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Every now and then, I will allow myself to wander away from discussing IndyCar on this site. Some might ask how I can do that, if I describe this site as devoted exclusively to IndyCar and the Indianapolis 500. Well, first of all it’s my site and I can do what I want to. Second, at least today’s topic deals with motor racing. I occasionally wander off to discuss dreaded trendy sayings and buzzword every couple of years. I’ve not done one of those in a couple of years, so expect one of those later in the offseason. I’ve even devoted an entire post to the 1969 moon landing, so it’s not much of a stretch that I won’t be discussing IndyCar in this post.

Ayrton Senna was a racing icon at the time of his death in 1994. His fame stretched far beyond the world of Formula One. He was beloved around the world, but he was also despised by many. Some say he introduced the “art” of dirty driving to F1.

In the late 80s and early 90s, I followed F1 a lot closer than I do now. Back then, I knew who every driver on the grid was and their back story as well as their teams. Today I can name less than ten drivers, and the only reason I know anything about them is due mostly to the Netflix series Drive to Survive. When Senna was winning his world championships, I was following Formula One almost as closely as I followed IndyCar. That is no longer the case.

I was a fan of Senna’s, but I was not fanatical about him. Some of his followers were almost cult-like in their worship of the three-time World Champion from Brazil. That cult is still strong today, while some of those worshipers were very young or not even born when he was fatally injured at Imola. That is how charismatic his personality was. But I was always just as intrigued by Senna’s personality outside of the cockpit, as I was his talent inside the car.

Some described Senna as aloof and something of a prima donna, while others said he was very introspective and was very philosophical about life away from the track. Whether you worshiped him or hated him, there is no denying that Ayrton Senna carried a very fascinating persona. He was extremely close to his family, and he was very dedicated to his catholic faith.

In 2010, a documentary film was released entitled Senna. It was well-done and had no actual narration. It was simply archival footage with a soundtrack of interview clips from his parents, various racing personalities that were his contemporaries and journalists that covered him. Critics say it was an hour and forty-five minute infomercial on the greatness of Senna, without even a mention of his faults. I bought the DVD when it came out, and still have it. I enjoyed it, but I can see the point of his critics that it was fairly one-sided. It is now available in its entirety on You Tube for free. If you haven’t seen it, it’s worth the time to watch it here.

Fourteen years later, there is now a Netflix series of the same name – Senna. It was released in November to mixed reviews. I saw several comments on social media criticizing it, saying the topography in the part of England at his karting track was all wrong. I figure if they showed a mountain that wasn’t supposed to be there, I could live with that. No re-enactment with paid actors is going to be 100% accurate. I’ve learned that I can enjoy films a lot more when I suspend reality a little bit.

We’ve all had the displeasure of sitting through movies with that guy – you know; the one who has to point out that a film set in 1955 was totally unwatchable, because they used a 1958 Cadillac in a scene. I can overlook several inaccuracies up to a point. Sometimes, it reaches the point where that guy is right because the producers were just too lazy to care. But I sometimes wonder if that guy only watches movies to show off his intelligence to those who have the misfortune of sitting around him. Life is too short to let a few inaccuracies ruin an otherwise good movie.

Some found the massive inaccuracies of Bohemian Rhapsody to be so egregious that they could not enjoy the film. I was in high school and college when Queen was in their heyday, but I don’t claim to be the foremost authority on Queen or Freddie Mercury. My wife, Susan, is though. She acknowledges that the producers went too far in their storyline, but she still loves the film.

Susan and I watched Senna last week. There are only six episodes, so we watched two episodes per night for three straight nights. In general, we thoroughly enjoyed it. Susan knows who Senna was, but she didn’t know that much about him other than he was a very successful and popular F1 driver from Brazil that was killed in the 90s. She knew enough to recognize him whenever she saw a photo of him, but that was pretty much the extent of her knowledge of the man. She came away with a better understand of who he was and the political shenanigans that surrounded Formula One at the time (much like the present).

I live under a rock, and I don’t know that many movie stars, but I knew of not one single actor in this series. But the producers did a good job with casting – at least with the character’s appearance. The actor who played Senna was different. Ayrton Senna had a very unique look about him that was hard to describe. The actor who played him had a tough assignment, but overall I though he pulled it off. There would be a few shots where I didn’t think he looked a thing like the real Senna, but then other times – he looked just like him.

Some critics of the series claimed that Senna’s character had no depth. I disagree. His character put racing above all else in life, and I think that maybe these critics just don’t understand the racing mentality. I thought it showed many sides of Senna away from the car, and how he interacted with various people.

Like the documentary, it painted Ayrton Senna in a very favorable light – but I also felt like the producers paid more attention to his flaws – both on and off the track. It certainly let the viewers know that his competitors viewed him as overly aggressive, and that he could also be very selfish out of the cockpit. In one scene where he had just clinched his first world championship, he was asked who he wanted to dedicate the championship to. I thought he might say his parents, or to those at Toleman, who had given him his first break into F1. Instead, he said he wanted to dedicate it to himself and all the sacrifices he had made to get there, which I found a bit off-putting. I don’t know if he really said that or if that was some form of creative license; but it got the point across that he may have been a bit self-absorbed.

If I’m wearing my film critic hat, I thought the series featured an outstanding musical score and great cinematography. I’m sure there were some slight inaccuracies with the cars and depictions of some events. But from what I know and remember about Ayrton Senna at the time, I thought the producers were fair and accurate.

One thing to keep in mind if you do watch it; it was produced in Brazil and I believe it was probably filmed in Portuguese and dubbed in English. I say that because in the third episode, I thought the soundtrack was off. Then it dawned on me that it may be dubbed into English. I looked it up and saw that the two languages were listed as Portuguese and English (in that order). If it was dubbed, they did an excellent job. I didn’t notice any discrepancy again until Episode Five.

If you are a racing fan, watching the series, Senna, will scratch your racing itch as we head into these dark winter months. It may or may not truthfully depict the many layers of Ayrton Senna, but the storylines on and away from the track are entertaining and enjoyable. Despite the fact that there may also be some inaccuracies to it, I would highly recommend it.

George Phillips

This entry was posted on December 9, 2024 at 4:03 am and is filed under IndyCar. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.