Live fast... by Martin Thomas
Lover: Taken from IMDB
This documentary is flawless, it's narrative perfect, it's thrilling, I could not imagine another way of depicting this awesome history.The soundtrack is great, the documentary flows in such a wonderful way, real drama, marvellous histories, some funny parts as well, it's life in it's beauty and it's true form.We get to know so many things about the formula 1 politics and internal struggles at that period.
Whilst flawless may be taking things a bit too far, it’s hard to disagree with any of the other points raised; a great documentary which tells its story in a compelling way.
Hater: Taken from IMDB
Just watched it - wow! Of all the bad documentaries I've ever seen, this one makes the top 3 on the crap meter. Poor editing, awful interviews, hardly any attempt at fact finding and balance was made. Senna's portrait so randomly done, he was hardly there, some shallow fairy tale figure instead. Commentators and interviewees were mostly insignificant, or had an undisputed agenda, or were just pompous. It looks like the director and producer not only ran out of talent, but weren't very motivated to begin with - lazy. Even the BBC piece on Senna was more complete and more professionally made, and that one is a bore.
Wow, someone really needs to lighten up! It may true that the documentary is not balanced and paints Senna as a fairytale figure, but that’s exactly what makes it such an enthralling piece of cinema- A true life story with more drama than a scriptwriters pen could ever provide.
What Martin thought:
Never watched a formula one race in your life? Have no interest whatsoever in a documentary about men driving fast cars round and round in circles? Have little to no idea who Aryton Senna is? If you answered yes to any of those questions you would probably assume that a documentary about Senna is of no interest to you- I know I did.
But you would be missing out on a very special piece of cinema. Charting the story of Aryton Senna's arrival in Formula One through to his tragic death, this documentary creates a compelling, engaging and entertaining story, containing enough drama and tragedy to satisfy any viewer, interest in Formula One or not.
Using a mixture of archive racing clips, interviews and never before seen behind the scenes footage, the director Asif Kapadia skilfully weaves together a story that grips you from the start. All the elements of a great tale are present here; Our hero, Senna, humble man of the people; loved by all and fuelled by a desire to be the best he can be. The bad guy, Alain Prost, Sennas great rival- here painted to be the exact opposite of everything we are told Senna was- Cold, calculating, selfish and jealous of Sennas greater talent. Add into this the suggested French conspiracy concocted between Prost and Jean-Marie Balestre, the head of the International Automobile Association (FIA), both presented as working together to ensure Senna could not succeed, and you have a truly fascinating story- told in a visually stunning style and accompanied by a genuinely moving score.
Ultimately it is the tragedy element of this documentary which really stands out. Aryton Senna, widely regarded as one of the greatest of all time, was also the last Formula One driver killed during a race. Whether your are familiar with this incident or not, the final moments of this documentary as we view the footage from the car mounted inside Sennas car are some of the most powerful scenes you will ever see. Despite knowing exactly what will happen as Senna approaches that corner of the Imola racing Circuit, you cant help but be glued to the edge of your seat; wishing, hoping and praying the outcome will be different this time. But sadly real life is not like the movies; we don’t always get happy endings.
Senna is a documentary film, not a biopic. It shows a part of Sennas life, a part spent almost exclusively behind the wheel of a formula car, and makes little effort to show us the real man behind the legend. It’s unashamedly biased towards Senna and isn’t afraid to paint with very broad strokes; the bad guys and the good guys are clearly defined, with the truth never being allowed to distract from the storytelling. And it’s a much better experience for it.
On DVD and Blu-ray now
Cert: 12a
Running Time: 106 mins
