JAMES MANGOLD
We asked the director of “Ford v Ferrari” which films have influenced his own.
IN GENERAL
“‘Sweet Smell of Success’ (Alexander Mackendrick), ‘The Apartment’ (Billy Wilder), ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark,’ ‘Jaws’ (Steven Spielberg).”
FOR THIS MOVIE
“‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid’ [pictured]. Because I recognized that this [race car] genre had been laden with a kind of posturing. Even in movies like ‘Grand Prix’ (1966) and ‘Le Mans’ (1971), I felt like there was a kind of solemnity, a lack of humor. I felt like one thing so beautiful about George Roy Hill’s film was the humor and the ease and the sense of masculine friendship, and I wanted to make sure that, despite all the muscularity and the dynamism of the cars, the movie had a sense of ease about it, a sense of hanging out, and that was really important.”