Weekend of a Champion

Largely aimed at racing aficionados but also sure to be of interest to fans of filmmaker Roman Polanski, Frank Simon's Weekend of a Champion is a documentary covering three days in May 1971 when Polanski joined racing legend Jackie Stewart for the Monaco Grand Prix. Polanski appears to have enjoyed constant and intimate access to Stewart's lodging as well as his thoughts and activities in preparation for the race, at one point accompanying Stewart as the latter drives a regular car over the Grand Prix's street route and memorizes every manhole cover, tight turn, and incline. Weekend of a Champion underscores everything that has been long said about Stewart's mastery, intelligence, and positive spirit, and the bond between the two men carries its own excitement, as Polanski appears to be getting an enormous thrill out of being a part of Stewart's world for a while. That relationship makes the newly filmed postscript to Weekend of a Champion all the more poignant, as Stewart and Polanski—more than 40 years later—discuss their extended weekend and Stewart's post-retirement efforts to bring greater safety to a sport that during the late ‘60s and early ‘70s killed two out of three drivers according to Stewart (the figure is actually closer to 50 percent). Recommended. (T. Keogh)