''Schumacher'' is a 2021 German

sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, ...

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...

co-directed by Hanns-Bruno Kammertöns, Vanessa Nöcker, and Michael Wech, about the German

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

racing driver

Michael Schumacher Michael Schumacher (; ; born 3 January 1969) is a German former racing driver who competed in Formula One for Jordan, Benetton, Ferrari, and Mercedes. Schumacher has a joint-record seven World Drivers' Championship titles (tied with Lewis ...

that was distributed internationally on

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

. The film was released on 15 September 2021 on Netflix for a year, to mark Schumacher's entry into Formula One, 30 years previously. The film documents Schumacher's F1 career and Scuderia Ferrari's return to dominance in 2000–2004. Brief family interviews throughout provide some insight into his personal life.

Production

The film was produced in cooperation with Schumacher's family, using private family archives, Formula One archive footage, and interviews. The film features interviews with Schumacher's wife

Corinna Corinna or Korinna ( grc, Κόριννα, Korinna) was an ancient Greek lyric poet from Tanagra in Boeotia. Although ancient sources portray her as a contemporary of Pindar (born ), not all modern scholars accept the accuracy of this tradition ...

, his father Rolf, his brother Ralf, his children Gina-Maria and

Mick Mick is a masculine given name, usually a short form (hypocorism) of Michael. Because of its popularity in Ireland, it is often used in England as a derogatory term for an Irish person or a person of Irish descent. In Australia the meaning broade ...

, and his manager

Willi Weber Wilhelm "Willi" Friedrich Weber (born 11 March 1942 in Regensburg, Germany) is the former manager of German racing drivers including seven-time Formula One champion Michael Schumacher (until 2012), his brother Ralf Schumacher (until November 2 ...

. There are interviews with prominent figures of Formula One including

Jean Todt Jean Todt (; born 25 February 1946) is a French motor racing executive and former rally co-driver. He was previously director of Peugeot Talbot Sport and then Scuderia Ferrari Formula 1 team principal, before being appointed chief executive offi ...

, Bernie Ecclestone, Sebastian Vettel,

Mika Häkkinen Mika Pauli Häkkinen (; born 28 September 1968), nicknamed "The Flying Finn", is a Finnish former racing driver. He won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in 1998 and 1999, both times driving for McLaren. Häkkinen is one of three Fo ...

Damon Hill Damon Graham Devereux Hill, (born 17 September 1960) is a British former professional racing driver from England and the 1996 Formula One World Champion. He is the son of Graham Hill, and, along with Nico Rosberg, one of two sons of a Formula ...

David Coulthard David Marshall Coulthard (; born 27 March 1971) is a British former racing driver from Scotland, later turned presenter, commentator and journalist. Nicknamed 'DC', he competed in 15 seasons of Formula One between and , taking 13 Grand Prix vi ...

, and Flavio Briatore. It reveals that Schumacher raced on salvaged tyres in his early go-kart career, suffered from

insomnia Insomnia, also known as sleeplessness, is a sleep disorder in which people have trouble sleeping. They may have difficulty falling asleep, or staying asleep as long as desired. Insomnia is typically followed by daytime sleepiness, low energy, ...

following

Ayrton Senna Ayrton Senna da Silva (; 21 March 1960 – 1 May 1994) was a Brazilian racing driver who won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in , , and . Senna is one of three Formula One drivers from Brazil to win the World Championship and ...

's death, and contemplated skydiving in

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

instead of skiing in Meribel before his accident in 2013. The film is co-directed by Hanns-Bruno Kammertöns, Vanessa Nöcker, and Michael Wech, and produced by Vanessa Nöcker and Benjamin Seikel for B14 Film.

Reception

The film received mixed reviews, receiving score of 7.6 from

IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

and 55% from

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' notes the film provides "singular insight" into Schumacher's personal life and struggles, before concluding that it is "light on details" and "somewhat sterile."

References

External links

* * Michael Schumacher 2021 documentary films 2021 films 2021 in Formula One German auto racing films German documentary films Netflix original documentary films Documentary films about auto racing 2020s English-language films {{sport-documentary-film-stub