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Senna

United Kingdom

2010

104 Min
Color
1.85:1
English
  • Currently 4.2/5 Stars.
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DIR Asif Kapadia

EXEC Liza Chasin, Debra Hayward, Kevin Macdonald, Manish Pandey

PROD Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, James Gay-Rees

SCR Manish Pandey

DP Jake Polonsky

CAST Ayrton Senna

ED Gregers Sall, Chris King

MUSIC António Pinto

SOUND Stephen Griffiths, Andy Shelley

Sundance (World Cinema Documentary Competition): Audience Award, Melbourne (This Sporting Life)

Synopsis

The story of Ayrton Senna, perhaps the greatest race car driver who ever lived, is an epic tale that literally twists at every turn. In the mid 1980s, Senna, a young, gifted driver, exploded onto the world of Formula One racing. As a Brazilian in a predominantly European sport, a purist in a world polluted with backroom deals, and a man of faith in an arena filled with cynicism, Senna had to fight hard—both on and off the track. Facing titanic struggles, he conquered Formula One and became a global icon who was idolized in his home country.

Told solely through the use of archival footage, Asif Kapadia’s documentary is a thrill ride worthy of its daring subject. Adrenaline will be pumping as cameras from inside Senna’s car put you smack-dab in the driver’s seat. Buckle your seat belt; Senna will take you on a trip you do not want to miss. –Sundance Film Festival

Director

Original

Asif Kapadia

Asif Kapadia (born 1972) is a British filmmaker of Indian descent. He directed several award-winning films, including The Sheep Thief (1997), winner of the 2nd Prize Cinéfondation for Short Film at the Cannes Film Festival, The Warrior (2001), which won the BAFTA Award for Best British Film 2003 and Senna (2010), winner of the BAFTA Award for Best Documentary and the BAFTA Award for Best Editing and the World Cinema Audience Award Documentary at the Sundance Film Festival 2011.

BAFTA award winning filmmaker Asif Kapadia is known for his visually striking films which explore the lives of ‘outsiders’, characters living in timeless, extreme and unforgiving circumstances or landscapes. His films have been awarded and distributed internationally and shown how versatile and expressive British cinema can be.

Born in Hackney, London in 1972, Kapadia studied filmmaking at the Royal College of Art where he first gained recognition with his short The Sheep Thief (1997) telling the… read more

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GekkoP

15Mar13

I'm not a fan of F1. I don't understand a single thing about cars, racing or drivers - though I love some films about racing. Yet I sat still and enjoyed it a lot. Passionate telling, very beautiful footage, Senna is an intriguing and fascinating portrait.

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charles f stewart

5Mar13

A well-edited profile of arguably the best driver in Formula 1 history, combining both in-car and race footage, along with interviews with Aryton Senna, Kapadia's film captures the Senna's quest for glory. Some drama is thrown in, which highly compliments Senna's personal mannerisms, and overall creates an interesting portrait of Aryton Senna.

Picture of James Barrett

James Barrett

2Jan13

Moderately well put together by someone who clearly cares a lot about the sport, but it paints Prost like some sort of dastardly villain with a twirly moustache which isn't how it happened at all, really.

Picture of Lee

Lee

6Nov12

Even though the length of the Proust vs. Senna part was a bit too much, I think; the film is pretty good in picturing every thing, especially almost every emotions it needed. Then again, maybe it felt hurt seeing the success, ambitions, laughs and dreams pictured because it's a story which we all already know the ending..

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By David Hudson on August 12, 2011

Asif Kapadia’s portrait of racing legend Ayrton Senna leads this week’s round of documentaries.

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LAFF 2011: SENNA is This Year's Most Exciting Doc

By Twitchfilm.com on December 16, 2011
Walking into Asif Kapadia’s enthralling Formula One racing doc Senna, I knew almost nothing about the film’s subject. While Ayrton Senna’s story may be intimately familiar to racing fans around the world
read on Twitchfilm.com

SENNA Review

By Twitchfilm.com on December 16, 2011
Ayrton Senna was one of the great Formula One racers of modern times. That’s something I did not know prior to seeing this film. One thing I did know prior to seeing it is that “Senna” is one of……
read on Twitchfilm.com

Review - SENNA is This Year's Most Exciting Doc

By Twitchfilm.com on October 23, 2011
Walking into Asif Kapadia’s enthralling Formula One racing doc Senna, I knew almost nothing about the film’s subject. While Ayrton Senna’s story may be intimately familiar to racing fans around the world
read on Twitchfilm.com

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Un chef-d'oeuvre pour une légende

By Benoît on December 1, 2012

1er mai 1994. J’ai huit ans, et déjà passionné de sport en général, je regarde le grand-prix de Formule 1 à Imola, San Marin. La course tourne rapidement au drame, apothéose d’un week-end noir, après…  read review

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