Matt Damon and Christian Bale on the set of 'Le Mans '66'. Merrick Morton / 20th Century Fox
Matt Damon and Christian Bale on the set of 'Le Mans '66'. Merrick Morton / 20th Century Fox
Matt Damon and Christian Bale on the set of 'Le Mans '66'. Merrick Morton / 20th Century Fox
Matt Damon and Christian Bale on the set of 'Le Mans '66'. Merrick Morton / 20th Century Fox

Why shooting 'Le Mans 66' made Christian Bale reflect on his own life


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"You do not need to be a car fan to understand and appreciate this film," says Christian Bale, pondering his exhilarating new movie Le Mans '66. "It's a wonderful David v Goliath story." It is debatable, however, exactly who is David and who is Goliath. In America, the film is called Ford v Ferrari – a rather more straightforward title that encapsulates this head-to-head battle between two titans of the car industry.

You might think that the Michigan-based Ford Motor Company would be Goliath to the elegant boutique luxury of Ferrari. But in the world of motor racing, back in the 1960s, it was the Italian company that dominated, winning the 24-hour Le Mans endurance race six times in a row between 1960 and 1965. They were the team to beat.

When Henry Ford II, son of the founder of the company, entered the race, it meant bringing in two outsiders – the real "Davids" of this story – British mechanic and racing driver Ken Miles and the Texan car designer Carroll Shelby. While The Martian star Matt Damon plays Shelby, it's the British-born Bale who takes on the role of Miles, who was raised near Birmingham, England, but became a naturalised American.

"The man was remarkable," says a clearly admiring Bale. "He would just win every race he would go into. He was so good … there was one race where he stopped, got out, got himself a sandwich, ate the sandwich and then got back in his car and won. He would do things like that; it didn't endear him to the officials. And he would often end up getting disqualified, but he was a real racer's racer."

After his more extreme roles, be it his serial killer Patrick Bateman (American Psycho) or the DC Comics superhero in Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy, Bale's turn as Miles might feel more grounded. Nevertheless, it still meant rigorous preparation, not least shedding the 18 kilograms he'd gained to play former White House vice president Dick Cheney in Vice, which earned him his fourth Oscar nomination (one of those turned into a win, for his role as boxer Dickie Eklund in 2011's The Fighter).

When director James Mangold (who worked with Bale on the western 3:10 to Yuma) first saw the actor, he told him if he didn't drop the weight, he wouldn't fit in the Ford GT40 that Miles helped design and drove during the Le Mans race. Bale's own health aside – he's 45 now and recognises he can no longer treat his body the way he did on The Machinist, for which he dropped 27kg to play an insomniac – there were other reasons to diet. Miles was "a bit of a health nut", says Bale. "He would go running a lot. He was very light and it's all part of who the man was."

Christian Bale and Matt Damon in Twentieth Century Fox’s Ford V Ferrari aka Le Mans 66. Merrick Morton / 20th Century Fox
Christian Bale and Matt Damon in Twentieth Century Fox’s Ford V Ferrari aka Le Mans 66. Merrick Morton / 20th Century Fox

Once Bale slimmed down, he trained at the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving. Though not a petrolhead – apart from dreaming about riding a motorbike when he was a kid – it allowed the actor to experience the adrenalin rush you get from going behind the wheel at those speeds. Moreover, it gave him an "understanding of how alive these men felt", risking life and limb. "They were willing to take it right to the edge of death."

It was bringing this to the screen that intrigued Bale. "How do you try to relay the excitement of motor racing through film?" he asks, rhetorically. "[We wanted] to attempt to see if we could give a taste for what it feels like to be going round the track at those dizzying speeds." Indeed, perhaps with the exception of Ron Howard's Rush, there are few other contemporary Hollywood films that have brought motor racing alive in the way Mangold's film does.

While Bale shot some of actual race scenes, Le Mans '66 recruited some of the world's top drivers to film those hair-raising hairpin turns. They even employed the sons – now racers themselves – of the actual drivers from the 1966 Le Mans race. Bale recalls the scene where Miles and others are lining up to run to their cars for the start of the race. "I'm standing next to the sons of the actual racers who were next to Miles at that moment. We were looking at black-and-white photographs – going 'There's your dad! There's your dad! All right, action!'"

Still, this hits on a main theme for Le Mans '66: fathers and sons. As much as the story deals with Miles's volatile time with Shelby and the Ford executives, the most touching element comes with his relations with his son, Peter (played by young British actor Noah Jupe). "Ken was a really devoted dad," says Bale, "and I think that in addition to the story really being about friendship, it's also about how you balance the absolute duty and love of taking care and providing for your family, with a passion that also introduces immense danger into your life."

