The filmmaker Roman Polanski, a motor sport enthusiast, befriended the Scottish racing driver Jackie Stewart, Formula 1 world champion in 1969 whilst on his way to his second title. He got permission to follow the champion during a Grand Prix weekend. During the 1971 Monaco Grand Prix, which Stewart went on to win, the filmmaker captures moments from this champion’s life, whilst he is at the height of his glory, both on and off the track, alongside his wife Helen.
In his version, re-released in 2013 and presented this year at the Cannes Film Festival, the film has had a new scene added to it, in which Polanski and Stewart discuss forty years on, evoking memories from a time when the three-time Formula One world champion saw most of his driver friends lose their lives in racing.
