“Schumacher” on Netflix: how good is the new documentary about the famous pilot?

In its purpose of capturing the largest amount of public around the world, Netflix and the other streaming networks not only offer movies, series or cartoons. The offer also includes, and with increasing force, content dedicated to sports. We are not only referring to live broadcasts like the ones you already do Star+ in Latin America, but also to productions linked to sports events or characters that, mostly for good reasons, have remained in the retina of millions of fans around the planet.

“The Last Dance” – about Michael Jordan’s unforgettable time with the Chicago Bulls – for basketball fans, “Naomi Osaka”, a miniseries that delves into the cultural roots of the brilliant 23-year-old Japanese tennis player, the film “El Divino”, about the life of legendary Italian soccer player Roberto Baggio, are just a few examples of this niche that the chain founded by Reed Hastings tries to attack from various genres.

The network’s most recent approach to a sports character is, without a doubt, “Schumacher”, an almost two-hour documentary that seeks to rescue the legacy of the seven-time Formula 1 champion, Michael Schumacher. The proposal is valuable from its inception, mainly because after the motorsports legend suffered a terrible skiing accident in December 2013, the family has not been as open to discussing the issue of his real state of health. Respecting the reserved style of the multi-champion, both his wife Corinna and his children Mick and Gina María remained silent. Until today.

A VERY SPECIAL FAMILY

If this documentary makes anything clear to us, it is how fundamental the support of his family was for Michael Schumacher. Call it luck or destiny, little Michael was surrounded by asphalt circuits and rubber tires from a very young age. First, his father adapting a small scooter into a Go-kart that did not exceed 40 kilometers per hour. Then his mother running the restaurant attached to a race track. As Ralf, Michael’s brother, points out when referring to how they used to live before fame: “what does it mean to be rich? Many rich children are poor because their parents don’t have time for them. We had the advantage of having our parents next to us at the karting track, which was a great playground”.

Already in his adult stage, the German driver would meet Corinna, a woman who from the beginning was sympathetic to the complexity of being with an athlete of Schumacher’s stature. The lack of time to spend together and go out to dinner or for a walk, meant an obstacle that love was able to overcome without major inconvenience. Watching his races on television or sometimes accompanying him to the Formula 1 circuits, Corina was always aware of the risk involved in competing at incredible speeds. “He always had an angel who took care of him,” she says. . The first, who follows in the footsteps of her father, says he has the deepest admiration for her. Second, she can’t help but be moved by always remembering him as a loving and caring dad.

A LEGEND OF FLESH AND BONE

A part documentary always runs the risk of becoming something close to a hagiography. But this is definitely not the case. Although we will see in much of his two hours the triumphs, joys and benefits of an unparalleled athlete, “Schumacher” also has reserved some moments that we could describe as gray from his stage as a runner.

Competitive and self-demanding like few others, Michael committed more than one excess of impetus throughout his career. This would cost him to infuriate other motorsport icons who were several years ahead of him, such as Brazilian Ayrton Senna, who tackled him after a touch during a race quite aggressively. “You screwed up and it’s fine. I just came to talk to you,” he once told her to the surprise of reporters and mechanics from both teams. The protagonist of this documentary lived a reverse experience some time later when, already recognized worldwide as a talent on the track, he believed he had been “struck” by the British David Coulthard’s single-seater, whom he went to look for in an extremely rough way to claim him. .

“I told him that I accepted my part of the crash, but that he also had to take part of the responsibility (…) and Red Bull. In itself, each of these moments seems to humanize in a certain way a character permanently marked by demands linked to figures (records, statistics and millionaire contracts). His personality, at times irascible, would emerge perhaps more clearly in those years of drought after his arrival at Ferrari.

AN UNBEATABLE FILE

How to offer this documentary to viewers who may have never seen a complete Formula 1 race? An alternative would be through multiple archive images that, sequentially united, can build the idea of ​​who this German-born champion was. And this is a preponderant factor in the Netflix documentary. Not only the snapshots of little ‘Schumi’ competing as a child in karting, or later dancing on his wedding night with Corinna, but also showing records of his celebrations on the podium, breathing deeply after drinking the classic champagne that champions receive , or perhaps or hugging each of his mechanics after a long-suffering victory.

Although many things have changed in the television broadcasts of the Formula 1 World Championship, there are other details that remain part of a particular folklore. The scream when the cars start, the surprised reaction at the first corner, the mention of the time each driver delays in the pits, but also the stupor in the face of a crash or the silence in the face of a tragedy. . A direct touch to our nostalgic side.

FIRST-HAND TESTIMONIALS

Beyond the fact that the strength of this documentary is the voice of the wife and children of Michael Schumacher, the effort made to have the most representative voices of motorsports declare about the good and the bad of this German driver should not be neglected. . And it is that as the minutes progress, we will see guys like Flavio Briatore, Jean Todt or Ross Brown parading before cameras, going through Luca di Montezemolo or Piero Ferrari. Each one from his seat of strategist or manager has an important contribution to the story that we see on the screen. They analyze the strengths and weaknesses of it, but mainly they place it within a much larger context: that of the contemporary history of top motorsports.

It would be impossible to complete this review without mentioning the series of Formula 1 ‘monsters’ who once competed with Michael Schumacher. There is no need to dwell on the ‘older’ Ayrton Senna, Nigel Mansell or Allain Prost. If one thinks of names like David Coulthard, Mikki Raikkonen, Mark Webber, Damon Hill or Jacques Villeneuve, it confirms that the sum of titles achieved by the German is much more commendable if we take into account who he defeated. And it is that, although in recent years names such as Fernando Alonso or the seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton have emerged, Schumacher’s generation was able to keep the magic of this particular sport burning and globalize its reach.

BY WAY OF BALANCE

Because it is an opportunity to get to know the circle that surrounded Michael Schumacher throughout his years in Formula 1 and because it allows us to remember great moments in a sport that is not as massive, but just as exciting as others, and that, although not today He has a good time in health, retains the respect and admiration of millions.

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Original title: “Schumacher”.

Synopsis: Through exclusive interviews and archive footage, this documentary offers an intimate portrait of seven-time Formula One champion Michael Schumacher.

Platform: Netflix.

Duration: 1 hour and 52 minutes

Directors: Hanns-Bruno Kammertöns, Vanessa Nöcker and Michael Wech

Classification: +13.

Rating: ★★★★.

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