What’s on this week
‘It’s complicated’ could not be any more fitting a title for the biopic of former FIA president Max Mosley, who died in May.
Any film that needed to cover ground as wide as Adolf Hitler being at his parents’ wedding, punch-ups at fascist rallies, Formula 1 controversies, the dishing out of $100million in fines and a News of the World sex orgy exposé, couldn’t really be anything else.
Yet Mosley: It’s Complicated, which is released in cinemas this month, manages to cover the life of Mosley in a way that not only highlights the convictions that he carried throughout, but also the fascinating conflicts and contradictions that were always with him.
The film ebbs and flows around the different chapters of Mosley’s life. His upbringing, his father’s politics, the March years, the FISA/FOCA war, the FIA presidency, his road safety push with
Global NCAP and the battle with the media.
But while not an F1 movie as such, there is still plenty of F1 in it. In particular, the stories of the early days at March, or the behind-the-scenes politics of the FISA/FOCA war, are fascinating.
Interviews with March co-founder Robin Herd, former F1 race director Charlie Whiting, former Autosport editor and F1 commercial guru Ian
Phillips, ex-f1 driver Gerhard Berger, former
Williams CEO Adam Parr and former Ferrari and F1/ FIA figure Marco Piccinini, are all thrown into the mix.
Although the film does not have time to dig deep into some of the F1 controversies that took place under Mosley’s presidency, what it does offer is the insight into his personality and drive – which makes it easier to understand the approach he took in his role as FIA president.
Mosley’s disdain for former FIA/FISA president Jean-marie Balestre is clear, and there is his cold-hearted recollection of how he and Bernie Ecclestone set about burying the race promoters during the early FOCA years.
He also makes clear that the famous quote about Mclaren’s $100m ‘spygate’ fine, where
$5million was supposedly for the offence and $95million for team boss Ron Dennis being a **** , was very much Ecclestone’s doing…
There is also an astonishing apology from
Ecclestone about the way he abandoned Mosley amid the fallout from the News of the World scandal, rather than backing his long-term ally to the hilt.
It is perhaps the first time that Ecclestone has been so remorseful, saying it is the one thing in life he is “ashamed” of.
The film doesn’t whitewash over some of the darker elements of Mosley’s life too. The reference to Hitler being at his parents’ wedding is there, and there is no shying away from the fact that his own political career never achieved what he hoped it might because of the shadow cast by his father Oswald.
Director/producer Michael Shevloff is clear that the film could not be one-sided and ignore such
aspects if it wanted the audience to better understand who Mosley really was.
“I think it’s really important to show those parts, and those parts make people human,” he said. “If you don’t show them, then people will distrust the story.”
The film also exposes the wealth of contradictions that were at the heart of Mosley’s life. For he was a man who thrived in being front of stage, but equally loved being able to operate under the radar.
For Shevloff it was pulling together the many facets of Mosley’s life that was key in coming to understand what he was really like.
“I’d like people to enjoy the film and I’d like people to be able to learn about a complicated man,” he said.
“And, perhaps, if there is someone within F1 or within those people that maybe criticise him without knowing why, that they will learn something new. And, if not, simply get to know Max.”
Mosley: It’s Complicated will be in UK cinemas from 9 July and on digital download from 19 July.