On Sunday I went to see the Senna Movie at the State Theatre, being screened as part of the Sydney Film Festival.
I started watching Formula 1 a couple of years before Aryton Senna died in 1994. I remember the Christmas after his accident being given a book about his life. As with many books written after someones death, it only focused on the positives. But I still remember some of the stories from that book. As a fourteen year old I thought he was amazing.
I'm pleased that I got to visit the inside of the State Theatre. It has an opulent interior with chandeliers hanging from the ceiling and gilded paintwork. It's reminiscent of a classic London theatre, but I can't remember which one!
The screening was full of motor racing fans. Some wearing the shirts from their favourite teams. I missed an opportunity to wear my Williams shirt! As an audience with a shared passion there was collective laughing, cheering and clapping at various points during the film.
The film itself was pretty good. Almost uniquely no new footage was shot to make the film. It's a mixture of archive footage and home family videos. The soundtrack was period audio and some modern interviews they'd done specifically for the film. The movie focused on Senna's life prior to the accident. It brought back memories from the era of F1 when I first started watching. It also helped me understand some of the politics of F1 that passed me by at the time.
If you want to learn more about the film listen to this interview with the director of the film on the excellent Sidepodcast.
I didn't manage to get to any of the film festival movies, am hoping to see a few of them if they get regular release though.
ReplyDelete...and the State Theatre is beautiful isn't it.