Senna Movie

[ArrowsFA1]

Considering they pretty much had complete access to archive footage and FOM approval...

I heard the writer on a MotorSport magazine podcast say that that although that had access to the archive their deal with Bernie allowed them 40mins of footage. This was apparently almost doubled but still they inevitably had to be selective. I also read that the first cut of the film was 5hrs long but to make it palatable for a cinema release that too had to be cut dramatically.

I saw the film yesterday and was impressed. Yes, Prost & Balestre were made out to be the baddies, but not to the extent I had expected. This was a film about Senna. It was his story, told largely by him, not a documentary about that period in F1 history. Were it the latter then I would have expected more balance, but as it wasn't then I have no problem with the way Senna's story was told. It was an absorbing and powerful film that gave an insight into the man that I hadn't seen or read elsewhere. We all know he was no saint, but even if you're not a fan perhaps having seen the film you may at least understand why he did what he did to Prost in Japan. That doesn't mean I, or anyone else condones it, just that you may understand his actions more.

The one thing that surprised me was my emotional reaction, not to the events at Imola, but to his victory in the Brazilian GP. That win clearly meant so much to him, and to Brazil.

[Robinho]

i saw it last night and i thouroughly enjoyed it. I was never a huge fan of Senna when i was younger, probably as i was only 10 in 1988 and was not immersed in the sport to the extent I am now. I was begining to understand why he was such a big deal by 1994, but even then I only watched the races, the other information was simply not available to me then as it is now, and having read and seen a lot since his death I thought the film was fantastic. It obviously was a little one sided, but not excessivley. The time flew by and I would have loved to have seen a bit more of a review of the seasons, but that would easily have taken the film over 3 or 4 hours.

The Imola scenes were a tough watch, from the Rubens accident onwards, and especially Senna's reactions to seeing the Ratzenberger crash and understanding exactly how bad it was. there were some incredibly prophetic statements leading up to the event as well.

You can only imagine what might have been, nit just in the years where he was in a realtively uncompetitive Lotus and McLaren, to what might have happened after '94.

all in all an incredibly well put together piece of film, there was obviously so much more that could have gone in, but it was a very powerful piece of cinema and well worth a watch for anyone interested in F1 at all

[Daniel]

I heard the writer on a MotorSport magazine podcast say that that although that had access to the archive their deal with Bernie allowed them 40mins of footage. This was apparently almost doubled but still they inevitably had to be selective. I also read that the first cut of the film was 5hrs long but to make it palatable for a cinema release that too had to be cut dramatically.

I saw the film yesterday and was impressed. Yes, Prost & Balestre were made out to be the baddies, but not to the extent I had expected. This was a film about Senna. It was his story, told largely by him, not a documentary about that period in F1 history. Were it the latter then I would have expected more balance, but as it wasn't then I have no problem with the way Senna's story was told. It was an absorbing and powerful film that gave an insight into the man that I hadn't seen or read elsewhere. We all know he was no saint, but even if you're not a fan perhaps having seen the film you may at least understand why he did what he did to Prost in Japan. That doesn't mean I, or anyone else condones it, just that you may understand his actions more.

The one thing that surprised me was my emotional reaction, not to the events at Imola, but to his victory in the Brazilian GP. That win clearly meant so much to him, and to Brazil.

I don't see why we need to see what Senna wanted us to see. Senna's dead.

[Robinho]

I don't see why we need to see what Senna wanted us to see. Senna's dead.

yes, you've made that point quite clear already. A senna movie without Senna footage would be quite short. Arrows didn't say it was what Senna wanted us to see either.

The film is about Senna, and obviously focuses on his successes but not without saying anything about his flaws, as a human interest piece its very good. it does give a lot of insight into what the man was about, whether you like(d) him or not. If you don't want to see it so be it, but its a lot easier to comment on it if you have.

[SGWilko]

I don't see why we need to see what Senna wanted us to see. Senna's dead.

Seena being dead would, I imagine, leave him somewhat cut off from the decisions as to what should or should not be included in the film, don't you think?

