Senna movie to be released in autumn
Fans of legendary Formula One driver Ayrton Senna are in for a treat. A movie celebrating the life of the late Brazilian driver is in the works and scheduled to be released in theatres this fall.
Early reports in 2001 began circulating that a film starring Antonio Banderas would be produced and focused on the lead up to the accident in Imola where Senna lost his life. The plans never got underway. However, the documentary-style film that is to be released this fall will span the Formula One career of Senna, from his début back in 1984 with Toleman through to the final race with Williams-Renault.
The documentary is written by Manish Pandey and directed by Asif Kapadia who won the BAFTA award. Working Title is producing the project, the same production company that released other British classics such as Four Weddings and a Funeral, Billy Elliot, and Bridget Jones’s Diary.
“Neither the Senna family nor Bernie Ecclestone has ever sanctioned such a project for the cinema before and we have made the film with unprecedented access to FOM and the family archive,” Pandey said in an interview with jamesallenonF1.com
This will be the first feature film made about the driver, and the film has the full co-operation of the family and of Formula One Management. Archive footage has been provided and will be the bulk of the film.
The film has already been previewed to a select group of people. Martin Brundle, Senna’s rival from back in the days of the British F3 watched the film after the Silverstone race, and was very happy with it.
It has gotten rave reviews from jamesallenonf1.com, who believes the film will likely become a popular mainstream film with many non-Formula One fans, “especially women, drawn to the poignant human-interest story at the heart of it.”
The feature-length documentary is mostly archive footage with voice-over interviews, knitting together the story of Senna’s life, in Senna’s own words to a large extent.
Senna’s love for racing began when he was a young boy after his father bought him a miniature go-kart. Senna came from a wealthy Brazilian family but forsook his future in his father’s business to follow his passion: racing.
He won his first kart race when he was 13 years old, and kept on winning. He worked his way up through the British Formula 3 ranks to win three championships in 1983. His Formula One début came a year later when he signed with Toleman, but a year after that he switched over to Lotus-Renault. With the Lotus team Senna won six Grand Prix but no championships and in 1988 he joined forces with McLaren-Honda.
It was with McLaren that Senna really began to show his potential. The Brazilian won 15 of the 16 Grand Prix in the first season, and won his first World Championship. He won the Championship two more times, in 1990 and ’91. McLaren’s performance declined in 1992 and Senna choose to join up with the dominating Williams-Renault team in 1994.
It was during the third race of the 1994 season that Senna suffered a fatal accident at the San Mariano Grand Prix at Imola. Prior to the race, Senna had no completed the first two opening races, and had vowed that the San Mariano Grand Prix would be where his next championship season would start.
Just as the race was getting underway, JJ Lehto’s Bennetton-Ford stalled causing a huge accident at the starting line. The race was delayed, and upon the restart Senna set the pace for the quickest three laps. As he prepared to enter the Tamburello corner on his fourth lap, his car left the track and slammed into the concrete retaining wall at 135 mph. Senna was pulled from the car by the medical team and was treated on the track. His injuries were too severe for on-site treatment, and he was airlifted to the Bologna hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Senna was the last person to die in a Formula One accident, and is still considered to be on of the greatest drivers in the history of the sport.
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