Love The Beast

Some might think you need to be a petrol head to get the most out of this entertaining film however there is plenty more to Love The Beast than petrol fumes.

For me it is intrinsically fascinating to hear what a lifelong passion means to someone. Eric explains that as a kid he always wanted to be a racing driver. “Cars were what we lived for . . . two things were constant – my mates and my Beast”. He refers only fleetingly to life taking him in another totally different direction – we see little of Bana the movie star, but a lot of Bana the friend, the knock-about bloke, and Bana the son. Interactions with his mum, Ellen, and father, Ivan, are heart-warming. Ivan also had a huge fascination for cars and there are some terrific scenes involving Eric, his Dad and a stunning red T-Bird.

There is plenty of old 8-mm footage of the family and still pics of Eric as a lad, always with a car! It’s refreshing to see such a normal upbringing for someone who has rose so high in the glamorous world of Hollywood. His grip on “normality” is obviously still very strong with his mates still a major part of his life.

These three grew up with Eric in Melbourne’s northern suburbs. Tony, Jack and Temps had been Eric’s friends since primary school, and each of the guys has plenty to say in the course of the film – mostly one-line gems and “blokey” stuff about what the car and the mateship means. Tony is Eric’s navigator, and there are many exciting scenes where the two belt along the Targa track, with the camera inside the car capturing Eric’s fancy footwork on the clutch, as he negotiates the hair-raising bends. At some bends there is too much hair-raising – we really feel we are in the car, especially when some others are filmed from inside as they undergo spectacular crashes. These wonderful “point-of-view” shots should certainly thrill car-racing aficionados and non-fans alike.

There are some excellent split-screen sequences in the racing segments, along with impressive aerial shots, as The Beast thunders through the Tasmanian countryside, accompanied by a fine score complementing both the natural scenery and the thrills of the race. Of course The Beast makes some fairly impressive sounds of its own!

Along with the home-grown car crew there are several surprise guests in the film including Jeremy Clarkson, Dr Phil and talk show host Jay Leno who has his own vintage car museum in LA and talks animatedly with Eric about their shared passion. With Dr Phil, Eric discusses the psychology of the motor racer, especially feelings of invincibility whilst Clarkson, motoring journalist extraordinaire, explains that “cars are living entities – that’s what non-car people don’t get”.

As much as Love The Beast is about Eric’s relationship with a particular car, it is also about constancy in life and a man modest enough to put real life values ahead of fame.

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