Cinema 2011 #57: Senna

For the uninitiated, Formula 1 racing is a monotonous loop of whining vehicles careening on asphalt circuits that culminates with a trio of extremely rich men spraying champagne all over themselves. A sport dominated by wealth, engineering and politics, where everything that can be covered with a sponsor’s logo is branded to the point of saturation, F1 remains something of a mystery to those not dazzled by the wave of the chequered flag or the power of poll position. Senna, the latest documentary from British director Asif Kapadia, about the life, career and untimely death of Brazilian racing driver and World Champion Ayrton Senna, may therefore surprise even the most cynical of F1 skeptics with its arresting depiction of arguably the world’s greatest racing driver. A sublime mix of raw talent, aggressive ego and religious fervor to his sport, Senna’s story is thrilling, inspiring and heartbreaking in equal measure.

Using amateur and professional footage, as well as never before seen home videos acquired from the Senna estate, we follow the daringly brilliant career of a F1 driver whose thirst for pure racing victory repeatedly led to fierce battles with competitors and teammates alike. Indeed, Senna’s ongoing rivalry with McLaren partner Alain Prost plays out like some sort of Shakespearean drama, with each drivers’ hubris leading to increasingly venomous sound-bites at press-conferences and fiercely contested dogfights on the track. Senna’s career highs, particularly his Brazilian Grand Prix victory that made him a symbol of hope in the impoverished favelas of his homeland, are matched by a foreboding series of lows, with a building tension over his relentless drive to win that leaves the final half hour amongst the most uneasy thirty minutes you’ll spend in the cinema this year.

Senna really hated it when they played the YMCA

Those hoping for an access all areas account of the racer’s personal life will have to wait for the E! True Hollywood Story instead, as Kapadia’s film focuses almost entirely on Senna’s career and the dramas that came with it. That said, there is no shortage of theatrics with the host of larger than life characters on offer, with Prost and fellow Frenchman Jean-Marie Balestre, president of FIA and looking like he’s walked off the pages of a trashy novel, at times painted as petty Pantomime villains standing in the way of racing greatness. The glimpses of Senna’s personal life reveal a man who lived to race, but who could be charming and bullish in equal measure. But it’s the racing that matters most, and here we see a man who often shared some transcendental communion with a higher power as he sped to impossible victories.

Kapadia’s documentary is perhaps guilty of occasional hero-worship, with a messianic Senna frequently getting positive spin for reckless and dangerous antics. But this is a slight criticism, as the man is so charming it’s hard to share his fascination with speed and victory. Of course, we know there is tragedy just around the corner, when it comes, it’s all the more powerful having shared the twists and turns in Ayrton’s life.

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