"The Audi is the star of the film because no one would watch it otherwise."
"The Audi is the star of the film because no one would watch it otherwise."
Incredible documentary on french former rally driver, Michele Mouton and her journey into the world of Motorsport shown by Emmy winner, Cannes Lion Winner and two time Grammy nominee Andy Holland.
So I want to start this article with saying in no way am I a film critic (I did do Film A Level although that is 4 years ago now) and that I found this documentary incredibly captivating in every aspect. From the B-roll to the ‘Talking Heads’ with the pacing, themes and the soundtrack of the film I thoroughly enjoyed it. No doubt Andy and his team obviously knew what they were doing with telling Michèle’s compelling story.
“The Audi is the star of the film because no one would watch it otherwise."
When Andy started his talk this afternoon he firstly went through who he is, what he does, what his kids think he does (talking to people) to introduce himself. He was funny no doubt, and a great storyteller which is prevalent in his movie making. But hey i’m assuming you’re here for the women on the screen and not for the car, or is that wrong to infer.
Michèle grew up in Grasse, South of France. Growing up she didn’t have a particular interest in motorsports just driving around in her fathers Citroen 2CV when she was 14. To which he was quite strict, according to Michèle he was a man that you would listen too and set boundaries to keep her from getting into trouble.
“For me a car was a way to be free and to do what i want.” - Michèle
Her father also owned a Porsche 911 and so when she’d come home from dancing early into the morning hours she would drive the car faster and faster to reach it’s limits, finding more twisty roads and really pushing it to the boundaries. Her friends at the time, in particular this one guy Sean (who she suspected he was quite fond of her) had a car and was going to Monte Carlo to compete in the Rally Racing, this is where she first heard about motorsport.
Rally Racing for those who don’t follow it is all about the technicality of the course and how willing the driver is ready to push the car to it’s capabilities, how prepared these drivers are coming close to either the death of themselves or others. A specific moment in the film with Michèle’s career was in Portugal in 1982. She won the race by 14 minutes and the commentators/viewers at the time were clearly shocked of her lead because she was a women, which was a recurring theme throughout the documentary. Dangers is rally car such as the crowd because they would want to get to as close to the cars as possible that the mechanics would have to pull out fingers from the car because they would try and touch it. (You do see severed fingers in the film so…if you have a weak stomach be warned.)
I mean it’s just crazy how fast these cars are going and people would be risking their lives just to get as close as possible without being hit, of course they thought the drivers wouldn’t make a mistake, explained in the documentary by Michèle’s co-driver Fabrizia Pons said they would have to pretend the onlookers weren’t there and not to fear, as soon as you feared you may hit someone that’s when you became cautious and slowed down. Theres an amazing clip about 49 minutes in of a first person point of view of the Audi going around Portugal (the film is on youtube) and it’s so fascinating to watch i highly recommend.
Jumping back to Michèle’s journey her father bought her first rally car which was an Alpine A110, she consistently placed in the top 10. The car’s debut was the inaugural season of theWorld Rally Championship. She was reliable with the fact she was placing well. Michèle would go on to win the Ladies French European championship in 1974 and 75. In the 75 season she raced on an all women’s team in Le Mans and placed first in their class, coming 21st overall.
However she wanted more, she wanted to compete and win against her male competitors , she came 7th in her first World Rally Championship race in Corsica and the other drivers thought she was cheating because she did so well. Again if you don’t watch rallying or aren’t really into it anyone can enter themselves as long as they have a car and are ready and willing to go up against the best in the world.
In 1980, Sanremo, Italy, Michèle Mouton won her first ever win in the World Rally series with Audi. At the time of the race her main competitor Ari Vatanen said,
“The day i will be beaten by a woman i will stop racing.”
Well, did he?
No he didn’t. These two went on to become biggest rivals for many years and the speed of Michèle took everyone by surprise. Fabrizia and her were determined and not a force to be reckoned with for the next few years. The pair really were making history for the future of women in motorsports.
40 years on Michèle is still the only women to win not just a round but, “5 victories, 9 podiums, and 162 stage wins, while also becoming the president of the FIA Women’s Commission, she trail blazed a path for everyone after.”
Her character was prevalent throughout the film. Her impatience ran thin during a race if a part of the car had gone bust, she knew what she was doing and wanted other to know that too. She also didn’t want to known because she was a female driver, and a lot of the comments throughout the film from the talking heads often spoke about how remarkable she was because not only did she compete, she won. A bit of b-roll at the time showed her partner at the time being asked like ,”Does it make you feel inferior that Michèle is doing such a masculine sport?” and he replied no. Which back in the 80’s i suppose it was more of a shock to see, however now till this day
‘Motorsports is a man’s work’
and is heavily prevalent so.
To sum up todays article, the film was funny and informative, I have become genuinely interested in a new part of motorsport, and maybe you will too.
I don’t want to spoil the whole thing, so we will move on to the Q&A with Andy.
I personally asked him one question which was -
“How did you first hear about Michèle? What attracted you to her story, was it just her or did you look at any other female drivers?”
To which answered he had first heard of her from an episode of The Grand Tour, the episode which was slightly distasteful in it’s stereotyping of ethnicities etc. The clip here is over 18 minutes long, although at timestamp 5:46 Michèle get’s a tiny snippet. A name drop. But i guess that’s all that took.
His second answer was no. He wasn’t doing the documentary for a female driver, he was doing it for the entertainment and so hadn’t considered anyone else.
What did you think of the documentary?
This article is originally featured on Women Can’t Drive. If you want to read more about women in motorsports head over to the WCD substack.
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