Film No. 85 (2023) STEWART (Palace Australia British Film Festival) 21st Nov.

 

Film No. 85  (2023)  November 21st.  11:30 AM  LUNA SX, Cine 2, Fremantle.

 

"Life has been like a rocket ship, where the deepest of dark colours go with the deepest of bright colours!" (Stewart voices a summary of his life, punctuated by Formula One driving, in a most dangerous era).

Good documentaries, profiling greats (whatever their talent) all have one common element. Their subject is an A Type personality who stops at nothing to achieve their dream. The doco then adopts an approach that makes that subject interesting. So is STEWART a good documentary? Yes!

This is a Sky Production so there is no shortage of file footage and grainy cut-aways but Sky don't make documentaries of this nature without commercial help. So, whenever Jackie Stewart (the 80 something year old version) is trackside or preparing to wave to fans, or pressing the flesh, a certain Dutch beer or Swiss watch, is front and centre. There are compromises. Do we get to learn something new about a living icon of world motor racing? Yes we do!

Stewart's reputation as a crusader for safer racetracks and cars is a major theme here. Three time world champion ('69, 71 & 73), Jackie and wife Helen, lost over 50 friends and acquaintances, in an era when simple things like seatbelts and safety barriers weren't mandatory to the sport. The theme runs as a rich vein through the story of this likeable Scotsman, but the secret he held back from all, including his life long partner (he had acute dyslexia) made his story all the more fascinating. Aged 43 and 9 years after retirement, he received his diagnosis. 

The man is a legend in so many senses of the word. This documentary is a fine tribute. It does Stewart justice, but the hands of a Asif Kapadia (SENNA) I'm sure we would have seen something deeper, more revealing and less commercial. Helen Stewart fills the screen (file film only) with her beauty with such regularity,  I was waiting for her back story. Her dedication and love for her husband and young boys is unquestioned. It was never on show. A quick Google will tell you why they are major contributors to the dementia cause. STEWART is not a great documentary but it is a good one.  9GUMS.