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There is a part of me that was very unnerved by writing that and letting it out there for everyone to read, it was difficult to write but it was very worth it. Anyway, you've heard me wax lyrical about you lot enough now, let's get on with this new post. Let's talk about Rush.
When I started this blog, I wanted to write about a particular something that I have a strong feeling about and hope to explain why in such a manner that it is, not shit. So today, I am focussing on the Ron Howard directed Formula One movie Rush, which is for me, a very important movie and one I hold closely to my heart.
For those of you who don't know, I am a big motorsport fan. I'll watch any motorsport you throw at me, with the exception of a very select few like Isle of Man-esque motorcycle racing, NASCAR or old car style club racing. Not that I don't respect the people who compete or the fans who watch, those forms of motorsport are just not my cup of tea.
But even with the fair few forms of motorsport I don't watch, all forms of motorsport are still motorsport and unfortunately, there is a social stigma held against motorsport in the eyes of those who don't see how it is a sport or how it is cool. At least from where I am coming from, since I experienced quite the dismissive nature against motorsport when I was in secondary school, with only the fair few agreeing with me.
Whilst football is - and always will be - the most popular sport, I never asked for motorsport to be more popular, I just despise the pessimism and the lack of people who 'get it'. I remember when my form class in 2010 was told of a competition to go to that year's British Grand Prix (I was already going with my dad so I didn't bother) and after we were told, someone sat directly to the table behind me said out loud, "Why would anyone go watch a bunch of cars driving round and round in circles?".
I did react the way a passionate motorsport fan would, I shouted at her and she shat herself, she tried to make me feel bad, which in hindsight I do wish I did not raise my voice, but I can't fix it now. But this negative perception of motorsport contributed to me not perhaps involve myself with many others, not that I blame myself or anyone, I don't hold it against them that they didn't like what I liked. So fast forward to when Rush came out.
Having not spoken at length about the film, I probably should have already but I will later on, overall I loved it when I saw it and the build up to it. The hype in the motorsport community that finally, we could possibly have a decent and serious representation of a dramatised film with motorsport playing a major part in it. What examples have we had? Le Mans and Grand Prix are the only two I can think of off the top of my head, but they were made back in the late 60's early 70's. Not discrediting them at all but you won't see any of them being in theatres right now.
It is safe to say that for the most part, movies have not done a lot to paint motor racing in a particularly decent light. Driven for instance starring Sylvester Stallone and Burt Reynolds, was insultingly dumb and I'd rather yank out my eyes out my sockets and slash the tube keeping it connected than watch any more frames from it, and whilst Talladega Nights was plain awesome, it was still very in-your-face American dumb (In the best way possible).
So as far as serious and very much decent representation of motor racing, it had been a while. But when Rush was released, oh my gosh did it live up to the hype! In his review of the movie, Jeremy Jahns - my favourite YouTube movie reviewer, who has nearly 1.2 million subscribers - made him care to find out more about F1 racing. He gave it his most positive rating of "AWESOMETACULAR" and even ranked it 6th in his Top 10 movies of 2013.
Back to another point I was making earlier about how my peers saw motorsport, I remember going to the cinema to see Rush for the 56th time and I saw a bunch of people from secondary school, such as my good friend Joanna. I asked what they were going to see and Joanna told me Rush as it "seemed like a cool movie" and I was invited to sit with them (If I remember correctly, I probably just sat there and they were too polite to tell me to do one).
It felt awesome knowing some form of motorsport had transcended to seem appealing to the outside majority who as a rule, never saw the appeal in F1. So where does all this stem from? I haven't told any of you what the plot of this movie is, which I do apologise for.
The film follows Britain's James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth - Thor in the Marvel Cinematic Universe) and Austria's Niki Lauda (Daniel Brühl - Helmut Zemo in Captain America: Civil War and Frederick Zoller in Inglorious Basterds). Both could not be further from each other in how they go about things, with Hunt being charismatic, handsome and widely loved and someone who seeks to have fun and enjoy himself, living it up and knowing fine well that he could die tomorrow so he looks to live for the moment.
In comparison to Lauda, who sees the game of Formula One as a thinking man's sport, that you need to take emotion out of it and be a methodical person, it will benefit you more as a driver. The pair of them really are the cheese and chalk of racing, and both look to make their mark on the world however they can.
What I love about this movie - among the many things I love - is that neither individual is painted as the protagonist and antagonist, you just see two men with different perspectives, and it can make you flip flop between which one you support. This is even the case for me, as someone who really doesn't like Niki Lauda.
Oh did I mention this was a true story? This did actually happen and when you watch it, you'll be in utter disbelief how Hollywood-esque this story really is. They do take some liberties but not to an incredible extent, the narrative plays out pretty much exactly how it happened.
