Nomination for the Academy Award

Before last year's World Cup final, I decided to watch the Formula One Grand Prix Review 1982 once again.

I have always been a huge Netherlands fan. Yet since it had been knocked out by Portugal in the round of 16, I decided to watch the remaining games as a pure spectator, not rooting for any of the teams still in the hunt.

When Italy barely scraped past Australia in the last 16 in controversial circumstances, the press and media around the world sensed something fishy and started comparing the team with the World Cup-winning squad in 1982. You know, the scandals, the imminent relegation of big clubs (a couple of clubs had been docked points, while Juventus was the only one to be relegated as a penalty), and the threatening of legal actions. All the messy stuff.

And sensing something strange may indeed happen, I decided to watch that 1982 tape again, one I had bought for a very long time. By then, I had become a half-hearted Italian fan, and the rest is history.

The 1982 season is generally regarded as the most dramatic ever in Formula One history. To quote Don Capps, who has written an excellent review on the 1982 season in the then Atlasf1 website, it had "political struggle for control of Grand Prix racing, ... betrayal, death, victory, defeat, injury, renewal, and everything else in between as well."

Not everyone is interested in Formula One, or motor-racing for that matter. But if you could afford it, I strongly suggest you buy one, be it a VCD, DVD or VHS version. The commentary by Clive James is excellent, full of wits and deadpan humour. You may have a hard time remembering the names, teams and personnel at first, but once you have got going, you will find it far more amazing and captivating than many of the Hollywood blockbusters. It simply defies your belief.

And to me, it should definitely be nominated as the best documentary feature for the Academy Award.