How different can a sports movie be?

F1  The Movie (2025)

Director: Joseph Kosinski

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The early years around the turn of the century saw Malaysia being presented as one of the newest nations to host the opulent Formula 1 races. During those self-promoting years, gullible Malaysians were also led to believe that the then-iconic F1 logo, with the slanted 'F', speed marks, and the '1' in the negative space, was created by a Malaysian. In fact, it was designed by Carter Wong Design Studio, founded by Phil Carter and Phil Wong in the UK in 1994. Neither had any connections to Malaysia. 

In its heyday, being the lone track in the lush tropics with high humidity and soaring temperatures, the Sepang International F1 circuit had its spills and thrills to boast. On one instance, it rained cats and dogs on one half of the circuit whilst the other half was scorching hot. The engineers had a tough time deciding on the type of tyres to use, between hard and wet tyres. In one of F1's rare histories,  a race at Sepang was cancelled midway due to tropical storms. Many F1 drivers described Malaysia's circuit as the toughest one yet.  

The Sepang International F1 Circuit now stands as a lonely structure, a pale comparison to its razzmatazz days where movie stars, billionaires, royalties and social climbers used it as their playground. Now, it plays host to 'go-kart’ enthusiasts and the occasional tourist. To the average Malaysian, the fever is long gone.

The problem with these types of sports movies is that, invariably, we can predict how the story will end. He would win the girl and also the race, unless there are plans for a sequel.

A down-and-out race driver, Sonny Hayes, who had a promising start early in his career, just fizzled out after a nasty crash. After spiralling down the rabbit hole of addiction and marital woes for over 30 years, he is given a call chit at the APXGP F1 team. This team is at risk of being sold out, unless they win a single race. Somehow, Hayes' former team partner, who is now the owner of APXGP, has confidence in Hayes.

After the yo-yo of uncertainty, of foes becoming friends, risk of disqualification, against all odds, the hero finally comes up tops after 30 years in an eye-wetting finale. Nevertheless, the cinematography is impressive, with much of its footage coming from real F1 races and international circuits worldwide, involving real F1 drivers. Brad Pitt looks convincing as an aged F1 driver.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

The Apollonian-Dionysian balance

Rush (2013)


Friederich Nietzsche identified enduring dichotomies within and amongst us that make our world tick. These two attitudes, both named after Greek Gods, have clashing features. Apollo, son of Zeus, stands for order, logic and reason while Dionysius, the God of Wine, represents chaos, madness and drunkenness. Nietzsche thinks we need both. It emerges from nature itself and can be applied in our day-to-day activities, from art, psychology, ethics to politics.

Apollonian way of doing things can be visualised how a scientist functions with his obsession with precision, discipline and punctuality. The Dionysian effect can be seen in music and art form, which may appear chaotic and not following the rules but nevertheless is music as it is, pleasant to the ears and emotive.

Nietzche saw the fusion of frenzied energy of the Dionysian to be applied constructively inside an Apollonian framework as ideal.

This biopic depiction of the professional rivalry between two F1 racing legends, Niki Lauda and James Hunt brings us to a time when F1 racing meant booze, girls and drug. Even though the movie depicts them as mortal enemies, in real life, they were close friends and had kept in touch for a long time.

James Hunt is the impulsive hard-drinking, the hard-partying late-night bad boy of F1. Lauda, on the other hand, is a fastidious, calculative and disciplined racer who prepares his every move meticulously and goes to bed early.

A memorable quote in the film goes like this. 'Drivers are revered not because of what they do, driving around in circles but because of their brush with death. The closer they are with death, the more people find them fascinating.' I suppose the same applies to other professions that deal with or hold people's life at the clutch of their hands. This would include people in the medical fraternity or in the mafia business.

This opposing features in the drivers form a compelling narrative for a cliffhanging adrenaline-fueled, rubber-burning suspense at the F1 track set in the early to mid-70s. The excellent direction by Ron Howard makes the experience more enjoyable.

Life would be boring if everyone conforms to a universal set of rules and practises fair play all the way. The Apollonian and Dionysian dichotomy remains a useful way to view art, psychology, society and every other aspect of life.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.