We'll have to wait for Senna DVD

The good news today is that the marvelous documentary on Ayrton Senna will be issued on DVD in the U.K. next Monday. 

The bad news is that Senna won’t be available in Canada until at least January, or so champion racing driver and Mini Grid book and hobby shop proprietor, Scott Maxwell, has been told.

Said Scott, in reply to a query I sent to him Tuesday:

"Ironically I spoke to the distributor today about this. In true Canadian style, they have told me ‘sometime in early 2012’…

"So my guess is we (Mini Grid) will have it in January. We have plenty on order."

Now, I saw the documentary earlier this year and had mixed emotions. I loved it, of course, but I was bothered by some of the things that were left out and a focus placed on one individual in particular that I thought was unfair.

Be that as it may, I will be among the first to go out and buy it when it does become available here because, at the end of the day, it is a "must have" for any motorsport fan.

Here is an interview with the film’s creator, Manish Pandey, that I’ve taken from James Allen’s F1 website

Of particular interest are the "extras" that will come with the DVD that were not part of the film shown in theatres, among them an interview with Senna conducted by F1 journalist and author Gerald Donaldson, who is no stranger to readers of the Toronto Star. Gerry has covered F1 races for the Star over the years, up to and including the 2010 season.

Here is Pandey’s take on what’s included in the film, and why.

"There is a film maker’s commentary which is well worth listening to with the film going. . . Asif (Kapadia, director), James (Gay-Rees, producer) and I did it in one take, because we were so into the material and had so much knowledge of each frame. That shows what each of us brought to the table on that film.

"We’ve added in many of the interviews we filmed; we show them as extended talking heads. There is a lot of Alain Prost, Ron Dennis, a lot of the key journalists. . . 

"Another key feature is the whole of Gerry Donaldson’s interview with Ayrton from 1989, when he was quite down, which culminates in his speech about Monaco 1988 (note: when Senna talked about an ‘out-of-body experience’ he had during qualifying), which takes in his spirituality and his philosophy as a driver.

"There is also a two-and-a-half-hour version of the film, where you can see the film with the talking heads cut in like a conventional documentary."

Warning: Be careful about ordering a DVD from Britain or purchasing one that might make its way into some stores early. It might not be compatible with your North American DVD player or your computer. People who purchased Jackie Stewart’s autobiography, Winning is Not Enough, which was printed and bound in the U.K. and which included a DVD of racing highlights, found out the hard way.

Comments

[Scott Brumwell]

You can also come and see the movie at the upcoming Barrie Film Festival on Friday, October 21st and Sunday, October 23rd. Go to www.barriefilmfestival.ca for information and tickets.

[Paul]

Thanks for the info, Scott. I bought Senna tix tonight.

[Vinh Pham]

Norris. I'm in the same boat. Waiting on the North American compatible DVD. There are some floating around that are South American compatible. I'll wait. Even tho I've seen this, I am anxious to get my own copy!