothing, except that this guy has never seen animation other than Naruto before.
@@KameSenninKun That now makes sense. Thanks
@@ultrablue2 Come on... "pushing bundaries of animation". Seriously, stop bullshiting everyone and watch more things. It's a great short movie, but stop being so extreme...
yeahh... I'd have to disaggree with you on this one chief
that argument in the tunnel, the best top moments I' ve ever seen.
also Mercedes's decision to withdraw EVEN when they are in the lead made me respect em more.
They were so affected they didnt even returned until after 43/44 years later
then the 1998 flip happened and it was so scary to them, they pulled out again. They have a serious respect and almost fear of that track from what it's put them through.
@@FloridaManRacer I’d hate to nitpick but the flip was in 1999
@@Yaro2 yeah that was a dumb mistake... point still stands though...
@@FloridaManRacer yeah your point is fine it was just a small mistake
A very similar thing happened to Alfa Romeo,when Alberto Ascari's father, Antonio, was leading the French Grand Prix and the team was fighting for the first ever international car racing championship. Alfa had two cars leading and Ascari was dominating. Then he crashed and died instantly and the team retired from the race. Despite this,at the end of the year they managed to begin the first world champions ever.
I love the credits part, where you can only hear the howls of the engines, just like it had been that day... No music, no glory, just the howls of engines, and cars passing by... Probably the most haunting credits i have ever seen...
Reminds me of the ending to the movie Bloody Sunday
Yup
9:16 This is one of the most powerful scenes I have ever watched. The voice acting and animation, the muffled sound of the cars over head... This is art.
Magnifique, juste splendide. Brillant hommage.
Are you British
@@thenewbiegamer6003 That's french
@@MCH-23.Quintus nah
@@justanotherbob69 Tu parles français ?
Yes that is french.
Enjoyed. Imagine driving that fast, no overhead/road lighting and with 50s Era headlights/technology. Truly scary times in auto racing.
Even in a cartoon-like Speed Racer as tacky as it may seem to be in the 60s, safety was sacrificed for speed, and some of that speed, killed.
@@jackthorton10 Remember speed never killed anyone, its the sudden stop at the end that gets ya - Jeremy Clarkson. But yea racing was horrifying in the 50's and 60's
@@paulvanzyl2385 Wise words, but sometimes, even risks needed to be made for progress, for it cannot be made with... sadly, sacrifice
Imagine driving a bar of soap with 4 wheels with a powerful engine in it without any safety features or lack of aerodynamics on your bar of soap with 4 wheels while driving on 180mph with only a helmet and some goggles in 1950s
no seatbelts o.o
9:50-10:10
You can see and feel Johns Anger,his disgust towards.Alfred and his decision to continue; even though it was one of his cars who killed all of the those innocent people. But he you can also see the sympathy and sadness of all of the people who died;Especially his friend.
If a voice actor can tell that emotion just by 2 sentences. And a designer who can show the emotion. That is true talent.
Well done to this studio!!
Don't forget good people that at those hours nobody actually knew how tragic was this accident. Nobody knew the numbers, and even the organizing body was afraid to stop the race because leaving people could block the roads from the ambulances and firefighters. Moreover, the Mercedes cars were built of electrum, an alloy with high magnesium content and the firefighters weren't prepared to cope with magnesium fire. When they tried to put it out with water, magnesium spat blindingly white flames and sparks and went even more savage. After some tries they decided to let Levegh's car burn down by itself. (I did quite a lot of research of this accident as I wrote the Wikipedia article for Hungarian Wikipedia on this tragedy.)
I think this is the most powerful and due tribute to the lost souls of this accident and those fantastic sportsmen like Levegh, Fitch, Neubauer, Moss, Fangio et al. At Circuit de la Sarthe there is only a tiny plaquette commemorating the tragedy.
It is strange that the film leaves out the third Mercedes car bearing the number 21 and driven by Karl Kling and the Frenchman André Simon. Also there is a wrong information that Mercedes was the only team to step back from that race. Even before Mercedes act Donald Healey, team principal of Austin Healey team ordered his cars to stop. (Actually one of his car was involved in Levegh's crash-the film shows Macklin's Austin Healey ricocheting between the walls by the pits.)
That was a little bit dramatized, Alfred Neubauer was ready to call off his team from the race just as John Fitch realized they had to. They just can’t because they still needed approval from the higher-ups, which was given after a voting session via telephone.
