Senna offers interesting glimpse into driver's career

"Senna" is a documentary film about Ayrton Senna, a Brazilian race car driver who raced in Formula One from 1984 until his death during a race in 1994.

He won three Formula One World Championships during his career and is recognized by the auto racing community as the greatest driver who ever lived.

He was known for his ingenious passing techniques and his off-track charisma that inspired millions of Brazilians and the changed the face of Formula One for the better, though constantly being lashed out against by the Federation Internationale de L' Automobile, the ruling body for Formula One.

The movie was released in the United States on August 12, though released last year in October at the Suzuka Grand Prix in Japan. The Film won the Sundance Film Festival for best Documentary and the Los Angeles Film Festival for Best International Feature.

The Documentary was made up of reels, interviews, and media coverage of his racing career as a young boy racing go karts until his mid-season accident that cut his life short in 1994.

The movie was narrated mostly by Senna himself, of interviews and sound bites that took place both on and off the track. The movie was directed by Asif Kapadia, his fourth feature film as director.

Kapadia did an excellent job of showing what a dominant, often ruthless driver Senna was on the race track and how truthful, spiritual, and patriotic to his country that seemed to attract everyone both fans and drivers, though his values and convictions that contrasted with the leadership forces of the sport.

Throughout the documentary, the film also tells of his rivalry with Alain Prost, Aryton's French teammate at Marlboro McLaren for all three of his world championships, whom he constantly competed with for the drivers' championship and in the press.

The movie also talks about the political struggles of his racing career with the head of the then FIA president Jean-Marie Balestre.

The movie built up momentum using the foreshadowing of on-track accidents throughout his career that culminated with the events of the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, when at 34, Senna lost his life in a tragic accident.

Inter-cut interviews included the closest people in his life-his parents, siblings, his teammate and rival Alain Prost, Marlboro McLaren team principal Ron Dennis, and Frank Williams of Williams Renault, who was charged by an Italian court of Appeals for his death.

It wasn't until his death that his sister Vivian Senna founded his charity the Ayrton Senna Foundation, which provides education to millions of poor Brazilian children.

The movie chronicles his life as a driver and an advocate for humanity. From his beautiful girlfriends to the success he shared on track, he inspired hope to not only to his home country but the world.

The documentary does a superior job of showing who Senna was as a driver, a competitor, and an amazing human being he truly was. Though his career cut short, Senna continues to inspire millions by the legacy he left behind.

The movie is only being shown in certain theaters. The closest showing is at the Edward's Westpark 8 in Irvine and at Laemmle's playhouse in Pasadena. The movie has been out for a month, and will continue to be out.

 You do not have to be a racing fan to understand ‘Senna', who he was or what he stood for. He won, not for himself, but for the betterment of mankind.

The movie is a collage of machine, horsepower, and the human spirit.