I think I started watching Formula 1 around the mid-90's whenever Hill, Hakkinen, Schumacher and Colutard were the big names and I think I stopped as those names started to retire from the sport, so my window of interest was pretty limited and my base of knowledge about the sport was even more so. Senna was only ever a name to me rather than someone I had followed and, although I knew he was a great driver and had tragically died, that was about the end of it and it was the critical praise for this film that brought me to it rather than a specific interest in him or his story. So it is to the film's credit that I was engaged throughout and thought that the story was very well told using only archive footage.
The film is a documentary but rather than filming talking heads relating the events, the film uses archive footage to play out the story as if it had been filmed. Of course the end is known and there is a lot of talking in the past tense but the film delivers a story rather than a reflection. Technically it is very impressive and must have taken ages to go through all the old footage, but the media coverage of the period has allowed this film to pick the footage that they would have chosen to film if they had to make it from scratch. We get the good side of his character, we get the conflict, the controversy and of course a sense of how great he was – all of it is delivered via the footage and makes for a great story. The ending being known doesn't really damage how this story plays out because, if anything, it is well used to add significance to some of the footage that comes before and indeed does give the film a tragic air that is effective and adds to how involving it is.
Senna is a great documentary and it will not only work for those with an interest in the sport or the person, it is such a well-delivered story that it will also engage those with a passing interest. The selection and use of the footage is really well done to play it out and the film benefits from not visually jumping forward in time by using filmed contributions looking back. A tragic story but a really engaging and well-told one.
The film is a documentary but rather than filming talking heads relating the events, the film uses archive footage to play out the story as if it had been filmed. Of course the end is known and there is a lot of talking in the past tense but the film delivers a story rather than a reflection. Technically it is very impressive and must have taken ages to go through all the old footage, but the media coverage of the period has allowed this film to pick the footage that they would have chosen to film if they had to make it from scratch. We get the good side of his character, we get the conflict, the controversy and of course a sense of how great he was – all of it is delivered via the footage and makes for a great story. The ending being known doesn't really damage how this story plays out because, if anything, it is well used to add significance to some of the footage that comes before and indeed does give the film a tragic air that is effective and adds to how involving it is.
Senna is a great documentary and it will not only work for those with an interest in the sport or the person, it is such a well-delivered story that it will also engage those with a passing interest. The selection and use of the footage is really well done to play it out and the film benefits from not visually jumping forward in time by using filmed contributions looking back. A tragic story but a really engaging and well-told one.