Whether you’re a seasoned motorsport fan or a recent convert to Formula 1, you don’t need to be told who Jackie Stewart is.
As a three-time world champion who led major safety developments in Formula 1, later became the principal of a race-winning team and remains a regular in the paddock today, Stewart is one of F1’s true life stories.
But in the year More than 50 years after he won his first world championship in 1969, most of those who follow Formula 1 in 2022 will not have been around to see Stewart at the peak of his driving power. While most of us know who he was and what he accomplished, the majority of those who faithfully follow every major race today know very little about Jackie Stewart as a person.
Enter filmmaker Patrick Marks and his 90-minute documentary ‘Stewart’, which currently airs exclusively on Sky television in the UK. Just as ‘Senna’ and Netflix’s ‘Schumacher’ attempt to chronicle the sporting lives of two of motorsport’s most successful drivers, ‘Stewart’ is the same for the 83-year-old.
But while the film is a celebration of a champion’s life, it is also a fascinating and sometimes brutal account of Formula 1’s most dangerous death toll.
After seeing the finished film for the first time, Stewart told the Mirror: “I don’t know anyone who hasn’t cried after seeing it. “Beautifully done. I think it will be the best motor racing movie ever made – and I had nothing to do with it.
High praise indeed – but does ‘Stewart’ live up to such praise?
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Narrated entirely by Stewart himself, with contributions from the likes of Emerson Fittipaldi and the late Murray Walker, ‘Stewart’ is a documentary that speaks to the thought and effort that went into every frame. From lavish shots of Stewart in the stunning Dunbartonshire countryside to interspersed archival footage in 2019 in Stewart’s paddocks, the film flies by at breakneck speed. There is not a single shot of him sitting in a chair talking to the camera in this documentary.
Naturally, the film focuses on Stewart’s racing career. But ‘Stewart’ is not a racing documentary about a Scottish boy with severe dyslexia. From being labeled “stupid, dumb and fat” by his teachers to carefully hiding his practical illiteracy from the world to superstardom, Stewart navigates the world by relying heavily on written communication, which becomes a central theme of the film.
So is his marriage to his wife, Helen, who the documentary makes clear is not only Stewart’s friend and mother to his children, but Stewart’s perfect match for everything he has achieved in his racing career and beyond. Various clips of Helen Stewart’s husband, family, and a motorsport spouse feature filmed at the time help provide an interesting look at Stewart’s career.
In fact, the filmmakers delved into the archives to ensure that every aspect of the subject matter is portrayed in rich, vivid, and realistic images of the day. With every clip preserved so perfectly, it’s hard to imagine analog footage getting any clearer.
Naturally, well-being – or the lack of it in Equation 1, the “killer years” of the sixties and seventies – is central to the narrative. In Stewart’s day, the cold reality of death hangs over every driver who climbs into the cramped, unprotected cockpit of their car, and it’s a reality the film confronts head-on.
It is important to warn that the film contains real footage of several fatal accidents that claimed the lives of many of Stewart’s colleagues and friends: Lorenzo Bandini, Jochen Rindt, Pierce Courage, Roger Williamson. Set in wholesome images of Stewart’s family playing together in their Swiss home and lavish awards ceremonies in Stewart’s honor, the depictions of his peers ending their own lives feels like a slap in the face, but it also conveys the harsh realities of the time in a very effective way.
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As Stewart’s neighbor, the sequence about Rindt’s death and how Jackie and Helen Stewart support Rindt’s widow, Nina, is particularly interesting. Later, watching Stewart receive the news of Williamson’s death after winning the race at Zandvoort feels very VOCATIONAL, a moment we, the audience, are not privileged to hear.
Ultimately, of course, the focus will be on Stewart’s relationship with his younger Tyrrell teammate, François Severt. The camaraderie between Stewarts and Severts is captured beautifully by clips of the two drivers playing their game, as Helen Stewart recalls the dramatic conversation she had with Severt a few weeks before the final round of the World Championship at Watkins Glen in 1973. . It really is a gut punch when the inevitable finally happens.
As a film ‘Stewart’ presents, it is by no means free from criticism. While the film makes good use of historical footage, the Nordschleife shot misnamed ‘Spa-Francorchamps’ will be a hit with fans. While the film is deliberately intended to focus on Stewart’s career in Formula 1, his life after racing is completely ignored. It’s hard to ignore the famous logos of a certain beer brand during the modern shots seen in the film.
But these are all minor problems. With a 90-minute feature-length runtime, ‘Stewart’ ultimately succeeds in delivering an engaging, informative and at times relatable film. Whether you’re a new fan, born after Stewart’s time, a lifelong F1 fanatic, or just been there to see these guys race with your own eyes, this heartwarming documentary deserves your time.
‘Stewart’ is available to watch on Sky Documentaries and Now TV in the UK from today.
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