Senna (12A)
Dir: Asif Kapadia
Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost, Frank Williams, Ron Dennis
Running time: 106 minutes
AYRTON SENNA gets the documentary which his legendary status deserves in this epic biopic about the three-time Formula One world champion.
Senna was released in the UK on 3 June and has received rave reviews ever since. As of June 2011, it has a 100% fresh critical consensus on the film review website Rotten Tomatoes.
And it has already received notable recognition at the prestigious 2011 Sundance Film Festival where it won the World Cinema Audience Award for a documentary.
So, is Senna actually as good as virtually everyone is saying? I had feared that it would not be.
Modern life, by its very nature, teaches you to be cynical, especially when something is quite as hyped as this film had been.
Thankfully, for just short of two hours, modern life was put on hold and replaced by childhood memories and an awe of Senna which wiped away the fears... and brought in the tears.
My interest in Formula One originated in the early 1990s but it was really only a patriotic pursuit on the back of Nigel Mansell's world championship for Williams in 1992.
Back then, in my uneducated eyes, Senna and his great rival Frenchman Alain Prost were just two of Mansell's opponents. Clearly, my tender years meant I did not appreciate the sport like I should have.
Of course, I had read about the rivalry since but had, strangely, declined to seek out footage of Senna and Prost at the peak of their conflict.
And so, the early parts of Senna, which looks back at 1988 and 1989 when the pair were both at McLaren, made for truly fascinating viewing.
Even non-F1 fans will be gripped by the dynamics of the established champion Prost and his upstart of a new team-mate in Senna, and their complete contrast in styles.
Senna sought glory every time he took to the race-track whereas Prost was more pragmatic, willing even to turn into a corner too early if it meant he could take out his rival and win the championship.
By 1990, the relationship between the pair was so fractious that Prost had moved to Ferrari. The move meant that Senna was established as the clear number one driver at McLaren and the Brazilian responded with successive championships.
His 1991 success included a first-ever Grand Prix win at his home circuit in Sao Paulo. This was my favourite part of the film, a high-point which brought a lump to the throat and made the tear ducts well.
On-board footage, which is used extensively throughout, serves its purpose particularly well when capturing this special moment.
The cameras show how Senna battled extreme physical pain to ensure he would see the chequered flag first despite his car being stuck in sixth gear, making low-speed corners almost impossible.
The pictures then show how Senna celebrated his Sao Paulo win with his parents, McLaren team principal Ron Dennis and the adoring public from his home city.
Indeed, Senna does a wonderful job to convey just what its subject's success meant to a country which was run by an oppressive government and beset by poverty.
Of course, as the years roll on towards 1994, everyone knows how the film will end up.
Nevertheless, the archive footage remains just as haunting as you would expect and, once again, it is difficult to keep your eyes dry while watching the spools of Senna being interviewed.
Some interviews show Senna discussing his relationship with God and his awareness of his own mortality. Others show him becoming increasingly preoccupied with the dangers of his profession.
On the weekend that Senna died at Imola in San Marino, both of those subjects had already been brought to the forefront by two high-speed crashes.
First, there was an accident featuring his protege Rubens Barrichello - and, then worse, Austrian driver Roland Ratzenberger was killed in qualifying.
Senna still took the track, though, considering that by failing to do so he would cease being a racer.
It was this demand of perfection - not just victory - which separates him from the rest.
And so it is apt, then, that Senna's life and legend is celebrated by a film which is just about as close to perfect as you can actually get.
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