Senna: Review

May 1st 1994 and it was a usual Sunday afternoon ritual in my household to sit down for dinner and watch the Formula 1 race. It was coming from Imola and it was a race that already had seen the death of one driver during the practice runs and a serious accident for another driver. Little did we know that we were going to witness the death of a legend, as Ayrton Senna, the triple time World Champion, hit the wall and was killed.

Now, film maker Asif Kapadia has put together a fascinating examination of a man who lived, breathed and, ultimately died for the sport he loved. Using archive footage and unseen family films, this follows from his humble days go-karting, which he loved being involved in (an admission he makes) to his first impressive début into the sport of motor racing, driving a car that shouldn't have done anything against the might of the big companies, to forming the super team alongside the then World Champion Alain Prost, which would turn into a very bitter rivalry.

What does become apparent is how much he was respected in Brazil, his home country. In a time of great depression and poverty, they took Senna to their heart and he paid them back, becoming a hero in some of their eyes.

The film doesn't paint Senna in a bad light (this probably because of his family's heavy involvement) but he was a legend and it was kind of refreshing not to have too much information about his private life, just on what made him a star. And a star he was. Completely fearless, both on the track and off, he battled with Prost as well as the politics of the sport, never really mincing his words when he needed to.

The other thing that works is we don't have loads of talking heads, but voice-overs while we watch selected and important moments during his racing career as well as news footage chronicling his rise to becoming World Champion and the most influential driver of his time.

As you can imaging, I am a huge Formula 1 fan and so this film is right up my alley but it is far more than just a film for petrol heads. It's about a man who followed his dream and made them come true. It's about passion, belief (he was hugely religious) and a longing to succeed.

This is the second documentary I have seen in a week (the other being Life In A Day...more next week) and so far both films have made it into my top ten of the year. Interesting, inspirational and surprisingly moving. If you like Grand Prix, you will love it. If you don't, you will still love it.