My great grandpa was in that race. He was a man working on one of the cameras. When Levegh went flying, he ducked just in the nick of time. But his other cameraman was killed and mutilated. He describes it as one of the saddest things he had ever saw. RIP his best friend/cameraman.
Did he have fotage?
@@mrlemondude2944 yes he did
@@wolf-o-rama any rare unseen?
@@Jeffgordonfan24hesthegoat yeah it looked scary
@@wolf-o-rama bruh you gotta show me💥 it’s not even seen on color on here All the same videos glad yo grand pappy was safe tho 🙏
"We must think about our future.."
Sometime in the future : *Winning 6 of F1's Driver's Championship and the constructors championship 6x in a row*
Well damn..
Even more if you count those they helped win as engine supplier
Dayum
Wouldn´t the future would be their thriumphant return to Le Mans with the legendary Sauber C9(?
Rubén Pacheco Exactly
6 In A Row WDC and WCC with Hamilton and Rosberg
3 WDC and 2 WCC with McLaren F1 as a supplier
1 WDC and WCC with Brawn GP as a supplier
That is one hell of a comeback by the Silver Arrows!
One word - masterpiece
This was the blackest of black days in the history of motorsport. A horrific tragedy.
To think another disaster happened a few years later that claimed the lives of 15 spectators.
Even though safety improvements have been majorly improved in the last decade, motorsports will be dangerous and always will be, Antoine Hubert at spa 2019 was killed in a side on collision and romain Grosjean nearly lost his life in a horrific accident very recently.
@@fuzzybuzzy3159 I believe that wasn't Le Mans.... It is the 1961 Monza Grand Prix, where Wolfgang von Trips died along with 15 spectators.
@@v88box21 Nowhere did I say it happened at Le Mans
I swear if this losses the Oscar against a Pixar short I'll burn the ceremony
This sadly will, cuz... what do ya expect? Pixar has the money to just BUY the votes, nothing in such a Price event is real anymore, everything is just bought and stolen, if you want to have sucess nowerdays, you need to lie your way up
KMS Bismarck Drache191200 Who cares about Oscars anyway?
For the piece thats more on the artistic side, as this one is, the independent festivals awards are what counts.
@@drazenbudis7881 because it can and it should, like when Spirit Away won, I understand independent festivals and awards exist(which are less bias and actually care about the movies) but movies like this get buried and forgotten just because they didn't win on Hollywood.
prepare the matches and the gas
Gas is on me
the fact this plays more on the psychological impact more than the crash itself really makes it quite unique and moving.
Man, this is something else. I was there in 2013 when Allan crashed. The silence over the race track was, well nothing like any of the 6 other times I was there. I can imagine it was much worse back then. Le Mans 24H is and will always be the craziest race to ever have been raced.
A beautiful film. John Fitch is one of my all-time heroes whose innovations were responsible for saving countless lives on racetracks and public highways.
I’m here just shaking my head in awe. This short is amazing. Every motorsport lover needs to see this, but also anyone who enjoys animated shorts and filming in general will also enjoy this work of art. Thank you to the team responsible of creating this masterpiece
Absolutely phenomenal. I hope it wins every award imaginable.
Speechless. In just 15 minutes they managed to summarize a whole universe of humanity. The pride of progress and effort, technical and human prowess, the losses and tragedies that can occur, the decisions that are made to accept and overcome them, the value of teamwork, the knowledge that there are things more important than a precious momentary prize. All told with such a delicacy and fine art, so direct and simple within its depth, that it makes one feel close in many ways: over time, with the protagonists of history (and with those of History), with men and women both anonymous and renowned. In short, an unexpected little Great Work of Art. Thank you for taking the time and effort to tell it.
Honestly this art style deserves a movie
If this film doesn't win anything then something ain't right
DirtyEagle Carlos Look at the thumbnail
The ones who were brought here by YT's Algorithm but stayed for a Masterpiece...
Present yourselves
Here's moi
Et Moi
I was brought from the algorithm and seeing Ford V Ferrari 2 weeks ago, I thought might as well check it out and I'm honestly just stunned. It's a really good short film and the emotions behind it is meaningful, instead of having it just because.
When I opened YT, it was the fisrt video in recommended.
Me
This movie has perfect timing. I am actually working on a documentary about Juan Manuel Fangio for a school project and this video really just put into perspective through what times he must’ve sometimes gone through
I know what you mean.
That must have been a very cool project to work on, we were told to make a presentation about an athlete, I wanted to write about Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher, but the teacher claimed they weren't 'real athletes'
@@shaunfernando56 what a joke!
