FILM REVIEW: Senna

Senna
Director: Asif Kapadia
Starring: Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost, Frank Williams
(out of 5)

This documentary on Brazilian Formula One racing driver Ayrton Senna, who won the F1 world championship three times before his death at age 34, has rightfully been an audience favourite almost everywhere it has played.

I saw it at Auckland’s massive Civic Theatre and the place was completely packed, but you could count on one hand the amount of people from the thousands in attendance that left before the final credits had finished scrolling. Senna’s story is unique and fascinating. He was a young man with an unrivalled ability who was finally beginning to understand the off-track politics that shape the world of Formula One when he was tragically killed on the track. Kapadia’s documentary is a fantastic look into the life of Ayrton, but racing fanatics should go in expecting a few things to be left on the cutting room floor.

Senna is a celebration of his life and the things he achieved, not an analysis of his death. It’s made exclusively of archival footage, with no visible talking heads or other modern-day interruptions. This fairly unique approach makes watching Senna’s journey from humble beginnings to international fame and glory somehow all the more satisfying.

It should be completely obvious by now that I would recommend this documentary to anyone - not just racing enthusiasts, but anyone. It’s definitely one of the finer documentaries I’ve seen.

Senna Trailer
 

By Daniel Rutledge