Prateek's Musings

First Exposure to F1

I started following Formula 1 for a brief period in my childhood during the final years of Michael Schumacher's championship streak, only to get back during the pandemic when the topic came up while speaking to a close friend. Thanks to a reasonably priced Hotstar subscription, decent internet connection and a new-ish TV at home, I followed the sport through the COVID-19 stricken 2020, controversial 2021 and one-sided 2022 seasons. Then life happened, I moved to another city for work and lost access to all of these, only to be limited to highlights on YouTube.

While OTT subscriptions and binge watching took a back seat, I started watching movies on the big screen more frequently. From not watching a film in theatres for years together as a child, I now watch at least one movie a month on average in theatres. So when I saw my current and previous pastimes come together, I knew I was in for something special.

Synopsis and Credits

F1 is the story of Sonny Hayes (Brad Pitt), a former Formula 1 driver who is forced to leave the sport thirty years ago after a horrific crash, post which he spends a decade on gambling and failed relationships before embarking on a journey of making one-off appearances in different types of car racing events across the United States. After one such appearance, Sonny is approached by an old friend and former F1 driver Ruben Cervantes (Javier Bardem), who has bought a team named APX GP. After failing to score points for two and a half seasons and the imminent risk of a fire sale; Ruben offers Sonny a seat to save the team and fulfill his long lost dream of winning an F1 race.

The movie is directed by Joseph Kosinski, who last made Top Gun: Maverick in 2022, the sequel to the 1986 film Top Gun starring Tom Cruise. Joseph co-wrote the story with Ehren Kruger who wrote the screenplay. Kosinski also served as producer alongside Jerry Bruckheimer, Brad Pitt and seven-time F1 world champion Sir Lewis Hamilton among others. Hans Zimmer provided the soundtrack, while Kosinski's regular collaborator Claudio Miranda is the cinematographer.

Watching in IMAX

For the uninitiated, IMAX is a specialised projection standard with one of its key features being a taller aspect ratio (1.43:1 or 1.90:1) than the usual scope aspect ratio (2.39:1). F1 has been filmed for IMAX, hence it only made sense to watch the film on an IMAX screen.

Thankfully, the Mumbai metropolitan region has 6 theatres equipped with IMAX screens, spread pretty well geographically. Each screen has different projection and audio configurations, which results in a slight difference in their overall quality. Kaustubh Debnath aka KDCloudy has a Google sheet with the specifications of all the IMAX screens in India, which informed me that PVR ICON at Phoenix Palladium in Lower Parel could provide the best experience, with its Commercial Laser projector and 12 channel audio.

This wasn't my first time watching a film in IMAX, but I had started very recently. It started in December last year, when I watched Pushpa: The Rule at the newly reopened Miraj Cinemas at Wadala. Later in February this year I caught the re-release of the iconic Interstellar at the equally iconic EROS Cinemas in Churchgate, and later returned to Miraj Cinemas to watch Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning. While the audio-visual experience at both venues was amazing, it couldn't match the experience at the Phoenix Palladium PVR.

Thoughts About The Movie

I went in with high expectations in terms of watching the cars on track, and pretty low expectations with respect to nuanced story telling and character development, and I was not disappointed one bit. It is the perfect popcorn entertainer to be experienced on the big screen, and kept me engaged from the first frame to the last. The film has the expected sports drama trope of redemption, but it doesn't resort to melodrama and sticks to tension.

The visuals of the races were breathtaking to say the least. Although it's unfair to compare the technical standards of Indian films with tentpole Hollywood films produced by the big studios, I was pleased by how realistically they were able to blend the APX GP drivers battling it out on track with the real world F1 drivers. The soundtrack is rousing, the theme especially is fairly simple but extremely catchy, and so were some other tracks.

Brad Pitt as Sonny Hayes really stole the show amongst all the actors. His character has a lot of baggage - a massive crash that all but ended his career at his prime, a gambling addiction that manifests itself with his racing tactics, multiple failed relationships that reflect in his professional choices. But Pitt stays true to the genre and channels the swag and passion for driving for the most part, only showing glimpses of vulnerability here and there.

Damson Idris gives an earnest performance as Joshua Pearce, Hayes' younger teammate who is talented but inexperienced, and also pretty scared about the possibility of losing his place on the F1 grid if his team sinks. Kerry Condon plays technical director Kate McKenna, whose character is pretty important in the whole scheme of things, but is unfortunately subjected to some of the commercial cinema tropes. No complaints though.

Coming back to the racing, it is pretty accurate for the most part. There are obvious cinematic liberties, and a couple of them are pretty outrageous for ardent F1 fans. There is an incident that happens in one of the races that could end very differently in real life. In an earlier race, the tactics employed by a driver result in a very light penalty than what would be meted out in the actual sport. But these act as plot devices and keep you at the edge of your seat rather than take you out of the film.

Final Thoughts

If it's not become obvious by now, I highly recommend watching this film watching this movie on the big screen, especially on a 4K LASER IMAX screen for the best theatrical experience. If you are an F1 fan, you will get the rare experience of watching these machines on the big screen. If you don't follow F1, you still get a thoroughly engaging commercial movie experience.