A Life of Speed: The Juan Manuel Fangio Story

"A Life of Speed: The Juan Manuel Fangio Story" is a very captivating film that properly pays homage to one of the greatest legends of Formula One. Archive footage combines in this documentary with expert testimony and comments from Fangio himself; readers can relish both the intensity and elegance of a racing career that has become the watermark generations later. While this documentary on the entire career of Juan Manuel Fangio is first and foremost oriented to appeal to racing fans, it makes his story accessible and inspiring to a larger audience by showing not only his extraordinary skill behind the wheel but also the humble and determined character that made him a champion. Though sometimes the documentary glides over some tricky areas in his life, it is still reverent toward Fangio's legacy and portrays old-school motorsport with a real sense of excitement-for this reason, it's an absolute must-see for any fan of sport and history.

I mean, I feel ya bud but... come on, is that really 1 worthy?

(Flash Review)

Was Juan Manuel Fangio the best F1 driver of all time? He is known as the godfather of F1 as he was the best and most accomplished driver it the early 40s-50s era and held the record of 5 World Championships until Schumacher finally topped him at the turn on the century. He was also able to win championships with several different manufacturers; a rarity. There is some great early racing footage in here. The documentary is straightforward and not creative except from a vague analysis they concocted to pick a best driver over every era. Guess who they picked...?

I want engine noise! All I got was a wall of pointless background music, drowning out both voice and noise. Could not stand to keep watching (hearing) that.

I follow modern F1, but I'll admit my history is patchy. I know Juan Manuel Fangio of course, one of the very best... if not the best, but there's opportunity to learn much more. However, the bar is set high for documentaries these days and this doesn't really reach that bar. It's quite formulaic, pretty dry, certainly in the opening half hour which is a dull history lesson through Fangio's initiation into motor racing. Granted I learn he started at a surprisingly late age by today's standards, being 37 when he first raced in Europe. It was a different time in motor sport, near impossible to compare today's drivers to those from Fangio's era and the pacing of A Life of Speed grinds to a halt as this topic is covered. Today it's marginal gains, fast reaction speed, different tracks, radically different cars. There was no desire for comfort in the 50s and little thought to safety. I only mention this as it sadly seems to be the key point of the film. There's lots of familiar faces, Stewart, Prost, Häkkien, Rosberg, Alonso, Wolff, coupled with plenty of archive footage, but it feels as much a history of F1 and motor racing as Fangio himself and nothing particularly new. Senna's death, the horrific crash at Le Mans and some archive audio dubbing that sounds slightly suspect. Much is made of Fangio's achievements, winning 5 championships with 4 different constructors, but this feels bolted on and really should have been the central theme. For me that's where this suffers, structurally it's very loose, well intentioned, but lacking pace and a good story arc. Frankly I think Fangio deserves better.

4/10