@@shaunfernando56 your teacher has clearly never driven a car hard.
@@shaunfernando56 your teacher really know shit, you should stand your ground! And educate that ignorant fu#$ck
The amount of forces the body has to withstand, the reflexes needed, the stress of possible dying at every moment, the mental and body preparation needed to do this is only reserved for crazy people
Im footballer, and anything compares with the danger of Motorsport, leave alone 24hs du Mans
Le Mans….. so much blood and toil. Respect for the most difficult 24hrs in motor sport.
it’s been 3 years since this came out and I can say that this by far is my favorite short film I’ve seen. with the voice acting, visuals, and music being my favorite.
the voice actors do deserve their praise, I don’t think I’ve gotten so choked up over something when I first watched the argument with John and Alfred. Nathan Willcocks (John’s VA) and Joe Sheridan (Alfred’s VA) gave it out their all, whew! but like I said, all time favorite short film.
*edit*: the soundtrack at eleven minute mark makes my eyes water, I love Ali Helnwein’s music for this so much.
I have to say this is the first time I ever though about this tragedy from Pierre perspective, I am Argentinian, and I always heard the story about how Pierre was hero for signalling so Fangio did not crash into him, but man, this is very touching. I loved the animation style and the story was very well refreshing to hear... needless to say I loved every second of it
Pierre Levegh was a fantastic sportsman who was excellent ice hockey and tennis player and started race driving at age of 32…
Fangio is the guy in this video who informed the pit crew of the accident. So sad
Ce film est poignant. Extrêmement bien réalisé, dessiné et construit. L'époque est parfaitement respecté, les voitures sont belles, le circuit est magique... Grand merci à toutes celles et tous ceux qui ont réalisé ce film. Grand bravo. Un passionné des 24 Heures comme moi l'a dévoré et m'a fait ressentir beaucoup d'émotions.
La première fois que je regarde les 24 Heures à la télévision c'était en 2005. Ca été une découverte totale et un virus qui est resté chez moi depuis. Alors que les Audi du team Champion + Oreca et les Pescarolo se bagarrait en tête, France 2 a parlé de ce tragique accident. Je n'avais que 10 ans mais je me souviens du moment ou je découvre ces horribles images d'une voiture explosée et des débris volés sur plusieurs mètres, j'étais glacé... Triste... On a du mal à imaginer qu'un tel accident se produise surtout à ma génération ou la sécurité existe depuis longtemps. Ce court métrage me rappelle les émotions que j'ai ressenti à l'époque ou je découvrais cet accident. Le moment ou on voit des corps recouvert de draps, avec une voiture en feu et le son des voitures qui continue de foncer j'ai a nouveau été glacé et vraiment triste de la même façon qu'il y a 14 ans... Ca me rapelle aussi 2013 ou j'entendais les Lotus B12 Toyota Rebellion hurler dans les lignes droites des Hunaudières tout en apprenant le décès d'Allan Simonsen. C'est toujours glaçant... Aujourd'hui je roule sur un Kart de compétition, ce film m'a mit une claque qui rappelle que ce sport est dangereux et le restera toujours... Mais quoi qu'il arrive, on l'aimera toujours justement pour ce danger et rouler sur le fil du rasoir.
je suis pas le seul passionnée de la route est le bonheur quelle m apporte
Tu as tout dit 😭👍❤💖je suis entièrement daccord avec toi ça touche vraiment le cœur ton commentaire j ai passer 1 minute de bonheur à lire ce commentaire
Tu as vraiment capturé la essence de cette filme merci pour votre commentaire. J'avais les memes sentiments quand je regardais cette filme éxtraordinaire.
I love endurance racing and enjoyed this film too… I hope to one day go to the 24hr of LeMans. I wonder how much it costs.
@@vitreo1363 You definitly should go ! Ticket is about 80 euros for the entire week. But you have to think of the cost of traveling, food, sleep somewhere, equipment like sun glasses, a chair, etc. But I would say even though you spend 500 euros for the all week, it's so worth it compared to a F1 Grand Prix.
The scene in the tunnel under the race track was very well done. The voice actor for Fitch deserves some praise.
Why youtube decided to show me this today I dont know, but Im so glad it did. This is powerful.. I watch the 24 Hours of Le Mans every year and I know its history, and this incident.. To who voiced John here, an amazing pwrformamce, I got chills during the dialogue between John and Alfred in the underpass. I can only imagine how he felt after hearing "we can win" after seeing what he had. And seeing whats left of the Benz in that plume of red smoke, accompanied by this beautiful art style, was truly chilling... This more than deserves an Oscar.
