Review of Senna (2010) by Joel H — 05 Mar 2012

This is damn near close to a perfect film for me. Not only is this the best documentary I've seen in years, but it is the best sports film I have seen as well.

The film chronicles the rise and subsequent fall of Ayrton Senna through the ranks of Formula 1. It is (mostly) a European form of auto racing that is essentially like IndyCar on steroids. But Senna the person was very much an outside to all of the politics and drama behind the scenes.

He was simply a very competitive driver that took more chances. As a result, he was treated differently than most others at the top of the sport. Throughout the course of the film oyu see how he came out of nowhere and took the sport by storm.

Almost immediately he began competing with established aces such as Alain Prost. The two began to form a rivalry in the mid-80's that reached its height when the two were teammates at McLaren.

The amazing part about the film is that it is all archival footage. There is not one shot in modern day, not even an interview. In that respect, it really puts the audience right in the thick of things.

Whether you like it or not, you will be on the ride. You see the races and yes that footage is incredible. I can only imagine what it was like on a big screen. But the more impressive scenes are the behind-the-scenes drama showing important parts of Senna's personal and professional life.

You slowly see the sport take its toll on him, but the amazing part is that he never loses his competitive fire. I even knew what was going to happen at the end going in and I still got emotionally invested. I sometimes forgot that I was watching a documentary because it seemed like a found footage film about a race car driver.

Director Asif Kapadia did an outstanding job of finding all of this footage and assembling it in a way that makes a tight and coherent story about this man's life. There are rumors out there that Hollywood wanted to make a feature film about his life with Antonio Banderas staring as Senna. Thank god that was never made.

The result here is much better than any Hollywood scripted story. In my mind, this is the best way to make a sports film. Sports are so spontaneous and full of raw emotion that it is insanely hard to replicate that with even the best of actors in the business.

This story is so emotionally involving, it makes the racing scenes that much more powerful and exciting. And because of that this is a film that more thrilling than most of the so-called "action thrillers" today.

I cannot recommend "Senna" enough. Whether you are a sports fan, Formula One fan, or none of the above, you owe it yourself to see this film. Senna is an emotional, chilling, and exciting look into the life of one of the greatest racing drivers who ever lived.