Film review: Rush
James Hunt and Niki Lauda were almost polar opposites. Hunt was young, blond and British, a playboy that had women falling at his feet, which were often bare in public, and led a life of extravagant hedonism. Lauda had brown hair, was Austrian and got the nickname “rat” because his buckteeth made him vaguely resemble a creature from the gutters. But they had one thing in common: They both wanted to win the 1976 Formula One season.
Rush is about the notorious rivalry between the two F1 drivers, with a particular focus on the defining moments of the 1976 season. The time and the events are faithfully recreated in recognizably ’70s-style saturated tones all the way through, and the races themselves are covered from many different angles to get the adrenaline flowing.
Perhaps no race is better than the very first one: the first time Hunt (Chris Hemsworth, known best for playing the title role in Thor) and Lauda (Daniel Brühl) compete, during their early years at a Formula Three race. In a closeup shot, a few blades of grass on the side of the track are cut down by one racing car – perhaps its front wing, perhaps not; it all goes too quickly. But the rhythm of the editing, together with the magnificent and playful “Gimme Some Lovin’ ” on the soundtrack, which obviously has multiple meanings here, makes this one of the best scenes of the entire film.
The implication of that blade of grass getting slaughtered by the mechanical monsters racing over it is transparent, and even those who don’t know the events of 1976 in the Formula One world should realize that someone will eventually get hurt.
To read the full review, visit The Prague Post. Rush was released in Bulgaria on September 27.
(Still of Daniel Brühl and Chris Hemsworth in Rush. Photo by Jaap Buitendijk – © 2013 – Universal Pictures)
