Post by charleselan on Mar 28, 2018 16:10:09 GMT
My long anticipation of getting to see the film Ronnie Peterson “SuperSwede” finally came to fruition last week when I acquired a copy. On Saturday evening I sat down to watch the film and although a Swedish copy (not certain if it has been released in other languages) there is about 50% of the film in English when past drivers were interviewed, it was an absorbing and emotional view.
In summary I would say that it was an enjoyable film with many superb sequences and interviews, but in my opinion it could have been better. Firstly I did not like the fact that it opened with the terrible accident at Monza in 1978 that ultimately lead to Ronnie’s death, there are better ways of portraying a great sportsman than beginning with his death.
We all know that motor sport back then was hugely dangerous but featuring long footage of the two terrible fatal crashes that happened in 1973 was not something this film should have majored on.
I know from seeing previous interviews with Ronnie that François Cevert was a very close friend, and in all probability it may have been mentioned in this film, however the dialogue at that time was in Swedish so I am uncertain if it was mentioned in this film.
For my part there should have been much more emphasis on Ronnie’s triumphs, no mention at all of his European F2 title in 1971, although there was a great deal of interesting material on his karting and F3 time.
One wonderful bit of film showing his father and someone else welding up his first F3 car which I believe was a Brabham copy.
The highlights for me were the interviews and comments from other drivers and friends of that period which included JYS; Niki Lauda; John Watson; Emerson Fittipaldi; Mario Andretti; Jody Scheckter (who talked about the Cevert accident) and Ronnie’s great friend David “The Brode” Brodie. It was obvious that all of those mentioned held Ronnie in high regard and great affection, and as Wattie mentioned “Ronnie was just a thoroughly nice man”.
At the end one could see that even to this day John Watson is incredibly moved by the loss of Ronnie; shades of Dan Gurney with regard to Jimmy Clark.
Emerson’s comments are beautiful and clearly illustrate the great friendship they shared and one of the most delightful moments was when Nina (Ronnie & Barbro’s daughter) went to visit Emerson and talked of old times. Emerson really is a lovely guy.
Niki had many a tale to tell, the one about left foot braking I have mentioned elsewhere as I have regarding him being more or less taught to drive by Ronnie. Niki also said that Ronnie should have been a multiple World Champion and that it was down to bad luck that he wasn’t. A point he illustrated by saying that Ronnie always went to a team that were at the top but about to hit the slippery slope, whereas he went to Ferrari when they were in “bad shape” but about to rise to great heights. Niki’s words “Ronnie was unlucky and I was lucky”.
JYS mentioned many instances but the best was when he referenced Ronnie rounding the old Woodcote flat out in oversteer and totally calm in the cockpit, all said with that wonderful little Scottish chuckle.
So much more could be said, from the Lotus mechanic and John Watson who talked about what I seem to remember was the PLF (Performance Limiting factor) of 1978.
The wonderful scenes of the Peterson family at George Harrison’s stately home, along with JYS giving a running commentary.
Dave Brodie talking of the fact that when at Lotus Ronnie confided to him that he had eleven full or partial brake failures, resulting in Dave contacting Ronnie’s manager, and then writing a letter to Colin Chapman on Ronnie’s behalf.
Another continuity issue was revealed when JYS was talking about the two sides to Ronnie’s driving. He started by talking about his spectacular side particular in the early days, however we never did get to hear the other side.
Although not perfect it was great to have this film and relive so many wonderful moments, and sadly the tragic ones also.
In summary I would say that it was an enjoyable film with many superb sequences and interviews, but in my opinion it could have been better. Firstly I did not like the fact that it opened with the terrible accident at Monza in 1978 that ultimately lead to Ronnie’s death, there are better ways of portraying a great sportsman than beginning with his death.
We all know that motor sport back then was hugely dangerous but featuring long footage of the two terrible fatal crashes that happened in 1973 was not something this film should have majored on.
I know from seeing previous interviews with Ronnie that François Cevert was a very close friend, and in all probability it may have been mentioned in this film, however the dialogue at that time was in Swedish so I am uncertain if it was mentioned in this film.
For my part there should have been much more emphasis on Ronnie’s triumphs, no mention at all of his European F2 title in 1971, although there was a great deal of interesting material on his karting and F3 time.
One wonderful bit of film showing his father and someone else welding up his first F3 car which I believe was a Brabham copy.
The highlights for me were the interviews and comments from other drivers and friends of that period which included JYS; Niki Lauda; John Watson; Emerson Fittipaldi; Mario Andretti; Jody Scheckter (who talked about the Cevert accident) and Ronnie’s great friend David “The Brode” Brodie. It was obvious that all of those mentioned held Ronnie in high regard and great affection, and as Wattie mentioned “Ronnie was just a thoroughly nice man”.
At the end one could see that even to this day John Watson is incredibly moved by the loss of Ronnie; shades of Dan Gurney with regard to Jimmy Clark.
Emerson’s comments are beautiful and clearly illustrate the great friendship they shared and one of the most delightful moments was when Nina (Ronnie & Barbro’s daughter) went to visit Emerson and talked of old times. Emerson really is a lovely guy.
Niki had many a tale to tell, the one about left foot braking I have mentioned elsewhere as I have regarding him being more or less taught to drive by Ronnie. Niki also said that Ronnie should have been a multiple World Champion and that it was down to bad luck that he wasn’t. A point he illustrated by saying that Ronnie always went to a team that were at the top but about to hit the slippery slope, whereas he went to Ferrari when they were in “bad shape” but about to rise to great heights. Niki’s words “Ronnie was unlucky and I was lucky”.
JYS mentioned many instances but the best was when he referenced Ronnie rounding the old Woodcote flat out in oversteer and totally calm in the cockpit, all said with that wonderful little Scottish chuckle.
So much more could be said, from the Lotus mechanic and John Watson who talked about what I seem to remember was the PLF (Performance Limiting factor) of 1978.
The wonderful scenes of the Peterson family at George Harrison’s stately home, along with JYS giving a running commentary.
Dave Brodie talking of the fact that when at Lotus Ronnie confided to him that he had eleven full or partial brake failures, resulting in Dave contacting Ronnie’s manager, and then writing a letter to Colin Chapman on Ronnie’s behalf.
Another continuity issue was revealed when JYS was talking about the two sides to Ronnie’s driving. He started by talking about his spectacular side particular in the early days, however we never did get to hear the other side.
Although not perfect it was great to have this film and relive so many wonderful moments, and sadly the tragic ones also.