At first I thought, why not just continue?, then I understand what john was thinking. Also the reason why he said "we must think of our future". Why would they win if they are also gonna be responsible for the lives of 80 innocent people? Respect for that. For not being egoistical at winning like winning is everything. It's not just about the result, it is also about progress or how to get the result.
This was 10 years after the end of WWII. A German car just caused 80 deaths, and that would not sit well. Can understand the anguish, of being able to win, but not at that cost. Excellent short, and not what I expected when I clicked on it.
@@patrickvolk7031 80 deaths of French citizens on French soil while "fighting" the British. You could still see the guard towers from the camps from the track. John Fitch was talking with Pierre's wife when the accident happened. He helped take care of the some of the injured in front of the pits (Macklin's car hit a police man, a journalist and a camera man when it bounced across to the pit wall). Fitch realized that the radio reports were likely getting out about the crash and felt he needed to call home to ensure his family that he was ok, while he was doing this he heard a journalist confirming at least 48-64 deaths. He went to the head designer of the Mercedes cars to talk to him about pulling out. There was no disagreement from him or anyone else on the team (outside of Moss who wanted to win LeMans). Mercedes delayed pulling out because it took so long for the upper management to make the decision as they were spread all over and it was the middle of the night. The Mercedes managers at the track that day knew they needed to pull out, but had to get approval first.
There's actually quite an interesting youtube video on this by Adrian Millward which more accurately represent the race and the mindset of the mercedes team boss and drivers, specifically of Fitch, at that time. Look it up.
Very amazing, emotional and touching movie...
Safety has come a long way since that tragic day in 1955.
Safety has a come a long way but Motorsport will always be dangerous, Antoine Hubert died in a side on collision at spa and romain grosjean was nearly killed in a fireball after his car penetrated the barrier and was spilt in half, in 2011 Robert kubica suffered a rally incident where a metal barrier went through the front of the car and came out the other side, it was so severe that it nearly severed his right arm and almost every bone on the right side of his body was broken, it reminds us that Motorsport still has a long long way to go in terms of safety
That is just so tragic in 1955
Safety has come a long way
it has. but the most f'd up thing is that the year the factory Mercedes got back into Le Mans their new CLR lift off on the Mulsanne straight, making them leaving the event for the second time (so far) never to return. It is like they can't catch a break.
MB has bad luck at lemana
And at terrible price.
Jorge Soyche They were in Le Mans and sport car racing before those accidents with CLR’s occured.
First at the dawn of group C with Sauber colaboration and their C9 and C11 winning cars, and then in GT rules with CLK’s GT.
When CLK’s evolved into CLR’s, those horrific takeoffs happened.
@@drazenbudis7881 Way before then, actually, if you account for the fact that the first ever motor race in history was won by a car with a Mercedes engine.
When you are native french but also fluent in english 😍 it makes this short animated movie even more enjoyable.
One of the most beautiful animations i've ever seen, with a great story line to boot. Definitely deserving of an Oscar
Ce court-métrage raconte une histoire... Mais c'est aussi un bel et grand hommage, et un touchant témoignage, d'une grande humanité...
Some days the TH-cam algorithm isn't all that much. Today it's just wonderful.
This could easily be a feature long film, professional
I really hope this wins an Oscar. The film was truly beautiful.
It was an interesting decision to take away the visual focus from the crash itself. I feel like many other animators or directors would dedicate 5 to 10 minutes to the destruction and visible deaths of many people, but this short was a lot more subtle with it. I think it works wonders, and helps put the focus of the short on the people around the tragedy instead of the crash itself.
It makes it emotional instead of grotesque
I saw a documentary about that crash once and it dedicated quite a bit of time to who was at fault. Because we don’t see the crash here, only the aftermath, that question never comes to mind.
ehhh, but if you aren't already familiar with the wreck, you would have no idea how bad it really was, this just looks like a crash, and its barely implied to be more.
@@epidemicstudios weren't all the tarps enough to imply how bad it was?
Only showing the crash from the perspective of the team was a smart move, we know as much as they do
"It's not about piere anymore"
That's in my top ten lines from all of media/history
I personally found the next line, "These innocent people! Look at their faces! Tell me you want to continue." better because of how it hits his point home like a railroad spike.
But that's just me.
This is an animated masterpiece. Animation, sound, score. This is one of the best films I've seen. RESPECT.