[SGWilko]

yes, you've made that point quite clear already. A senna movie without Senna footage would be quite short. Arrows didn't say it was what Senna wanted us to see either.

The film is about Senna, and obviously focuses on his successes but not without saying anything about his flaws, as a human interest piece its very good. it does give a lot of insight into what the man was about, whether you like(d) him or not. If you don't want to see it so be it, but its a lot easier to comment on it if you have.

On the DVD (the trouble and strife got me the Italian version for fathers' day from my kids) the extended cut features a lot more input from Prost and, IMO, balances out any percieved bias that makes him out to be the bad guy.

[Malbec]

The one thing that surprised me was my emotional reaction, not to the events at Imola, but to his victory in the Brazilian GP. That win clearly meant so much to him, and to Brazil.

I too found the footage of the Brazilian fans explaining both why they adored him so much and why they mourned his death incredibly touching, especially since I never really understood before why he seemed to be held in much higher regard than other Brazilian champions like Piquet.

[SGWilko]

But you'd liked to have seen a balanced documentary of events that are no longer relevant and happened nearly 20 years ago? Who cares eh?

You obviously didn't enjoy the film and have already stated you didn't like Senna, so why are you wasting your time discussing something you apparently don't care about? Opinions are opinions and I could quite easily say I don't care what anonymous people say on forums because I don't know them so why care? What would be the point in saying that unless I wanted to create abit of tension? We could also use the same tactic to say who cares what Prost thinks? If you agree with one driver over the other you're going to see the film from a certain angle. Pro-Prost are going to hate it. Pro-Senna are going to love it. My recommendation would be to those who haven't seen it and hated Senna, not to watch it.

Why would anyone who didn't like Senna watch it anyway? Would be a bit like a homophobic watching Philadelphia.....

[The Black Knight]

Senna's dead, who cares what he thinks?

Since he’s dead I doubt he “thinks” anything about it.

I've seen this movie twice and I believe it to be an excellently put together piece covering the life of this genius. He is probably the best driver of all time. Some of the things he did with the car were incredible. Senna pushed the limit of the limit, and created his own limit that only he could find. His qualifying performance in Monaco 1988 says it all to me and his race the next day. Never before have we witnessed a driver manage to do something like this. If it weren't for McLaren coming on the radio that day to tell him to slow down I believe he would have won that race and not crashed out. Up to that point in the race he completely humiliated Prost.

I wish I were old enough to have seen this genius in his hay day. Unfortunatel, I'm not but at least this movie shows what a humble and genuine person he was. He had his flaws. Well all know about Japan 1990. If there was one flaw with this movie it is that it doesn't really convey Prosts side of the story very well. I know there is more to it than meets the eye from this movie should I say. Senna was no saint.

He was, however, a better driver than Prost overall and quite probably the best of all time. Genius.

[Daniel]

Since he’s dead I doubt he “thinks” anything about it.

I've seen this movie twice and I believe it to be an excellently put together piece covering the life of this genius. He is probably the best driver of all time. Some of the things he did with the car were incredible. Senna pushed the limit of the limit, and created his own limit that only he could find. His qualifying performance in Monaco 1988 says it all to me and his race the next day. Never before have we witnessed a driver manage to do something like this. If it weren't for McLaren coming on the radio that day to tell him to slow down I believe he would have won that race and not crashed out. Up to that point in the race he completely humiliated Prost.

I wish I were old enough to have seen this genius in his hay day. Unfortunatel, I'm not but at least this movie shows what a humble and genuine person he was. He had his flaws. Well all know about Japan 1990. If there was one flaw with this movie it is that it doesn't really convey Prosts side of the story very well. I know there is more to it than meets the eye from this movie should I say. Senna was no saint.

He was, however, a better driver than Prost overall and quite probably the best of all time. Genius.

Tbh I don't think he was all that humble. He knew he was good and he showed it. Nothing wrong that of course.

Contrary to what some think, I did enjoy the movie, I just think that a bit of balance would have improved it.