Senna Review (2011)

This Brilliant documentary charts the astonishing career of arguably the greatest Formula 1 driver ever. Ayrton Senna.

First off you don't need to be a fan of Formula 1 to get into this documentary. A good documentary will always have a human story at it's centre and Senna is no exception as it tells the story of  the legendary racer in a truly remarkable way. The word legend gets thrown around too much these days but no one can argue of Senna's position in that hall of fame.

Director Asif Kapadia got together a huge amount of archive footage (around 15,000 hours) from different sources like home movies, interviews and race footage including some never seen before footage. Asif managed to whittle it down to 104 minutes and still tell the tragic and also inspiring story. As Asif has used real footage, he resists the temptation of cutting to modern day interviews which gives the documentary fluidity and helps maintain the audiences concentration throughout. As part of the audience we  know whats coming yet your unable to take your eyes off the screen. Asif also avoids showing the darker side of Senna's life including the assault on Eddie Irvine in 1993. Senna was by no means an Angel but lived a very intense and interesting life.

The main part of this documentary is about Senna's personality and the problems it caused in his Formula 1 career. We get to see footage of the drivers meetings where Senna walks out of one and  another showing Senna getting a drivers vote on improving safety on one of the races. We also see Senna's main rivalry with Alain Prost and how it affected their partnership when both driving for Mclaren. It also shows Senna's reaction to the death of Ratzenberger which happened the day before Senna's own death on the same track.

Asif has constructed this documentary brilliantly and made it compelling. Even if your not the biggest fan of racing (me included) you will feel the energy, excitement and raw skill of Senna's driving. A simply brilliant documentary and worthy of the true talent that was Ayrton Senna.