The Senna movie - A fitting tribute

By Simon Wright (Personal Review)

ON TUESDAY lunchtime, I went to the cinema to watch a motor racing movie about one of my heroes, who really appealed to me, Ayrton Senna.  When The Senna Movie was announced for commission at the beginning of last year, I was looking forward to seeing the final piece of work.  Senna’s life, both on and off the racetrack was certainly full of theatre and deserved the proportions of a movie on a big screen.

     Ayrton Senna was only 34 years old when he was killed, crashing into a concrete wall on the Imola circuit during the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix.  Although I’d heard a lot of positive reviews about the movie from motorsport experts, commentators and from the Senna family themselves, I did hope this would be a moving that would give depth to his life and be a fitting tribute.  Maybe it was concern from The Social Network, which showed how Facebook was created, but struggled to appeal to me when I saw it in November last year, but I was hoping that The Senna Movie wouldn’t go down a similar route.  My plaguing doubts turned out to be completely whittled away.

     When I came out from the film, I realised that I had witnessed a piece of sporting drama in the big screen that had really captured the imagination.  Even being a motorsport fan, I saw some never-before-seen footage and learnt more about the great Brazilian’s life.  The main focus point of the movie was the two controversial clashes with Alain Prost at the Suzuka circuit which decided the 1989 and 1990 world championships.  I saw footage of the driver’s briefings from both years which were very interesting.  In 89, Senna looked a serious figure, one who seemed to be fed up with the politics already before the Japanese event.  Prost seemed far more relaxed about the whole situation.  That was surprising, considering it was Prost who couldn’t cope with Ayrton’s attitude and had already decided to quit the McLaren team at the end of the season.  A year later, Senna looked even more fed up with the politics in the sport, especially against the controversial FISA president Jean-Marie Balestre.  He was convinced that Balestre was cooperating with his fellow countryman Prost for the championship both seasons.  In 1990, Senna walked out of the drivers briefing after Nelson Piquet raised a controversial point about the chicanes at Suzuka and he was furious that the other drivers agreed with Piquet, who disliked Senna anyways.  When pole position was refused to be moved onto the cleaner side of the grid, the consequences became inevitable for the tangle in the first corner.

SMASH: This crash led to another clash between Senna and Balestre

     A year later, Senna clashed again with Balestre, this time over chicanes at the German circuit, Hockenheim.  Ayrton had escaped unharmed from a spectacular crash in practice for the Mexican Grand Prix, which had been made worse by the lack of absorption from the tyre barriers.  He was furious to find tyre stacks put at the end of the three long straights on the Hockenheim track.  He bickered with Balestre, insisting that cones should be used in place for safety.  This time, the other drivers agreed with the world champion and it is believed that this confrontation of views led to Balestre’s downfall and eventual departure as FISA president.

     Senna’s death at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix rocked not just the world of Formula One and sport, but the worldwide news, which showed the significant impact he had on the sport.  His country Brazil went into national mourning.  Brazil was going through some difficult times and alongside Pele, Ayrton Senna gave them a glimmer of hope and belief that united a country full of divisions.  Watching Senna in the movie on that Imola weekend was sad.  He never smiled on the weekend and looked to be occupied with other matters.  It was interesting to see new camera angles of the terrifying startline crash which saw spectators injured, Ayrton’s reaction to Roland Ratzenberger’s fatal accident on the Saturday, his fury at how slow the Safety Car was going whilst the debris was being collected up, moments before his demise. 

     I was only five when Ayrton Senna was killed.  I remember fuzzily watching some of the race on Eurosport, although I can’t honestly remember the accident.  However, Senna was one of my inspirations in life and his legacy on the sport will never be forgotten.  Ironically, another of my inspirational figures in Nelson Mandela, who at the time, was being sworn in as the president of a previously divided South Africa.  He is still missed, even 17 years on from the tragic accident.

     The Senna Movie is a chilling, emotional and passionate piece of theatre and I’d urge everyone, even those who don’t have any following with motorsport to watch the movie.  It is very powerful and a fitting tribute to a Brazilian legend.   

TV classics - The Crystal Maze

IN A new feature, it is time to take a dip back into looking through the classics of yesteryear on television.  It begins with the fantastic gameshow concept Channel 4 came up with in 1990, The Crystal Maze.

    Beginning in February 1990, the show lasted five years, with six series and a selection of kids Christmas specials also aired.  The show was made by Chatsworth Television and it became a huge hit almost overnight, attracting a regular weekly audience of 6million viewers.  The Crystal Maze came at a time when Channel 4 needed to attract a viewing figure which would frighten the main terrestrial heavyweights, BBC and ITV.  The star of Rocky Horror show Richard O’Brien was persuaded to host the show, which at the time, was the biggest arena around for any kind of gameshow.  Filmed at The Shepperton Studios, the maze itself cost £250,000 to construct and is the size of two football pitches.

