Senna (2010)

A documentary on Brazilian Formula One racing driver Ayrton Senna, who won the F1 world championship three times before his death at age 34.

Director:

Asif Kapadia

Writer:

Manish Pandey

Stars:

Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost, Frank Williams

Won 2 BAFTA Film Awards. Another 17 wins & 17 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ayrton Senna	...	Himself (archive footage)
Alain Prost	...	Himself
Frank Williams	...	Himself
Ron Dennis	...	Himself
Viviane Senna	...	Herself
Milton da Silva	...	Himself
Neide Senna	...	Herself
Jackie Stewart	...	Himself
Sid Watkins	...	Himself
Galvão Bueno	...	Himself
Reginaldo Leme	...	Himself
Gerhard Berger	...	Himself
Nelson Piquet	...	Himself
Nigel Mansell	...	Himself
Jean-Marie Balestre	...	Himself

Storyline

The story of the monumental life and tragic death of legendary Brazilian motor-racing Champion, Ayrton Senna. Spanning the decade from his arrival in Formula One in the mid 80's, the film follows Senna's struggles both on track against his nemesis, French World Champion Alain Prost, and off it, against the politics which infest the sport. Sublime, spiritual yet, on occasion, ruthless - Senna conquers and transcends Formula One to become a global superstar. Privately, he is humble, almost shy, and fiercely patriotic, donating millions to his native Brasil and contemplating a life beyond motor-racing. Yet he is struck down in his prime on the blackest weekend in the history of the sport, watched live on television by 300 million people. Years on he is revered in Formula One as the greatest motor racing driver of all time - and in Brasil as a Saint.

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Plot Keywords:

formula 1 | racing driver | sports car | car accident | tragic event | 

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Taglines:

No Fear. No Limits. No Equal.

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Genres:

Documentary | Biography | Sport

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some strong language and disturbing images

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

UK France USA

Language:

English Portuguese French Japanese

Release Date:

25 May 2011 (France)

Also Known As:

Сенна

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$73,497, 14 August 2011, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$1,612,430, 18 November 2011

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, StudioCanal, Working Title Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The father of James Gay-Rees worked at John Player Special, cigarette company that sponsored the Lotus team in 1985, during which Ayrton Senna was the pilot. According to the producer, the making of Senna came from the constant praise that his father did to the, at the time, young driver.

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Goofs

When the caption introduces the scene as "Monte Carlo Grand Prix, 14th of May 1988", the onboard footage from Senna's McLaren is infact from the same race two years later. (1990) This becomes apparent when Senna is seen lapping the Brabham car driven by Stefano Modena, who in 1988 drove for the Eurobrun team. Static interference appears to cut the clip short to indicate Senna's race ending crash at Portier. There is then a cut to the aftermath of the accident which is footage from the 1988 race; the camera we were watching the onboard from has now vanished, because the MP4/4 that Senna drove in 1988 didn't actually have an onboard camera, unlike the MP4/5 of 1990. Also noteworthy is that the Hugo Boss logo on the side of Senna's helmet inverts from being black text on a white background during onboard footage (1990) to white text on a black background when Senna climbs out. (1988)

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Quotes

Sid Watkins: [after the death of Roland Ratzenberger] Ayrton got very, very upset and cried a bit, and that's when I said to him, you know Ayrton you've been three times world champion, you're the fastest man in the world, and you like fishing. So I said why don't you quit, and I'll quit, and we'll just go fishing. And he said Sid, I can't quit.

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Crazy Credits

While the credits roll, we see home movies by the Senna family.

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Alternate Versions

UK blu-ray edition includes extended version at a running time of 162 minutes

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Connections

Referenced in Bad Movie Beatdown: Review of 2011 (2012)

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Soundtracks

Tema Da Vitória
(Eduardo Souto Neto)
Performed by Eduardo Souto Neto
Courtesy of Som Livre/ RGE

User Reviews

Senna a must-seen

I didn't know much about Senna, before watching this documentary. Just obvious things: great rider who died young in a F1 accident. Topics, nothing more. When I started to watch "Senna", I was surprised by the eyes of a rider who seemed nearly shy in the interviews, but fiercely strong and daring on the truck. His face was a canvas where his soul sketched the mixed feelings that were born as he and life slowly sprang up. You see Senna as a true consistent human being, who debated between what he loved - racing, his country- and what was surrounding him and , sadly, growing up -Brasil's poverty, politics infesting F1, too much engineering against pilot's talent.. This is a must-seen documentary. A must-seen film indeed. Traces of archive footage that let you be a little closer of a great man who loved and lived for a passion, who had errors and fought against them, and who taught us a great lesson of attitude and coherence. Requiescat In Pace