Senna (2011)
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Cast
as Reginaldo Leme
as Richard Williams
as John Bisignano
as Pierre van Vliet
as Alain Prost
as Ron Dennis
as Frank Williams
as Viviane Senna
as Neyde Senna
as Sid Watkins
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Critic Reviews for Senna
All Critics (118) | Top Critics (35) | Fresh (109) | Rotten (9) | DVD (1)
Captivating, chilling, and surprisingly sublime.
"Senna" is simply the greatest sports film I have ever seen.
A psychologically intriguing if at times too hagiographic portrait of a man who often held pole position in his profession and felt nearer to God because of it.
"Senna" is carefully edited and makes sometimes spectacular use of extensive home movies and videos.
There's not an ounce of fat or a wasted shot throughout.
You don't have to know anything about car racing at all. Instead, you simply have to like a great story, one that has all the elements: drama, inspiration, competition, victory, defeat, betrayal and, looming above it all, tragedy.
Audience Reviews for Senna
An enthralling and heartbreaking documentary using only archive material and old interviews with the pilot and those who knew him, and it is fascinating to see the human side of an admirable man who was the greatest idol of a nation facing a major economical and political crisis back then.
Super Reviewer
An arresting, incredibly well constructed documentary on the life of Ayrton Senna, a Formula One race car driver during the 80's and early 90's whose dominance of the sport is largely unknown by the common sports fan. Senna is such a lovable person and you can see why his home country of Brazil rallied around him and treated him like a god, because of his humble nature and intense spiritual belief in God that made him such a riveting public figure. If you know his story already, you know it has a tragic ending attached to it, and the way this is handled is extremely moving and heartbreaking. Quite simply, this is not just a fantastic documentary, but also one of the greatest sports movies ever made.
Super Reviewer
This film, about Formula One racing, is probably one of the best put together and archived documentary films ever. It speaks about the complete life story of Ayrton Senna, who was a competitive underdog, being from South America and winning his races on skill instead of relying on money like many of his competitors. Besides simply being about the legendary driver it is also about the pride he brought to his home country, about the spectacle of winning, and his own happiness and self-satisfaction when he won. The entire film is taken from archival footage, and though there are some interviews with his family, friends, and other racers, they are never shown onscreen. Everything we actually see is from either home movies or the race track. Senna was a very passionate and interesting man as well as a significantly good race car driver, and without a doubt the footage captures all of that and more. There's also no real commentary from a narrator, which is seriously refreshing. Everything that you can truly take away from the film comes inherently from your own sense of what truly happened. This is very true when it comes to Senna's rivalry with fellow driver Alain Prost. Prost was from a much richer driving team and both men were obvious enemies, whether it came from ratting on one another to keep each other off the track, or simply using mind games in order to win for themselves. Senna comes off with a lot of honor, and seemed to seriously care for the well-being and safety of all the other drivers, while Prost only seemed to care about winning. That may not be true about Prost, but it is true that Senna asked for safety conditions that weren't met and that ended negatively, to his detriment. That last part of the documentary, when Senna was willing to do anything to win and yet he was going against the adversaries of the commission, that showed the true nature of his character, and how great an athlete he really was.
Super Reviewer
Senna Quotes
| Sid Watkins: | (Just after Ratzenburger's death) You know Ayrton, you've been 3 times world champion, you're the fastest man in the world, and you like fishing, so, why don't you quit, and i'll quit and we'll just go fishing. |
| Sid Watkins: | [just after Ratzenburger's death] You know Ayrton, you've been 3 times world champion, you're the fastest man in the world, and you like fishing, so, why don't you quit, and i'll quit and we'll just go fishing. |
| Ayrton Senna: | Sid. I can't quit. |
| John Bisignano: | There's only one word that describes Ayrton's style, and that is: fast. He would take the car beyond it's design capabilities. He would brake later, fly into these corners where the car was just over the edge, and somehow, he could dance and dance with that car, to where it stayed on track. |
| Jackie Stewart: | Okay, let me ask you another difficult question: If I were to count back all the world champions, the number of times that they had made contact with other drivers, that you in the last 36 months or 48 months, have been in contact with more other cars and drivers than they might have done in total. |
| Ayrton Senna: | I find (it) amazing for you to make such a question Stewart, because you are very expirienced- |
| Jackie Stewart: | Hmm...Very. |
| Ayrton Senna: | ...And you know a lot about racing. And you should know that by being a racing driver, you are under risks all the time. By being a racing driver means you are racing with other people. And if you no longer go for a gap that exists, you're no longer a racing driver, because we are competing. We are competing to win, and the main motivation to all of us is to compete for victory; it's not to come 3rd, 4th, 5th or 6th. |
| Ayrton Senna: | "...It was pure driving, pure racing. That makes me hapy." |
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