Williams (2017)

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Better Late Then Never

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

This opens with Frank Williams smiling as the sound of engines roar. He's 75 and looks as wide eyed as a young child. This isn't called Frank Williams though, it's a family story, the last in F1. Time wise it bounces around, getting the more recent disappointments of the team out of the way early. It covers everything from starting out, getting nowhere, through to the 80s dominance and Franks accident. Most interesting though are some of the recordings of Franks wife Ginny, no longer here, talking about the team and the world of racing. This along with the stuff from current team boss Clare Williams really makes this pretty captivating. A heartbreaking story, bravely told openly. Whether you're a fan of F1 or not, this is a remarkable documentary.

As an avid fan of the sport and typically enthralled by documentaries, this review might have some slight bias. I must profess that you do not have to be a petrol-head to enjoy this, it is incredibly accessible to everyone. Having said that...wow! This actually might just be the first time I teared up to a documentary. Chronicling the life of Sir Frank Williams, founder of the Williams construction team for Formula 1, journeying through both the sport and his family affairs. Initially, I underestimated what I was in store for. A typical sporting documentary this is not. Matthews carefully portrayed Williams' personal backstory and intertwined it with his addiction and aspiration to the motor world in what is a perfect equilibrium. The two sides bounce off of each other where any incidents or scenarios in either life affect the other, as if Williams' story is its own ecological structure. Mesmerisingly breathtaking and incredibly moving, honestly. One man's ambition has lead him to create one of the sport's best engineering teams, and this film illustrates just how much of an impact he has made. "The accident" that occurred is intricately embedded to showcase his unstoppable personality. It didn't deter him away, he came back more focussed than ever and I really admire the way this film captures that. It's never melodramatic, it's an honest frank (pardon the pun...) look into a broken family. It doesn't stop there, it dabbles into the lack of female empowerment within the sport and how his daughter is a leading figure, not just in the team, but the entirety of F1 racing. There is a touching moment towards the end where his daughter reads a book to him about her mother, and for a moment I was stunned. The ferocious amount of emotion that was conveyed overwhelmed me. The tangible heartache for this family is astronomical. I would've like to have seen more of the racing and it could've been cut shorter for a much tighter narrative. However, the pace speeds along to an emotionally complex finish line with grace.

It is rare that a film leaves me feeling as this one did. It was moving, touching, honest and a bit haunting. More than anything, however, I want to stress the honor that I felt in being allowed to share in such an unbelievably intimate portrait of a family that has climbed a mountain and found another behind it.It is a story off a man's consuming passion for a sport that would eventually lead him to the absolute pinnacle at the same moment that his life was tragically turned inside out by an accident caused by the very thing he loved, speed. More than that, however, it is a story of the grace of two women, his wife, Virginia and his daughter, Claire. While there are countless interviews with some of the greatest names in Formula 1, it is Virginia and Claire that truly steal the show and I was simply left in a bit of awe of them both.

Frank Williams' life will probably be made into a movie someday. The struggles, the drama, the love of racing and the sheer drive for success, do make great ingredients for a movie. But this one is a -straight to the point- documentary. And a great one in my opinion.Most people don't have the time, or simply don't care, for anything else than the image and the results. The statistics, the pure numbers and the balance. This film delves deep into Williams Racing, which frankly is the same as the Williams family and the few close friends of theirs.It is clear that the documentary is not intended for the uninitiated in the racing culture and especially Formula 1. You will have to known faces and situations to get the full from the information and images you are seeing. And that may make it difficult for some to follow the swing from present to past to present again. But in return you get to see the people like they are, without evasions, and feel the story unfold before your eyes, like it is being written now.In conclusion i think this film is less biased than the Senna documentary, better structured than the McLaren one, which seemed a little bit shallow in places, and would definitely recommend it to petrol-heads and F1 enthusiasts.