Full disclosure: I was offered a freebie review copy of the documentary Senna that is about the life and racing career of Ayrton Senna. The film has been out for some time but is now available for sale on DVD. I had not yet seen the film so I took the opportunity to review it.
Long story short, Senna is the best racing movie I have ever seen. I am a sucker for documentaries anyway, so one that involved one of the most famous race car drivers of my life, Aytron Senna, was something that I really wanted to take in. I was interested to see how the film would be framed up around Senna himself. Was it going to be a glowing propaganda piece that simply glorified every inch of his life or was it going to go the other way and take a dim view of Formula One legend’s antics both on and off the track? As it turns out, Senna does a magnificent job of walking both of those lines. We see the man as both an incredible race driver whose skills are nearly unrivaled (especially in the rain) and we also see a guy who flies in the face of authority and refuses to play the highly political F1 game.
There is plenty of awesome racing footage, in car tape of Senna making his car do amazing things and other drivers being made to look like boys racing with a man. While all of that is awesome, it is the human side of Senna that truly makes it special. The true meat of this story is the rivalry between Senna and French racer Alain Prost. The two men are polar opposites. Prost being cold and calculating, a true machine behind the wheel and a multi-time Formula One champion while Senna is more of an artist who plans milliseconds ahead, not hours or days ahead. Prost is the villain in this film rightly or wrongly, and he is not happy about it. To date he has refused to speak about the movie and other than archival footage, he is not shown on screen in the present tense.
Prost and Senna begin as teammates and as time goes on, they become bitter, bitter rivals. At different points in the film both men crash each other out of races completely on purpose. Senna did it to Prost on the first lap of a race and had his license suspended for six months by the FIA. Oh yes, the FIA. They are another central villain in this film. Prost is the FIA’s company man. He knows the politics, he knows the major players. Senna is not a guy that the FIA looks on with a lot of love. Several times in the film Senna is given a raw deal on questionable rules violations, the license suspension, and just the way he is treated by the powerful organization.
The film provides an amazing look into the inner workings of F1, which is the most financially driven racing series on Earth. The level of investment, even in the mid-1990s when Senna was killed at Imola was astounding and the whole scene reeks of crazy money. Listening to the pre-race driver’s meeting with race officials is like watching a king speak to his minions. The attitude, bluster, hubris, and arrogance of the leadership is on full display. Senna literally walks out on a couple of those meetings. To say that Senna was swimming upstream against the current would be an understatement.
Finally, the film takes a long look at the fateful weekend at Imola in 1994 when Senna died in a high speed crash. It is a disturbing portion of the film because of the graphic footage showing the other fatality of that weekend, Austrian racer Roland Ratzenberger. The Ratzeberger crash and aftermath is one of the most disturbing race car accidents I have ever seen on film. He crashed and his car literally disintegrated, leaving his dead body, still strapped into the seat, lying prone in the middle of the course. The camera’s eye never blinks and there is an agonizing static shot showing him there, obviously dead, on the track.
There have been lots of amazing fictional racing movies over the years. LeMans, Grand Prix, etc but nothing I have seen matches this real life story. Hands down, this is the best racing film I have ever seen. I would give it three thumbs up if I had an extra one.
The DVD is now available at most outlets where DVDs are sold. Below is a link to Amazon.com where it can be had for $15.00!
Absolutely . Even if you’re not a Senna or an F1 fan this one’s a must see . Caveat . Alain Prost has been whining extensively in the Press that he is wrongly portrayed in this Documentary . Having been there , both in person as well as from afar I can only say what is said about Prost in the Film rings true with everything I knew about him back in the day
Full discloser here – I was a Senna fan first and foremost , but cheered Alain on as well and was happy to see either win
By the DVD . You won’t regret it
It’s also available on Netflix for those that use that service.
I LOVED THIS DOCUMENTARY..This movie proves that the French are still dicks. Its an incredible thing to see a man go down to 8th place change the front wing out and come back to win the race with 5 laps to go. And then get told he cheated by going through a drive out emergency box. That put him even further back to start with! And he still won the race.
Well-deserved review of a fantastically brilliant doco that i’ve now seen 10 times. There is an inaccuracy in your review tho, the driver who was lying on the track still in his seat was Martin Donnelly from England, the crash wasn’t during the Imola weekend. Donnelly somehow survived. Ratzenberger remained in his car with his head slumped.
Senna is my LIFE HERO. He has an effect during my life, and will have. He was not just the best and fastest driver in the world, but also charismatic character, and great personality. Very human. I liked this Documentary a lot, and shows a lot of details who Senna really was. Also important to mention, the music themes that have been selected are something irresistable. Makes u think about racing, Senna, and everything about Life. Respect.