Senna: Movie Review

Senna: Movie Review

Senna

Rating: 8/10

Cast: Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost

Director: Asif Kapadia
You wouldn't expect a film about Ayrton Senna to be so moving unless you were a Formula One fan.

You would be wrong.

This doco, simply made using archive footage of races, interviews and home movie footage is one of the most rewarding films of the year.

It tells the story of his life -mainly on the track to be honest - and his rivalry with fellow driver Alain Prost, the Frenchman with whom discord became all out war.

But what emerges from Kapadia is an intimate portrait of a focussed and driven man who's knocked around by the system because all he wants is success and isn't willing to play the game.

Scenes of racing, some of which come from cockpit cameras are scintillating; there's footage of drivers' meetings which have been hitherto unseen and hint at some of the conflict felt by Senna as he butted heads with the powers that be; and of course, there's a wealth of footage from races thanks to videoing done at the time. By not using the traditional talking heads in a studio format, Kapadai's interlaced dialogue over footage of Senna - and it's a nice touch which immerses you more in Senna's life rather than taking you out and transporting you back to the studio every five minutes.

Throw into that some family footage, scenes of holidays and truly, Senna is a wonderfully multidimensional picture of the man who was a star on the tracks and a role model to so many Brazilians who were living through some truly horrific times back home.

The whole film is a truly emotional journey as it becomes a fascinating battle of wills, tactics and rivalry as the feud between Senna and Prost heats up.

Add in the final section of the film which deals with Senna's death in Imola in 94 and it's just heartbreaking, leaving you a wreck after the preceding joyous celebration of the legend.

Ultimately this doco is one of the best of the year; at the end, I left having been through the gamut of emotions and brimming with interest at a subject I didn't remotely care about when I initially sat down to watch this.

Senna is well worth your time and you can expect to see it next year on pole position come award season.