SENNA

He loved the rain. Other Formula 1 drivers dread it, but Aytron Senna did his best driving in bad weather. Even without the rain he was one of the best who ever lived. Indeed one of the Joys of Asif Kapadia's documentary Senna is watching Aytron's mastery over his machine.

Let's backtrack a little. Senna was a nice Brazillian boy from a well off family. At a young age he demonstrated skill in go-cart racing and in the mid 80's transitioned to Formula 1. During his 6th race, he pulled a great upset in Monte Calro by nearly beating Alain Prost, a world famous French champion. The two develop a fierce rivalry. Even after they become teammates they are very much against each other. Their cars collide during the '89 Japanese Grand Prix. It seems as if Prost is able to manipulate the federation into suspending Senna, but it's a little unclear. It is clear that although Senna is better than Prost. Prost is better able to play the game and use the system for his own devices.

Prost's beefs with Senna aren't without merit. The two trade accusations and it's hard to know what's true and what isn't. It's a great irony that this documentary has so much footage of Senna but so few answers as to what he was like as a person. Is he reckless or just really good? Or both? We see that he's deeply religious, gives generously to charity. He feels genuine but distant. We see him with his family and with women but we aren't told much about his relationships. This film keeps it about the driving. That the film poses larger questions and doesn't try to fill them in is at times frustrating. There are times when it seems that Kapadia is shaping the narrative in artificial ways. That important things are glossed over or just plain cut out. 


But the footage on display is tremendous. F1 is such a media sport that every event is covered from so many different angles that there are many times where it's easy to forget you're watching a documentary. There's no need to have a talking head recount how Senna felt at such-and-such pre-race meeting when we can actually see the footage of Senna storming out and what lead to that. But nothing competes with the footage from Senna's helmet camera. The speeds achieved are amazing. The car whirring under him. There are times when his engine stops sounding like a car and starts sounding like a jumbo jet. Yet Senna has such deft control over his machine as too make the whole endeavor seem effortless. There may be a lot of ambiguity about Senna's life, but there is none when it comes to why he raced. It got him closer to God.


Grade: B+


"Senna" is currently streaming on Netflix Instant