J'aime trop ce genre de court métrage, le style orignal, les émotions extrêmement présentes, de pures masterclass, un excellent taff bravo
If this loses to some stupid Pixar short, I'm starting a riot
So how’s the riot coming
@@marty154 Terribly
Pixar does great work as well. Why you gotta disparage one thing to prop up another?
@@anirudhmenon4234 Because it’s bias against Pixar cause they have $$$$$$$$$
I'll bring the nukes
Un magnifique court métrage qui mérite d'être adapter en long métrage.
It wasn't 80. They just refused to continue counting.
Beautiful and haunting.
Thank you for respecting every part of this. That was amazing.
I actually met John Fitch a few years before he died, I only knew he was a driver.
He was such a great man, as an engineer, racing driver, WWII fighter pilot (once downed a Messerschmitt ME262 jet-even if that was just taking off) and POW who escaped back to his squadron… I think he is terribly underrated now.
The only time where engine roaring past felt heavy instead of exciting
I love this so so much
I wish it were released a week before Ford v Ferrari so that we can get kinda prequel of what happened during opening scene of the movie.
Except the events have nothing to do with each other besides being at Le Mans. Ford wasn't in the picture yet and Ferrari would not be competitive again until the 1958.
Wisnu Setioko the opening scene you're talking about was the 1959 24 hours. I guess it shows an interesting background to the event as a whole, but not exactly related
I find this short to be a much better piece of art than Ford v Ferrari
Adonis' flat ass Aesthetics? Where did I say anything about that?
@@drazenbudis7881 To me Ford vFerrari is all about giving Ken Miles his due.
One of the best short films ever made!
Telling the story through the eyes of John Fitch and Alfred Neubauer makes this film a masterpiece. Brilliant, Quentin Baillieux!
Voilà, ça c'est la fierté française de l'animation, l'histoire, le graphisme. Fierté française. Merci messieur pour cette page d'histoire.
Le message est passé, merco a eu du coeur, au moins à cette époque.
Wonderful yet deeply disturbing. RIP to all those lost on that tragic day.
Ok if this doesn’t win an Oscar, we riot.
NasHawk if it loses to a crappy Disney short, we WILL riot
VeronViper 06 if a Pixar short wins, we start World War 3
Indeed due to Disney shorts
I've got an ak-47
Oscar’s don’t care about stories involving straight white men, so of course it will lose, the superhero short involving the black crippled pansexual transsexual donkey lover will of course win.
Bravo à tous ceux qui ont participé à ce court métrage, très beau et très juste à la fois, un bel hommage aux victimes en somme.
Le fait que l'accident ne soit pas directement montré et qu'on nous montre plus ce qu'il se passe ensuite est une décision appréciable
was not expecting to be pleased with an animated film of this crash but it was very tastefully done and focused on the people.
This was the most moving and beautifully animated short film I've seen in many years. This deserves more than just a nod. I don't care what the competition is. Great cinema has the power to move you to real emotion. This animation did that. Thank you and best of luck.
What an incredible piece of art. Truly amazing. Bravo, you're wonderful creatives at heart.
I really like the art style, makes this so much more powerful.
Reminds me of the 90s batman cartoon
This animation was created with such love and care, and the attention to detail... Keeping the crash out of the spotlight, but still keeping it onscreen behind the main character, Jogn Fitch, who is the focus of the story, brings a new perspective to the 1955 Le Mans disaster.
Le contenu le plus qualitatif que j’ai vu jusqu’ici sur TH-cam, sans hésitation
Wouaw, un court-métrage poignant, touchant et réaliste. Les bruitages sont très fidèles à la réalité. Que dire de plus ? PARFAIT !
This movie was so depressing in both the eyes of the crew and the spectators
Rip
This highlighted a lot about the crash that isn't that commonly known:
1) The crash was a *highly* local event. Most of the fans along the racecourse were unaware it occurred, until much later. The carnage was absolutely horrific in that one area, but the short wisely chose not to linger there. There are plenty of other videos out there that show the graphic aftermath of what happens when large pieces of a racing vehicle go cartwheeling through an unprotected crowd at 100+ mph.
2) The race was not red-flagged but continued, in part to prevent panic from spreading through the crowd and potentially causing many more casualties. This was, to say the least, a highly controversial decision later.
3) The Hobson's Choice that was faced by the Mercedes team. Their decision to withdraw after the crash also remains controversial to this day, but the short sheds new light on it. "We are racing drivers... we're not monsters" was incredibly powerful. And once they withdrew, they left auto racing altogether for over 43 years.
