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While saying that director Adif Kapadia’s Senna is a racing documentary would be accurate, it would also be an affront to Ayrton Senna, the man. The man so devoted to his religion. The man so devoted to the people of his home country of Brazil. The man who refused to play politics and cared as much about the safety of his fellow racers as he did about winning. Consider this: Senna’s story has so many beautiful moments that an amazing clip of him stopping his car to be the first responder to an Eric Comas crash doesn’t even make it in the movie until the final credits.

This isn’t to say the movie isn’t a fantastic chance for Formula One geeks to get some 1980s in-car race footage screaming across the big screen. Following a measured dose of foreshadowing from Senna’s parents, the footage cuts to a first-person look at the driver’s first visit to the Monaco circuit in 1984. The low-angle shots of this tight, winding circuit rushing down a river of Armco are just unreal, and it’s easy to imagine a rookie driver struggling in a race there. Instead, in sloppy, wet conditions, Senna piloted his underdog Toleman race car past every other driver in the field before being stuck with a second place finish due to the rules of a race-ending red flag. It was his breakout moment as both a master of the rain and an extreme vocal opponent of racing’s political dark side.

It’s hard to say without being close to the action at the time, but the movie does possibly overplay the rivalry between Senna and both Alain Prost and FIA president Jean-Marie Balestre, as well as the shady behind-the-scenes relationship between the two French antagonists. The two drivers did, of course, have a heated rivalry that led to Prost demanding to never have Senna as a teammate again, but Kapadia makes the Frenchman out to be seriously evil for the sake of plot enrichment.

That only helps to build Senna up as a saint. Then again, even after his death Senna has helped countless Brazilian children get an education through his foundation; he truly loved his people and his country, giving Brazilians hope through very difficult financial times. This love and his dedication to winning reach a fever pitch at the 1991 Brazilian Grand Prix, Senna’s home race where victory had always evaded him. Despite losing fourth gear mid-race, then third and fifth by the last few laps, Ayrton managed to chug his car along in sixth and win by less than three seconds. After showing some initial jubilance from the cockpit, Senna keels over, having passed out from exhaustion and dehydration. He has to be lifted out of his car and is carted to the podium in the medical vehicle.

The drama continues on the podium. With Senna in obvious pain, he first uses every bit of his arm muscles left to wave a Brazilian flag. Then he struggles further to lift a trophy, and we watch as he takes a first, second, and finally a third and successful try to lift his arm. By the time he’s ready to pour a bottle of champagne on himself, he can only muster enough power to hold his arms out and lean into the stream. It is truly an incredible scene.

Senna isn’t just a bunch of archival footage bundled together in chronological order. It’s a story not just of a driver, but of a son, a lover, a devout Christian, a fierce competitor, and a man who truly loved life. Being a writer who was born the same year that Ayrton ran his first F1 race, I can attest that you don’t need a strong knowledge of his career to greatly appreciate the film. Really, it might even be more enjoyable if you don’t. So even if you don’t follow F1, even if you don’t care about motorsports at all, go see Senna. It’ll be worth your time and small amount of money, and that’s a promise.

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