A father himself – to Emmeline, 14, and Joseph, 5 – with his wife of almost 20 years, Sibi, Bale spent time with Miles's now grown-up son Peter, who told him countless stories about family life. Bale even watched the final film with Peter and his daughter. "That was a moving experience. The most profound screening of a film I'll ever have," Bale remarks. "But I did find myself sitting there and thinking about my own life, like any good film makes you do. People you've loved and lost. You cannot help that."

It’s also tempting to draw comparisons between Bale and Miles: two men obsessed by their work, passionate for the craft, desperate to be the best. You might even say that getting under the skin of a character is just like lifting up the hood and tinkering with a V8 engine. “Yes, you want to build it from the ground up. That’s where the satisfaction is,” he grins, warming to the theme. “Absolutely. You want to get your hands as dirty as possible.”

Le Mans ’66 is in UAE cinemas from Thursday

Hili 2: Unesco World Heritage site

The site is part of the Hili archaeological park in Al Ain. Excavations there have proved the existence of the earliest known agricultural communities in modern-day UAE. Some date to the Bronze Age but Hili 2 is an Iron Age site. The Iron Age witnessed the development of the falaj, a network of channels that funnelled water from natural springs in the area. Wells allowed settlements to be established, but falaj meant they could grow and thrive. Unesco, the UN's cultural body, awarded Al Ain's sites - including Hili 2 - world heritage status in 2011. Now the most recent dig at the site has revealed even more about the skilled people that lived and worked there.

UAE tour of the Netherlands

UAE squad: Rohan Mustafa (captain), Shaiman Anwar, Ghulam Shabber, Mohammed Qasim, Rameez Shahzad, Mohammed Usman, Adnan Mufti, Chirag Suri, Ahmed Raza, Imran Haider, Mohammed Naveed, Amjad Javed, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed
Fixtures:
Monday, 1st 50-over match
Wednesday, 2nd 50-over match
Thursday, 3rd 50-over match

TOURNAMENT INFO

Women’s World Twenty20 Qualifier

Jul 3- 14, in the Netherlands
The top two teams will qualify to play at the World T20 in the West Indies in November

UAE squad
Humaira Tasneem (captain), Chamani Seneviratne, Subha Srinivasan, Neha Sharma, Kavisha Kumari, Judit Cleetus, Chaya Mughal, Roopa Nagraj, Heena Hotchandani, Namita D’Souza, Ishani Senevirathne, Esha Oza, Nisha Ali, Udeni Kuruppuarachchi

2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups

Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.

Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.

Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.

Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.

Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.

Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.

Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.

Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.

UK-EU trade at a glance

EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years

Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products

Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries

Smoother border management with use of e-gates

Cutting red tape on import and export of food

PROFILE OF HALAN

Started: November 2017

Founders: Mounir Nakhla, Ahmed Mohsen and Mohamed Aboulnaga

Based: Cairo, Egypt

Sector: transport and logistics

Size: 150 employees

Investment: approximately $8 million

Investors include: Singapore’s Battery Road Digital Holdings, Egypt’s Algebra Ventures, Uber co-founder and former CTO Oscar Salazar

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%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAyan%20Mukerji%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ERanbir%20Kapoor%2C%20Alia%20Bhatt%20and%20Amitabh%20Bachchan%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs

Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo

Power: 240hp at 5,500rpm

Torque: 390Nm at 3,000rpm

Transmission: eight-speed auto

Price: from Dh122,745

On sale: now

Results

5pm: Reem Island – Conditions (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 1,600m; Winner: Farasah, Antonio Fresu (jockey), Musabah Al Muhairi

5.30pm: Sir Baniyas Island – Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,400m; Winner: SSR Ghazwan, Antonio Fresu, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami

6pm: Wathba Stallions Cup – Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 1,400m; Winner: Astral Del Sol, Sean Kirrane, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami

6.30pm: Al Maryah Island – Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 2,200m; Winner: Toumadher, Dane O’Neill, Jaber Bittar

7pm: Yas Island – Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 2,200m; Winner: AF Mukhrej, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel

7.30pm: Saadiyat Island – Handicap (TB) Dh80,000 (T) 2,400m; Winner: Celestial Spheres, Gary Sanchez, Ismail Mohammed

RACECARD%20
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The five new places of worship

Church of South Indian Parish

St Andrew's Church Mussaffah branch

St Andrew's Church Al Ain branch

St John's Baptist Church, Ruwais

Church of the Virgin Mary and St Paul the Apostle, Ruwais

 

2.0

Director: S Shankar

Producer: Lyca Productions; presented by Dharma Films

Cast: Rajnikanth, Akshay Kumar, Amy Jackson, Sudhanshu Pandey

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?

1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull

2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight

3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge

4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own

5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed

MATCH INFO

Delhi Daredevils 174-4 (20 ovs)
Mumbai Indians 163 (19.3 ovs)

Delhi won the match by 11 runs