Cinema and Television

Prepare for a breakneck ride round the piazza

CINEMA

Palio CERT 12A, 91 MINS ★★★★☆

Each year Siena’s Piazza del Campo hosts a pair of horse races of such ferocity that they make the Grand National look like a canter through a quiet meadow. The races have Catholic associations: July’s Palio is in honour of the Madonna of Provenzano, while August’s marks the Assumption. But sacred niceties are hard to find in these wild chases, and Cosimo Spender’s superb documentary puts us right at the centre of the madness.