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gridwalker wrote:I'm off to see the Movie (with producer Q&A) at the Sheffield DocFest later today : I'm really quite excited about it!!!
Make sure you post what you think of the movie.. and remember not to look at your phone/internet or listen to the radio on the way home or you may see/hear quali results.. I hate when that happens!
Don't Kanye me. Or I'll Chris Brown you and Tiger Woods your mother.
Ok, I'm back from the cinema, I've watched quali and have curled up in front of Le Mans on Eurosport, so it is time to post my thoughts.
First, the movie : I laughed, my girlfriend cried, I was impressed by the way that the story was told and I have had to reassess some preconceptions about Senna that were initially formed whilst my age was still in single digits (he died when I was 14) ... it was a profoundly moving story for me, which made me think about the man in an entirely new way.
Senna was always seen as "the bad guy" during my childhood. I saw him as ruthless, arrogant and extremely self absorbed. My opinion has softened over the years (perhaps muted by my dislike of Señor Schumacher) but I could never entirely past my childhood vision of him as the panto villain role currently filled by Alonso.
This movie has changed that. I am still not comfortable with his profound religiosity, but I can now see the charisma and humanity that enchanted a generation of Brazilians.
Secondly, the Q&A : Oh my god, I cannot stand the director ... he openly admitted that he is not an F1 fan and that he only took the job because it was offered. He appeared to have no apppreciation for the sport beyond the content of the movie and he said some extremely stupid things that not only demonstrated complete ignorance of the issues raised by Senna's death, but which also demonstrated a complete disrespect for all of those who campaigned for changes in the aftermath of the accident.
I regretted missing qualifying for this special showing; the things the man said made both myself and my girlfriend extremely angry. Nobody on stage during the Q&A even realised that Bahrain had been definitively removed from the calendar and they argued with us when we chose to correct them.
I felt that it was a massive shame that such a great piece of work had been produced by someone with so little appreciation of the subject matter they were covering. I think that there are probably a million people who would have had the equivalent of a religious experience if they were given the same level of access to the FOM archives that the director received, but the privilege was given to someone who only cared about the money they received for the job.
I would recommend that any F1 fan watches the movie, but avoid asking in-depth questions at any Q&A session as you'll only be disappointed.
"Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine ..."
gridwalker wrote:I felt that it was a massive shame that such a great piece of work had been produced by someone with so little appreciation of the subject matter they were covering. I think that there are probably a million people who would have had the equivalent of a religious experience if they were given the same level of access to the FOM archives that the director received, but the privilege was given to someone who only cared about the money they received for the job.
I would recommend that any F1 fan watches the movie, but avoid asking in-depth questions at any Q&A session as you'll only be disappointed.
I think I saw the same fellow on the first episode of the Flying Lap and he didn't seem too much of a nincompoop. It seems to me that sometimes that kind of detachment is necessary to have an objective look at something. From all accounts he did a marvelous job, and I think he should be judged on that basis alone.
Keeping up to date is one thing, but they tried to open the Q&A by leading with a debate about whether Bahrain would go ahead : for a session at a film festival that bills itself as "the uk's most important documentary festival", complete with sponsorship from a national newspaper, you would think that the speakers would try and be up to date with the issues that THEY raise ...
"Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine ..."
gridwalker wrote:Keeping up to date is one thing, but they tried to open the Q&A by leading with a debate about whether Bahrain would go ahead : for a session at a film festival that bills itself as "the uk's most important documentary festival", complete with sponsorship from a national newspaper, you would think that the speakers would try and be up to date with the issues that THEY raise ...
Thanks for posting your thoughts on the film.. it was interesting to hear about the director and where I agree it might not have been important to be an f1 fan etc as he made a great movie and maybe he made it better by not being interested in the sport.. like an unbiased production.
I also completely agree with the above.. once you had produced such a film you would think himself and others involved would eat and sleep F1 just for the promotion of the film alone.. especially if doing Q&A sessions knowing at least 90% target audience are going to be F1 fans.
I also laughed at a lot of points but don't mind admitting a got a little bit choked up at parts.. even parts that wern't sad.. the part over the radio after Brasil.. was really emotional I thought
Don't Kanye me. Or I'll Chris Brown you and Tiger Woods your mother.
Princey wrote:the part over the radio after Brasil.. was really emotional I thought
Agree wholeheartedly.
Unbridled passion and joy. I had goose bumps watching that sequence and then Senna near paralysed from the effort of driving the car stuck in 5th, unable to climb out the car. The fans, literally meters away, chanting his name.
Went to see the film this evening. SWMBO also wanted to see it so we went to the cinema. Both enjoyed it. We agreed that whether you're a fan or just a sometime F1 watcher there's something there for you. It's a powerful film on so many levels.
I kept thinking about Senna's run ins with the FIA and comparing that with Hamilton's issues today. There are a lot of similarities between them on a number of levels (amazing arrival in F1, blinding speed, ability/determination to overtake/race, huge self belief, religion). Likewise Prost and Alonso (both as quick as anyone and both total political animals). Balestre was just as much a dick as Mosley is/was. Oh how history repeats.
Whether you loved or hated Senna, whether you never saw him race or if you just have an interest in modern sport history, go see this film!
If you are more fortunate than others, build a larger table not a taller fence.
Paul Truswell wrote:Did anyone else notice that in the scene where Ayrton is shown talking to Roland Bruynseraede through the window of an official car, when they are discussing which side of the track pole position should be, and whether the racing line is on the right or the left hand side of the track... that they are at Hockenheim, not at Suzuka?
In general, I think that Manish Pandey and Asif Kapadia have done a superb job with the film, but with this scene I fear that they may be guilty of misleading their audience somewhat.
It's not really a complaint in any real sense of the word, as I would like to encourage as many people as possible to go and see the film. And if anyone has an explanation, I'd love to hear it. http://trussers.blogspot.com/2011/06/senna-movie.html
It's not the only thing that one could find misleading in the film. So don't expect to see the truth. Expect a dramatic story and some great footage.
Pandamasque wrote:It's not the only thing that one could find misleading in the film. So don't expect to see the truth. Expect a dramatic story and some great footage.
If I went to see a normal film, that would be true – if I went to see something sold as a documentary (which this was) I wouldn't. I'd want to see documented fact.
Pandamasque wrote:It's not the only thing that one could find misleading in the film. So don't expect to see the truth. Expect a dramatic story and some great footage.
If I went to see a normal film, that would be true – if I went to see something sold as a documentary (which this was) I wouldn't. I'd want to see documented fact.
Not only did they toss some Hockenheim footage into the Suzuka 'pole position story', but also blurred the part of the picture where you'd read on the car something that suspiciously looks like Mobil 1 Großer Preis von Deutschland perhaps?
Didn't manage to 'blur' the sound of German-speaking PA
But was there not written testimony from the race director that he asked for it to be changed?
That means the video, while inaccurate, was used for dramatisation purposes. Its not fallacy, merely they didnt have footage of the event and used footage of what they did have.
