This Friday, November 29, Netflix released its biographical mini-series dedicated to Ayrton Senna. The Brazilian driver’s life and career will be revisited in six episodes, from his three world championship titles to his legendary rivalry with Alain Prost, not forgetting his fatal crash at the San Marino Grand Prix on May 1, 1994. .
Prior to this Netflix series, the first feature-length work dedicated to the pilot, a number of documentaries were released, including the film Seena, directed by Asif Kapadia in 2011. The British director has also signed on to make fascinating documentaries about Amy Winehouse and Diego Maradona.
The birth of the project
The project was born from the desire to dedicate a film to the world of motorsport. Due to his popularity and many exploits, the decision to base the project on the life of Ayrton Senna seemed obvious to Asif Kapadia and producer James Gay-Reese.
Ronaldo and Federer have only recently become brands, before them in the 1980s. said the filmmaker at the press conference of the film.
Very quickly, the choice of a documentary film became obvious, as did the use of only the voices of the participants in the film – no images. This production bias thus makes it possible to create the illusion that the narrator is none other than Ayrton Senna himself, thanks to the use of many archival images of his interviews.
A documentary film in three acts
Asif Kapadia also broke the codes of the documentary and divided his film into three acts, borrowing from the dramaturgy of fiction: the rise, the success and the fall. For this, the director playfully created “characters”: There is also Balestre, the bad boy, Prost, the rival for four world titles, and then the intimate Senna: his family, his lovers, his relationship in Brazil.
The director also wanted to paint an authentic portrait of Ayrton Senna without covering his dark sides. An observation that is particularly relevant in passages that bring back his rivalry with Alain Prost, which does not fall into the Manichean cliché of good guy versus bad guy. However, the French driver regretted that the film went too sensational during an interview with F1 Racing magazine.
Since its release in 2011, Sena has won many prestigious awards, including Best Documentary at the BAFTA and British Independent Film Awards. A few years after the release of the film, James Gay-Reese has re-immersed himself in the world of F1 thanks to the Netflix documentary series Formula 1: Drivers of their Destiny.
Asif Kapadia’s documentary Seena is also available on Netflix.
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Source: Allocine
Rose James is a Gossipify movie and series reviewer known for her in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the latest releases. With a background in film studies, she provides engaging and informative reviews, and keeps readers up to date with industry trends and emerging talents.
