Senna

wow

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What a brilliant movie and what a tragic loss of life. In some ways it reminded me of watching Control which I also found hard to enjoy knowing the inevitable tragic end. I loved that the interviews were all just voiceovers, with only their names shown, whilst the archival footage kept rolling. It meant momentum wasn't lost and kept the focus on Senna. I have no interest in F1 but found this documentary utterly fascinating from the opening scene to end of the credits. I recommend it to all, but suggest you bring tissues.

SWEETLY, SADLY, INSPIRING

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SOFTLY SPOKEN, FIERCELY COMPETITIVE, and with God on his side, Senna was a hell of a race car driver. This documentary is extremely well crafted. Very cinematic in its choices, the only talking head we ever see is Senna's, the rest of the time it's vintage footage. Which gives the film its immediacy. The poignancy that pervades the film is because you know how it ends - this is, indeed, a tragedy. But a quite beautiful one - about a quietly intense and effortlessly charismatic man who became a potent symbol of joy in his home country of Brazil. Interestingly, he describes his purest driving as being his time karting, as a teenager. Which reminded me of local film THE HOPES & DREAMS OF GAZZA SNELL. Senna has far greater scale ultimately, but the pure joy of driving that grass-roots karting evokes is clear in both films. Recommended.

Engrossing and truly emotive insight into one of the F1 greats

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I'll preface this by saying I used to be a massive F1 fan - and still keep a strong interest in it. At the time of Senna's death in 1994 I watched all races live, and can still vividly recall seeing him crash at Imola and the shock at the resulting outcome and repercussions in the sport. I devoured all F1 information and was a junkie for the facts, statistics and also the myths and legends that surround the pit paddock. So on that basis, I feel qualified to say that this is an outstanding documentary. Yes, at times it is reverential to the point of sentimentality, and occasionally you can tell that you are being guided to the (perhaps erroneous) conclusion that Senna was a victimised saint rather than a truly gifted racer who wanted to win and would sometimes do anything to do so. He also seems to have had a MASSIVE sense of entitlement through his supposed personal connection with God.

But on the whole this documentary simply shows phenomenal, exciting, fascinating archival footage that can hardly be believed as factual - it plays out like some kind of fictionalised, plot-twisting sports movie replete with villains, heroes, redemptions and tragedy. And frankly that is what used to make the sport of F1 such an absorbing and exciting sport to follow. Alas, today's corporatised, restrictive, ratings-crazy and ultimately soulless version of F1 is mostly devoid of the huge personalities that were Senna, Prost, Mansell, Briatore, Eddie Jordan, Balestre and their ilk.

What will be clear, even if you don't follow F1, is that Senna was a phenomenal talent, and a very charismatic and enigmatic character who lived an amazing yet brief life doing what he loved with passion bordering on obsession.

One of the best documentaries ever; let alone sports documentaries.