Gran Turismo tells the true story of Jann Mardenborough, a Welsh boy who, from the console, is catapulted onto the world’s most important racing circuits driving a race car thanks to his skill in one of the most famous racing simulation video games ever created. Amid difficulties, joys and dramatic moments, the crowning of a lifelong dream.
The automotive subgenre of sports cinema has always been challenging to tackle.
Not only because of mere technical issues but because simulating the sequences of a car race is a complex job combining daring shots and tight editing. The other aspect that should not be underestimated is the symbiotic relationship between the man and the mechanical vehicle and the need to overcome the limit inherent in a driver’s psychology. Many have tried, but few have succeeded.
Neill Blomkamp’s film poetic is founded on the concept of man-machine.
From Elysium to Chappy, starting with the celebrated debut District 9, where the human merges with the alien. While waiting to shoot the long-awaited sequel to the film that launched him, the South African director was able to confront the theme again in a biopic that is also a brilliant marketing operation for the automotive market, telling the story of a young man who experiences reality through a simulation, only to discover that dreams, when they come true, can become nightmares.
Gran Turismo is a much more complex and layered film than it appears
Softened by the classic elements of sports storytelling, from training to the relationship with the two fathers, the biological and the sports, to the traditional path of rise, fall and rise again. All told with great fluidity, thanks to excellent direction and contaminations borrowed from the world of video games.
The actors’ performances are compelling, from young Archie Madewke in the leading role to his mentor David Harbour. Orlando Bloom carves out his best role since Elizabethtown playing a moderately waffling marketing man.