Discussion
Re: Interesting documentary showcases Brazilian Formula 1 driver’s life in the fast lane
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From a review perspective, I’m totally sincere in wishing you “got” this magnificent documentary. From the statement it makes about the documentation of sporting celebrity, to the taste it offers of the cultural importance of sport in South America, to the simply jaw-dropping use of found footage/recordings to create compelling narrative, it is one of the highlights of my cinematic life.
On a personal level - and speaking to some motorsport fans may have yielded this insight - Senna provided for many an early and indelible link between sons and fathers. Ask around… The roar of F1 cars at dawn on weekends - with Senna a perennial example of how-it’s-done - is one of the strongest, happiest memory many of us have of our dads.
– Matthew | January 26th 2012 at 1:38pm | Link
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I usually refrain from writing rebuttal letters regarding newspapers articles, as they often fall into mere whining, failing to express any form of substantial argument.
However, upon reading this appalling review of Asif Kapadia’s Senna”, I had to come forth.
I’m compelled to write not because I’d like to express my disagreement per se – after all, we all have different tastes – but in order to set things straight, since the reviewer completely twisted the meaning of the film.
His main issue with the documentary is this:
“What I took from the film was that Senna was a man who came from a well-off family, was addicted to speed, drove in the rain better than anyone else, believed God had everything to do with every race he had, and was pretty cocky and snobby.
Despite all of this, the people of Brazil adored him.”In other words: how could millions worship someone so seemingly dislikable and self-satisfied?
It’s a common mistake the reviewer makes, to demand that great sportsmen be 100% morally intact, serving as shining examples to society. It bothers him that Senna, the man, has a dangerous personality, and since the film portrays him as a hero, it confuses his sense of right versus wrong.
However, what the reviewer fails to notice is that that is precisely what the filmmakers are conveying: the very duality of Senna’s persona. And they achieve that superbly by splitting the study of the man in two: as the ruthless racing driver that he was, obsessed with perfection – which ultimately got him killed (hello, moral of the story?), as well as the family man, devoted to his spirituality, his parents and the well-being of fellow racing drivers – no other driver fought the F1 political powers for safety measures as hard as Senna. Ironically, and unfortunately, he was the one who perished behind the wheel.
This anthropological and philosophical study of an obsessed mind is skillfully juxtaposed with the particular style of this film: 15,000 hours of archive footage reduced to 106 minutes of clear and pure story-telling – and in a documentary. Furthermore, as a friend pointed out, the very texture of the 80s and early 90s footage displayed on the screen is a study on the nature of memory; a reflection on how we tend to associate certain types of images with a particular period in time.
The reviewer needs to think more deeply about the decision the filmmakers made to use existing footage, to let the identity of Senna emerge from the juxtaposition of archival footage with contemporary voice-over retrospection. It’s a formally audacious decision and one that perfectly conveys the split in Senna between public figure and private person.
Here’s hoping future reviews will carry a bit more reflection and insight, and less poutiness and quick dismissiveness.
– Rodrigo | January 26th 2012 at 2:23pm | Link
