Friday 12 August 2011 8:35AM (view full episode)  Like all
champion drivers, the late Formula 1 ace Ayrton Senna built his
success on a willingness to gamble by making calculated, split-
second decisions others were unwilling or unable to make. Some,
like his long-time rival Alain Prost, attributed his genius,
which bordered on a recklessness behind the wheel, to the
Brazilian champion's belief in God. It's one of many insights
that British filmmaker Asif Kapadia gathers in this film, made
from archival material combined with the sound, but not the
vision, of more recent interviews. Mostly, however, it's not
what's said but what's shown that makes this such a powerful
experience. Trawling through hours of footage from sources as
varied as YouTube and 35mm, Kapadia has made a visceral,
emotional film with moments of poetry. The sensuality of
extended tracts of driver-cam vision -- played long to fully
exploit the kinetic force of the POV shot as we race along the
track -- is a recurring motif.  Then there are m