I have to confess that I had watched very limited footage of Ayrton Senna before this; but this documentary film by Asif Kapadia puts the whole Ayrton Senna story into place for me. ‘Senna' has won the World Cinema Documentary Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year.Now, it is a bit difficult to write about a man you have never seen racing live, for there is something that live television and the whole context of the moment brings that any taped footage can not bring.I am one of the unlucky ones never to have had a chance to see Senna race.
Ayrton Senna had streaked through Formula One like a comet, an other-worldly superstar whose brilliance as a driver was matched by a dazzling intellect and coruscating charisma that illuminated Formula One racing as never before. And though granted that the Ayrton Senna –Alain Prost rivalry was great for the sport, Senna was much beyond that .He was a national icon in Brazil and gave away millions for the development of the under-privileged, he vociferously appealed for the drivers' safety and fought the politics in F1 and when he spoke in his mystical voice, people listened captivated .Each time he took the track, his mystique grew, fuelled by his genius and paradoxed by his ruthlessness.Beyond his driving genius, Senna was one of the sport’s most compelling personalities.
And although statistics would suggest that Juan Manuel Fangio ,Michael Schumacher and even Alain Prost have better records and statistics, Ayrton Senna is the greatest driver ever to have sat in a F1 car, irrespective of any driver you ask - past, present or aspiring. Senna had that sixth sense of where the grip on the circuit was before he turned into a corner. He would brake later and get the foot on the accelerator faster than anyone else and make even a moderate car perform miles ahead of its expected and designed potential. He would drive the wheels of the car be it his first team Toleman, the following 3 years in a Lotus, the McLaren in which he won his 3 World Championships or the ill-fated Williams in his last season. Great drivers can be spectacular on a number of occasions, but Senna was spectacular every single time he got into a car and that is what makes the legend of Senna.
Senna announced his arrival in conditions that is considered the most treacherous to drive- in torrential rain. In his debut season in Monaco, he finished second in a very inferior Toleman car and made people sit up and notice.Thereafter, we see his meteoric rise starting with his first Grand Prix victory in the Portuguese Grand Prix in 1985, again in the rain, again in his distinctive style. Senna’s charisma and magnetism is evident in this film. Every footage is from the archives mixed between interviews and opinions from experts who have seen Senna in action. The film is filled with events that define who Senna was, what drove his passion, what were his ambitions and importantly the film uses Senna’s own interviews to narrate the story.A devout Christian, he drove as if God were his co-pilot.
The support when he won his first Brazilian Grand Prix in 91’at São Paolo was such that the deafening humming of the cars were drowned by the chants of 300,000 local fans singing Ole ole ole! Senna Senna! Senna drove the last few laps with a stuck gearbox and still won! The reason he was so dear to the adoring young populace of a struggling nation was that he represented them with pride and audacious talent to the world.
This documentary wonderfully captures the rise of Senna,with his conflict and bitter rivalry with teammate at McLaren Alain Prost as a pivotal plot point.
You know what is coming at the end- the imminent and tragic death at Tamburello turn in the San Marino Grand Prix; and one just feels sighing, if that were not the case. Brazil went into mourning and gave her son a state funeral .What Senna stood for can be understood by something a grieving lady says at his funeral ‘Brazilians need food, education, health and a little joy. That joy has been removed.’
The film reaches a poignant and moving conclusion. Whether you are a F1 fan or not, the ending will leave you heavy hearted .Tragically and fittingly he lived his last moments in a car .But Ayrton Senna da Silva ,having died at 34, would forever remain young, fast and the best ever.
