"Senna" Review

 

Ever since there has been people, there has been competition. The constant need to be the best at something, anything, is an ever present desire in most of our minds. In Canada, Gretzky is the definition of complete dominance. To be called “The Gretzky” of something implies complete understanding and ability that far surpasses that of any of your counterparts. Ayrton Senna Is “The Gretzky” of motor racing, and Senna, directed by Asif Kapadia, is his story.

The film starts by dealing briefly with his beginnings; the son of a wealthy family in Sao Paulo, Brazil, he starts racing go-karts at the age of 4. after a while, his family send him to england to race against stronger opponents in actual cars. Eventually, in 1984, he is given his start in Formula 1, the highest level of motor racing in the world, with the Toleman F1 team, a low budget operation that relied heavily on their drivers bringing money to the team in the way of sponsorship to make profits and keep racing. This is where young Ayrton made his big splash.

Toleman, A team that had only begun three years prior, had never scored a podium finish during their time in Formula 1. The streak looked to be continuing, with Senna scoring a pair of 6th places and retiring or failing to qualify for three more. But then there was Monaco. And at the Monaco Grand Prix, Senna shined, coming from 13th, he finished 2nd to title contender Alain Prost. the film then highlights his further 3 seasons with the Lotus team showing his uncanny ability to sense the car in a way never before seen at the time. He then signs with Team Lotus and races with them for a number of years.

At this point the film changes gears (See what I did there...?). He leaves Lotus and is signed to drive the second car for F1 powerhouse Mclaren alongside Alain Prost. In 1988 Mclaren has the fastest car on the grid, and at the time, the two fastest drivers driving them. It isn’t long before they are both neck and neck in the championship points, Senna barely edging out Prost for the title.

The following year, their rivalry begins to grow, at first it is friendly, but by the second to last race of the season in Japan, it had become increasingly cold. Senna had to win order to remain in title contention, or Prost would win the championship. so with a few laps to go, Senna and Prost were inevitably caught up in an collision that puts Prost out of the race. Senna however was able to keep going and used an escape road to rejoin the race and ultimately win. Prost, unhappy with his result, protested and cited a very literal and specific interpretation of he rules to ensure Senna’s disqualification, and his own championship. To put it plainly, Prost was now definitely not invited to Senna’s birthday party.

Where the film becomes sombre, and very tense to watch is when they arrive at San Marino in 1994. After retiring from the first two races of the season, the San Marino Grad Prix was where his season was to begin. In practice, his rookie protogé Rubens Barrichello crashed his Jordan F1 car, swallowed his own tongue and nearly died. The following day, Austrian driver Roland Ratzenberger died in qualifying. Visibly distraught by this horrible tragedy, Senna reluctantly climbs into his car, and places it on pole.

The next morning, the deeply religious man, consulted his bible and read a passage that now seems hauntingly prophetic, one that said he would be with God soon. That morning, while leading the race, his car lost control and speared into the wall beside the track, ending his racing career and his wonderful life, forever.

The film does an excellent job at hitting all the right notes through his life. from his boyish naiveté to his hardened single minded need to win at any cost. The look on his face the morning of his accident is one of a man who knows that he is going to die, a man who has faced death for years, and finally believes his number is up.

This is truly one of the great sports documentaries of recent times, and in my biased opinion, the best Doc of the year. It illustrates so perfectly the the story of a tragic hero, who must always perish because of his fatal flaw, and leaves sadness in his wake.

RIP Ayrton.

Jim-Bob