They actually raced to the end of the 1955 racing season, and then withdrew. A prudent decision none the less. Sometimes the Germans are portrayed as emotionless automatons. But the way their moral compass points North in individual situations like this...maybe detatched and calculating? is the way forward. WWII thought them ALOT.
@@daphnejames3571 Especially since the crash was in no way their fault, but the fault of a terribly designed track that could not handle the speeds that they were going at that time. Had they had a separate pit lane and/or a decent crash barrier between the track and the crowd, it never would have happened.
i think for time it was correct decision to not cancel the race if it was cancelled the traffic comming from the track would be it hard time for medical vehicles to get to the site
I am crying
What a masterpiece
We want more like this
These type of animations need a whole lot more credit than just being on the recommended page of TH-cam.
L'hommage aux deux pilotes Italiens au début, mis en valeur par le scénario, comme un présage...
émouvant, touchant, un drame que personne n'a oublié, félicitation aux créateurs de ce court-métrage pour la sobriété et la puissance des images et du montage
Magnificent. ( It was believed that the race continued because if had been stopped, the departing spectators would have jammed the roads blocking the first responders. And being German- WWII- being very recent history there were serious social and political ramifications...)
Yeah. There was the blame-game between the Jaguar and Mercedes teams following the disaster.
Emotional, thought provoking, beautifully animated and voice acted. I cant say enough good things about this film. Thank you.
i need to put this into words.. the visual of the insides of the car laid bare with such a stark red contrast to the muted environment, it gives off a visceral flair of carnage and gore, and yet in truth, no actual gore is ever shown. the bodies are whole and clean, and only the damage of the car itself is so mangled and red. its a metaphor in visual form, no need to show blood or guts when such a visual metaphor does more than that. especially the first shot of the car as it is left burning, looking like a body with its ribs torn open and all the oil bleeding out as if blood. the artists knew how to make it look violent without ever once using violence. i paused it there and just stared in shock.
i guess what i am trying to say is this..
they represented the death and pain that took place through the body of the car, and used it to act in place of those who died, a fitting stand in for the setting. thematic and poignant.
while the entire movie is good, I was most affected by those scenes.
may all who died that day rest in peace, and thank you to all of those who made this work of emotional art.
This is a brilliat animaton that, among other things, shows you that you don't require ultra-smooth animation to tell a compelling story. You "just" need good photography, cinematography, directing and voice acting.
RIP, Pierre Levegh and the spectators that were killed.
the most tragic event in the history of racing- all beautifully put together into a 15 minute film. this is purely amazing.
Absolutly amazing! This is not just a mini movie, this is a piece of art on every aspect.
I want more of this. Formula 1 greatest stories, more prototypes, more GPs. This is sick man, awesome job y'all.
This is such a poetic take on how much of a life and death affair racing used to be. How people were ready and willing to give their lives to etch their name in the history of racing.
But it became clear that the line was drawn when those who werent willing or ready to give up their lives, did.
Such a great use of the CGI technics, bravo to the director and the team behind !
What an incredible piece of art and storytelling.
2019, the year that the rest of the world noticed le mans
And is that a problem?
Anyone slightly interested in racing knows le mans.
dave the most important race in the world all top brands race in that race as lmp’s or GT’s
Thank you so much for this film!
...and a special thanks to the author of the Russian subtitles!
Looking back at this before le mans 2024 is weird. This was the greatest animation i have ever seen even if im 4 years late. Thank you
Ça laisse sans voix...un grand bravo à toute l'équipe d'avoir pu mettre en œuvre ce film....et Merci...oui merci de nous proposer de ce genre de vidéo pour nous, les passionnés que nous sommes !!!
One of the many downs in the rich history of motorsports. A brilliant film
The deadliest motorsports accident in history
Not just by the death toll but also the human logic on what to do when an accident happen. It really surprised me that the race still continued with that much casualties. I'm relieved that today's motorsports are much more caring to the safety of everybody involved.
Someone said that if spectators were to leave the track, it'd cause a traffic jam that would slow down emergency services from reaching the track.
They argued that if they called off the race, the ones that weren’t already dead would not be able to receive the appropriate treatment to potentially save their lives
This is the best animated and the most emotional short I have ever seen
I was so ready to see the crash and all the craziness after it.......at the end of this I'm glad it was left out and understood that it's not what this was about....Bravo and thanks
This is by far the best random recommendation I've got on YT, wonderful