Senna is a documentary concerning the life, and death, of Formula 1 racer, Ayrton Senna. It is directed by Asif Kapadia, who has also won an Academy Award for his film Amy, another biopic, covering the trials and tribulations of Amy Winehouse. (Also, Supersonic, covering Oasis, recommended)

Let me preface this by saying I’m not a sports person. I never have been and I never will be. I have a soft spot for hockey, being a good Canadian, but this ends in me watching a screen at a bar and occasionally nodding in approval at a nice goal.

That said, any material in the hands of a great storyteller becomes exactly that; great. Kapadia does not disappoint.

This movie works so well because, like most sports movies, the sports become secondary to the struggles of its key actors. If we wanted to watch a Formula 1 race, we would do just that. We want a narrative, we want dialogue, we want anguish on faces and the triumphs that follow. This is effortless with a character such as Senna.

It can’t be said that Senna came from humble beginnings. His family was very well off in Brazil and they gave Senna every opportunity to succeed. This might lead some men to be become arrogant and entitled, however, that is the greatest reason to watch Senna, his humility. It’s really easy to cheer for this guy. Mild mannered and not without a sense of humour, he exudes meekness but will always stick up for what he thinks is right on the track. He’s a very lovable character who just wants to win, not to put others in second and third, but to prove to himself that he is number one. Senna is such a great lead character because he isn’t a loud, boisterous showoff, he’s a canvas for greatness and his racing shows everything we need to know. Even when he’s pouting over a perceived injustice, we can still get behind him because he’s already established a sense of fair play and levelheadedness.

Going back to not wanting to watch a F1 race, this is a very political story and there’s much more going on then simply a retelling of all of Senna’s victories over his storied career. There’s politicking with the people who run the races, upper management, there’s politicking within his own team. This leads to a very tense and involved storyline. In normal team sports, when your team wins, you win. Not so in F1, if your teammate wins, they win and the owners win. You lose, you see nothing. The team is simply in sponsor and motor company only. This leads to a lot of interesting behind the back dealing from Senna’s “teammate” Prost. There’s politicking with technological advancements, too.

Another great storytelling device in this film is the editing. Every single clip shown in this movie is era-specific. Every clip, every visual aspect is from Senna’s career as a racer. That said, some of the audio is from Senna’s colleagues and coworkers at the time of the documentary’s making, but this is where the magic comes in. All of these voice clips, from people 20-25 years later are woven in as present tense statements in the world of the film. They sound as if they’d been interviewed 5 mins after any of the events they’re talking about actually occurred. Reflective voice in studio in 2010/video clips of great races from 1989-1991. This really allows the movie itself not to “break character” and really allows the viewer to stay in the garage, or the pit, or the winner’s circle with Senna. I don’t necessarily care what Senna’s head mechanic looks like at 64. It’s not important to show him on a chair in a living room, reminiscing. The movie carries on, Senna spraying a 2000$ bottle of champagne over his head, and his mechanic gives us some details, or an anecdote that news clips and F1 videos of the time couldn’t communicate visually. It’s a very refreshing way of interviewing people post-event.

This brings us to the third act. When I say that Senna dies, it might come as a spoiler, but, being a documentary about the most famous race car driver of all time, I feel that I’m not being too big a twat right now. This act is harrowing. The sense of dread in this finale is palpable and there’s just enough hope with how all our actors play their parts where that voice in your head says, “C’mon, you’re the best race car driver ever, you can’t, you won’t.” Like in a videogame you’ve played for the third time, you know that when you go through this door that it will trigger the cutscene that kills your teammate. You can stand in that doorway forever but you know it won’t progress, it’s been decided well before you came along.

Anyone who knows me knows I’m a fairly emotional guy, and this movie certainly rides that personality trait to the end. I’d never even heard of Senna when this movie came out 8 years ago, but I worked at a theatre and the movie got great reviews. Everything I know about Senna, I learned from this movie and it’s an amazing story told entirely through film from news and from F1 archives, no small feat. One does not need to appreciate F1, or sports even, to enjoy this movie. Highly recommended.

8/10