     The set was constructed into four different zones, offering the team players a variety of challenges and obstacles to negotiate their way to the ultimate prize for winning a game, a precious, shiny, silver crystal.  The ‘Aztec’ zone was often referred to as the most popular zone with the fans.  Aztec was based on a small, parasitic village that had the feel of Egypt to it!  Futuristic was seen as the zone which offered the ‘modern’ world which we live in today.  Clearly, the producers ideas of what the world would look like in 2011, back in 1990 were completely different!  Nevertheless, it gave everyone, including the competitors a feel of future land.  The Medieval zone is set in a castle area, and is where ‘Mumsie,’ played by Sandra Caron was based.  Often, O’Brien would pay a visit, even if a game featuring her would not take place in the episode.  The least popular zone was Industrial, which was set around a chemical factory.  Being scientific was the name of the game, but this zone was dropped for the more popular and demanding Ocean zone in 1993.  Of course, at the centre of the maze was The Crystal Dome, where after the physical, mental and skilful challenges of the four zones before them, the climax would take place.  The Dome was where the teams of six would compete to find out if they won or lost the ultimate game.

DOME: Another team take on the maze, guided by Richard O'Brien

    The teams would be led by a captain, with a vice-captain taking over should the captain get locked in.  A time limit to complete each game was set by Richard O’Brien and it would be within the limit that the challenger would compete in either a skill, mental, physical or mystery game to earn a crystal.  If a crystal was won, five seconds would be gained in The Crystal Dome and the more time in the Dome would give a better chance of overall success.  If time ran out and the challenger failed to get out of the game in time, they would be locked in and it would up to the rest of the team to decide whether to buy the individual out, or keep them stewing to reflect over the grave mistake they’d made.  If they went ahead with the buying option, a crystal would have to be sacrificed.  Teams who went around The Crystal Maze had varying degrees of success.  In 1992, one team was so bad, they only won one crystal and consequently, five seconds of time in The Crystal Maze.  Even O’Brien gave them little hope when he let the contestants into the Dome; “I would wish you good luck, but I’m not going to bother, because it’s a waste of time.”  Unsurprisingly, the hapless team lost!  In the Dome itself, the team had to collect as many gold credits as they could, and avoid collecting silver credits.  Every silver slip that went through the letterbox would deduct a gold token off the team’s final tally.  Should the team earn a final total of 100 gold tokens, after deductions, all the members of the team would win a mediocre prize.  Even if a team lost, they would still go home with a crystal engraved; ‘I cracked the Crystal Maze!’

    In 1993, Richard O’Brien left the show just before the Christmas special.  It was a mysterious and confusing exit and was a body blow to the show’s popularity.  In an interview many years, O’Brien gave the reason for his decision to leave;

"The Crystal Maze was a road I walked down; I never imagined I'd go down that particular byway. I liked it but even at the time I thought - I never saw myself doing this kind of work. So I did it for four years and thought I better get out while I am ahead, while I am remembered fondly."

    Ed Tudor-Pole was his replacement, but he never lived up to expectations.  Tudor-Pole was dismal and struggled to fill O’Brien shoes.  As with most shows, changes were made to rules, as were the costumes and by the time of August 1995, The Crystal Maze had become a pale shadow of its former glory.  Once Chatsworth Television’s contract with Channel 4 expired, The Crystal Maze was consigned to the history books on 10 August 1995.

     Despite its unfortunate demise in the 90s, there are some dedicated fans (including myself) that are campaigning for an eventual return.  ITV has been rumoured in the past to be bringing the show back, especially in 2009, but these talks ended up reaching a dead end.  The Crystal Maze’s popularity remains very strong though.  Challenge, now on Freeview shows classic episodes every weeknight at 6pm and in two polls conducted by online site UKGameshows.com, The Crystal Maze came out on top as ‘The Greatest Gameshow of All Time’ in 2006 and 2010. 

     The Crystal Maze is considered to be ‘a highly ambitious high-risk show which paid off handsomely.’  I’d certainly agree with that.  It might have fallen from grace, but its popular cult following, even today, means it will always have a strong legacy.

Twenty Years On From That 'Unforgettable' Night In Turin

Last Sunday marked the twentieth anniversary of that unforgettable night in Turin that was the 1990 World Cup semi-final between England and West Germany.  Gazza’s tears, Waddle’s horrible penalty, Lineker’s relief at scoring, then the famous gesture to the bench and the downcast look of the late Sir Bobby Robson at full-time, realising that this incredible dream, wasn’t quite going to get the happy ending that everyone was hoping for.

England went to Italia 90, on a real downer.  The game of football was a miserable mess.  Hooliganism had threatened to kill off football in this country altogether.  The fire at Bradford in 1985, the hooligans who took advantage of the dilapidated stadium at Heysel, various other troubles at Millwall and then, the disastrous stadium crush at Hillsborough.  Coupled with England’s shambolic European Championship campaign of 1988, and the trouble that fans went out to cause on every single occasion the national team went abroad to play a qualifier/friendly.  The 1980’s were very dark days in English football.

