Senna: A Documentary That Redefines Authenticity and Emotional Storytelling 

There’s a natural assumption that documentaries are more authentic than ‘made up’ movies: if the footage is real then surely the facts are baked in? Of course the truth is that documentaries, especially popular ones, are edited and shaped into a compelling narrative just as slickly as any other movie.

Asif Kapadia’s 2011 work Senna is a good case in point. Watch the extended cut that runs to 162 minutes and you’ll see a nuanced, informative and detailed account of the times and a turbulent rivalry that approached friendship between two of the all-time greats, Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna. Watch the award-winning original cut, which is about an hour shorter and only uses existing footage (all the new interviews from the long version are just abbreviated voiceovers here), and you’ll see a more exhilarating, moving and brilliantly edited film… but one that does have the unfortunate side effect of making Prost out to be practically Dick Dastardly. A fact that did not go unnoticed by the Frenchman.

But in both versions, the strength of Senna’s appeal comes across, charming and dashing with the world’s press, humble and spiritual to the Brazilian nation that adored him and, to an extent, clung to him as a beacon of hope in difficult times.