Senna

For the first time ever on this blog, I will be reviewing a movie. The movie that I am reviewing is Senna, a documentary about 3-time Formula One world champion Ayrton Senna.

This documentary is unique in that it is made up entirely of stock footage. It was directed by Asif Kapadia who would go onto direct Amy and Maradona. Its original premiere date was at the 2010 Japanese Grand Prix, before it was released in Brazil later that year and 2011 in the UK.

The main focus is solely on Senna’s Formula One career, and the film doesn’t touch much upon his pre-F1 racing career. We start at his debut season, 1984 with Toleman, followed by his three years at Lotus which included his maiden grand prix win, at Portugal.

After that, we get to Ayrton’s Mclaren years, the first two of which were shared with Frenchman Alain Prost. The film goes into great detail on their world-famous rivalry, especially when they are fighting for the world titles in 1988 and 1989, with Senna winning in the former year, and Prost winning the latter.

Prost then moves to Ferrari for 1990, but their rivalry is not over. The title once again goes down to the Japanese Grand Prix, and Senna collides with Prost which ensures him of the title. Senna once again wins the title in 1991, beating Nigel Mansell.

Ayrton’s last two years at Mclaren are not as good however. Mansell wins the title in 1992, then Prost returns to F1 in 1993 and wins it then. By this though, Senna’s rivalry with Prost has finished. 1993 would prove to be Senna’s last full season in F1. He moves to Williams for 1994, where he endures a torrid start, before his season comes to an end at the San Marino Grand Prix.

Outside of Formula One, Senna was something better in his home country of Brazil. He helped out there to give better opportunities and privileges to the children of Brazil, as the situation there was dire.

Apart from the exclusive use of stock footage, Senna is notable for having no formal commentary, just multiple voice-only interviews with various people that followed Ayrton’s career. These include Ayrton’s sister Viviene, Guardian motorsport writer Richard Williams, Mclaren boss Ron Dennis, Brazilian Rede Globo F1 commentator Reginaldo Leme, ESPN F1 reporter John Bisignano, and even Alain Prost.

The DVD/Blu-Ray special features are as follows. On disc 1, there are visual interviews with the majority of the cast which were featured in the extended version of the film, a commentary with director Asif Kapadia, writer Manish Pandey, and producer James Gay-Rees, and some home videos.

On disc 2, there’s The Greatest Victory of All featurette, a “lost” radio interview with Ayrton Senna conducted by Gerald Donaldson, and three trailers for the film.

I have to say that Senna is one of my favourite movies. Ayrton’s life is covered well in the movie, especially through stock footage and interviews with those that knew him. I can see why he was idolised by so many people.

Take care, WF92.