You see both Lauda and Hunt's rise through the lower formulae, into F1 in perhaps widely regarded as the most dangerous era of the sport and we see them push each other to their physical and psychological breaking points, in a game where there can be no margin for error. If you made a mistake, you die. Lauda almost did.
Infact the 1st August this year marked 40 years since Lauda had a narrow escape from death at the 1976 German Grand Prix when chasing down Hunt at the Nürburgring, and this movie executes this to such an incredible extent. When director Ron Howard was a guest on Top Gear, he spoke about how the actual Niki Lauda saw this part of the film and was amazed by what he didn't see around the time of the accident, how his wife was feeling when Niki was trying his utmost to get back to the car, which he did in only six weeks.
Rush is an extraordinary movie about two individuals who want to be great. It was seen as an Oscar darling but it was barely nominated for a single Oscar, when at the very least I was expecting Daniel Brühl to get nominated for his portrayal of Niki Lauda. It was complete injustice, and not reflective of what the film deserved.
This next point is another thing I love about Rush, it is the film that made me mad about films.
For the first time, I saw what makes a great movie, its story. You cannot have a film if the story is not compelling, and now I know you cannot just make a movie about anything, it has to grip you with its narrative. Rush does that, and thanks to Rush, I get why movies are made.
To fulfil our desire to tell these stories. There's a quote that former Collider and AMC Movie Talk show head John Campea once said that always stuck with me, storytelling is a human instinct, we are storytellers. It transcends age, nationality, gender, economic status, sexual orientation and it can affect us all in so many ways emotionally, whether it be feel good, thought-provoking, storytelling can do that. There are so little things left in our existence that offer that kind of opportunity, great stories can do that.
Rush was the film that made me realise that it isn't primarily just the imagery or just "cool stuff", it's that emotional grab that hooks you into its narrative. I mean, I would not be campaigning for Curious Incident or the Memphis musical to become movies if the stories were crap, wouldn't I?
I highly recommend this movie if you're wanting to watch a great character rivalry. The fact that so many of my friends - who are not F1 fans - have seen it and loved it, should speak volumes in that you don't need to be a motor racing fan to enjoy this movie.
My final point, I hope Rush prompts more films to be made about this amazing sport. I've heard a lot about the possibility that Ayrton Senna may have a biographical film made about him with Rodrigo Santoro portraying the three-time champion. Yes I am aware that we had a documentary film about him from Asif Kapadia (Director also of Amy, the documentary about Amy Whinehouse), but a dramatised biopic will surely garner more attention, not that the 2011 Senna documentary wasn't brilliant and worthy of its success.
We also have two separate big-budget and high-profile films about Enzo Ferrari in the making. One focusing on the latter part of his life with Robert De Niro portraying the il Commendatore and directed I believe by Clint Eastwood. The other that has been in the making for about two decades with Michael Mann directing and focusing on the earlier part of Ferrari's life, who had cast Christian Bale before he dropped out due to health concerns.
I hope we see motorsport in movies portrayed in a very respectable and interesting manner. As Ron Howard noted after the first screening of Rush in July 2013 at the Nürburgring during the German Grand Prix weekend, everyone left the screening afterwards with a feeling of mesmerisation and gratitude that their sport had been centred on in such a way, that he could only compare it to the experience he had after screening Apollo 13 for the people at NASA.
Because the motorsport community don't have many portrayals of what we love out there for the outside world to see and marvel at. So filmmakers out there, you have so many stories that can be created out of motorsport, whether fiction or not, just make sure to do them right. Oh and whoever is behind the Senna movie with Rodrigo Santoro, please make it happen.
Alright! Thank you all who have decided to check out my post. If you want to be notified of when I next post, enter your email in the Follow By Email or follow me on Twitter @TheLucaFormat, oh and I realise if you're on phone or not on the desktop version, the Follow By Email option isn't available. Which is unfortunate.
But before I do go, I want to go ahead and give a special shout out to a friend who just started a blog. Her name is Richelle, she and I were in the same AS English Language and Literature class in college, and she also played a considerable role in my last blog post becoming as popular as it was.
The blog she started, here's the link: http://shelbylouu.simplesite.com/
She has not made her mind up with what she plans to write about. I'd suggest you lot head over there and wait to see if what she ends up writing does interest you, but you're all probably here from her so it may be unnecessary that I'm publicising her. It would be like a YouTuber with a three figure digit of subscribers spamming "EVERYONE GO WATCH PEWDIEPIE".
I'm not exaggerating by the way. My other blog posts get just under 30 if I'm lucky, but with Richelle's help on my last post, 160 views as of now. So if you have not come from Richelle publicising this post and you decide to check her out, I thank you.
That will be all for now everyone. So until we meet again.
Luca
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