Mmmm... How I love the smell of burning rubber in the morning...
Formula One racing is a sport that, for me at least, always sounded more exciting in principle than it actually is. In reality, it is one of those sports that is only as interesting as the personalities playing it. Otherwise, it pretty much boils down to watching noisy, oddly shaped cars drive around a track for two hours reading lap times for people called “Not Michael Schumacher”. But before my generation grew up watching The Red Baron blast his way to seven world titles, there was the era of Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost. My only knowledge of the duo came from the wistful secondhand reminiscing of commentators too bored by the races I grew up watching (you know, the ones where Michael Schumacher led the field by 30 seconds and looked like he was alone on the track), but watching Asif Kapadia and Manish Pandey’s riveting documentary ‘Senna’, one might be forgiven for thinking one was actually there when it all went down.
Formula One racing is a sport that, for me at least, always sounded more exciting in principle than it actually is. In reality, it is one of those sports that is only as interesting as the personalities playing it. Otherwise, it pretty much boils down to watching noisy, oddly shaped cars drive around a track for two hours reading lap times for people called “Not Michael Schumacher”. But before my generation grew up watching The Red Baron blast his way to seven world titles, there was the era of Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost. My only knowledge of the duo came from the wistful secondhand reminiscing of commentators too bored by the races I grew up watching (you know, the ones where Michael Schumacher led the field by 30 seconds and looked like he was alone on the track), but watching Asif Kapadia and Manish Pandey’s riveting documentary ‘Senna’, one might be forgiven for thinking one was actually there when it all went down."Among the best racing films I've ever seen, and definitely one of the few
films, documentary or otherwise, that deserves to be experienced on a big screen"
Framed as an elegiac tribute to one of the most celebrated drivers of modern F1 racing, Senna is a captivating piece of film-making whose most riveting moments come from the clash of wills that pits Ayrton Senna, a three time world champion and a daredevil who drove to win at any cost, against Alain Prost, a four time world champion and a clinical tactician who understood the ‘game’ far better than any of his peers. Cut together exclusively from newsreel, home video and race footage of the time, the film immerses viewers in a crazy world of fast cars, flamboyant drivers and fishy backroom dealings, playing out more as an epic drama than a dispassionate recounting of Senna’s life. The film also benefits tremendously from the various colorful personalities that make the story come alive. At the center of it all is Ayrton Senna himself, portrayed as a nearly flawless, spiritual man who met God at 320 kmph, but what makes the film as exciting as it is are the people he faces along the way, like the calculating, precise and oh-so-stereotypically French Alain Prost (who also conveniently held the deliciously villainous moniker of ‘The Professor’ because of his calm, calculating nature on the track) and the powerful, manipulative, big jowled FIA president Jean-Marie Balestre.
Kapadia manipulates the footage beautifully, digging through hours of newsreel to uncover stunningly cinematic moments like Balestre and Prost getting friendly in the pits while the excluded, then-upstart Senna looks on, Prost and Balestre simmering with anger after being upstaged by Senna at a pre-race briefing, or Senna smiling wistfully before getting into his ill-fated car at Imola. Moreover, the film-makers strike a perfect balance between exhilarating racing montages (set to some delightfully tense music) and the comparatively mundane, yet crucial, behind-the-scenes workings that ultimately drive the sport, making sure the film does not descend into a noisy 'greatest hits' reel of Senna's multiple wins (the original cut was over 5 horus long, vs. the ultimate 100 min. length of the finished product, so you know there were a lot of heartbreaking editing decisions along the way).
A purely objective viewer will find the film skewed blatantly in Senna’s favor, portraying him as a much-wronged, unfairly maligned genius who could do no evil. I almost felt a tinge of sympathy for Prost, given that it is often insinuated that he is somehow the weaker competitor (and a sore loser to boot) in spite of winning more world championships. But ultimately, Senna is a stunning achievement in film-making because, with no help from CGI effects and other assorted techno wizardry, it brings the roaring engines and burning rubber to such pulsating life that you might smell an acrid sulphuric odor on your sweaty palms as you leave the theater. Hands down, Senna is among the best racing films I've ever seen, and definitely one of the few films, documentary or otherwise, that deserves to be experienced on a big screen.
Rating:
Kapadia manipulates the footage beautifully, digging through hours of newsreel to uncover stunningly cinematic moments like Balestre and Prost getting friendly in the pits while the excluded, then-upstart Senna looks on, Prost and Balestre simmering with anger after being upstaged by Senna at a pre-race briefing, or Senna smiling wistfully before getting into his ill-fated car at Imola. Moreover, the film-makers strike a perfect balance between exhilarating racing montages (set to some delightfully tense music) and the comparatively mundane, yet crucial, behind-the-scenes workings that ultimately drive the sport, making sure the film does not descend into a noisy 'greatest hits' reel of Senna's multiple wins (the original cut was over 5 horus long, vs. the ultimate 100 min. length of the finished product, so you know there were a lot of heartbreaking editing decisions along the way).
A purely objective viewer will find the film skewed blatantly in Senna’s favor, portraying him as a much-wronged, unfairly maligned genius who could do no evil. I almost felt a tinge of sympathy for Prost, given that it is often insinuated that he is somehow the weaker competitor (and a sore loser to boot) in spite of winning more world championships. But ultimately, Senna is a stunning achievement in film-making because, with no help from CGI effects and other assorted techno wizardry, it brings the roaring engines and burning rubber to such pulsating life that you might smell an acrid sulphuric odor on your sweaty palms as you leave the theater. Hands down, Senna is among the best racing films I've ever seen, and definitely one of the few films, documentary or otherwise, that deserves to be experienced on a big screen.
Rating:
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woah heavy praise. now i must watch.
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