To compound that, the media made Bobby Robson’s life an utter misery.  They wanted him sacked before the tournament, and held him out to dry, when news leaked out of his agreement to take over the Dutch champions, PSV Eindhoven after the 1990 World Cup.  The FA had decided not to renew his contract, leaving Robson with little alternative, and there was talk on the grapevines, that Graham Taylor had already been appointed, behind Bobby’s back.  Naturally, the press, only seeing one eye of the story, thought Robson was dishonouring a national service to the country, by turning his back on England.  So, the FA, as ever, didn’t do themselves many favours in this saga.

England, based on the coast of Sardinia for their group games, produced the same type of football that had attracted huge criticism, from the media.  A dire 1-1 draw with the Republic of Ireland wasn’t the best of starts.  Despite an improved performance, thanks to a move to a ‘continental sweeper,’ a 0-0 stalemate with European Champions Holland, and another tournament-ending injury to their skipper, Bryan Robson left the team, needing a victory against the unknown Africans Egypt, to qualify for the knockout phase.

Step forward, the teen sensation, Paul Gascoigne.  Gascoigne was England’s wildcard, and he was one of the best players in the world, certainly of his generation.  His delicate chipped free-kicks were the new ticket for the fading Three Lions.  Mark Wright headed the winner against the Egyptians, then in the last minute of a gripping extra-time against Belgium in Genoa; he produced the same trick, this time with a stunning volley from David Platt.  All of a sudden, having looked in oblivion, England had reached the last eight.  Two penalties from the reliable and well-disciplined Gary Lineker overcame the brave resistance of the Indomitable Lions from Cameroon, who had been eight minutes away in Naples, from causing another stunning upset.  Now, it was onto the old enemy.      

On Wednesday 4^th July 1990, half of the UK population tuned into BBC and ITV’s coverage of the 1990 World Cup semi-final between the two biggest rivals in the international game, England and West Germany.  The West Germans, playing in their last tournament before renunciation, had breezed through the early rounds, only failing to win once, and were heavy favourites.  However, on English football’s biggest night since July 30^th 1966, it was Robson’s Lions who made the early running.  Bodo Illgner turned away a rasping Gascoigne curling effort, then was nearly beaten by Chris Waddle’s ambitious effort from the halfway line. 

Ten minutes into the second half, with the game deadlocked at 0-0, West Germany won a free-kick.  Inter Milan’s Andreas Brehme struck it, deflected wickedly off the charger in the wall, Paul Parker and looped over the head of 40-year old Peter Shilton.  A massive slice of fortune has given Franz Beckenbauer’s side the lead.  England didn’t give up, and eight minutes from time, Parker’s dangerous cross left the German defence in a real muddle.  It bounced perfectly for Lineker, and the predator he is, smashed the ball into Illgner’s bottom corner.  The relief and joy on Lineker’s face could tell what a drama this was.  For the third game running, England’s 1990 adventure was heading for extra-time.

Next, came the moment that Paul Gascoigne will want to forget, but made him a national hero.  Orchestrating the midfield, a dribble in the centre of the park saw him lost brief control.  He lunged in on Thomas Berthold, who rolled around, as if he had been shot by a sniper.  Despite Gazza’s immediate reaction of an apology and a check to see if Berthold was okay, he was shown the yellow card, which would rule him out of the final, should England get there.  His face burst into tears, he looked like his world had been finished.  Gary Lineker’s infamous pointing to the bench, to ‘watch him,’ is remembered just a fondly.  Waddle and Jurgen Klinsmann both hit the post, and despite the devastating setback, Gascoigne continued to show the passion and commitment he had shown all throughout the tournament.  This semi-final was destined for penalties.

Lineker, Peter Beardsley and Platt made no mistake.  The penalties of Brehme, Lothar Matthaus and Karl-Heinz Riedle were unstoppable.  Step up Stuart Pearce, a regular penalty taker for Nottingham Forest.  His kick was stopped by Illgner.  Olaf Thon continued the German perfection from twelve yards and with Gascoigne unable to take the final kick, due to his state of mind, Waddle went forward.  From the moment he walked up, he never looked confident and so it proved, he skied his penalty into orbit and with it, West Germany were through into the final, and England were out, in heartbreaking fashion.  However, pride and belief had been restored into our ‘Beautiful Game.’ 

From that moment on, we were in love again.  The Premier League was formed, millions of pounds from BSkyB went into the game, sponsorship became a major factor and English clubs were allowed back into European competition, after a hiatus following the Heysel disaster.  Although it is sad to see Paul Gascoigne turn out the way he has, we will never forget his genius throughout that tournament, and the togetherness that the squad showed, to win over the fans, the media and the worldwide game.

No-one will forget that unforgettable drama in Turin on July 4^th 1990, even though it was twenty years ago.  Now then Fabio and the bunch of overpaid wimps from 2010 that was an England side that gave it everything throughout.