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Chariots of Fire (1981)
Rate:
10
Viewed:
12/06, 3/22
12/06:
Presenting one of the most moving stories ever, Chariots of Fire is among my all-time favorite pictures.
The opening scene of runners on the beach is powerful. I can watch that all day and not be bored. It's right up
there with the Rocky training montages which will get me going, no matter what. The acting is unbelievably good, and so
is Hugh Hudson's direction.
Yes, Raiders of the Lost Ark is a unique movie experience, but
Chariots of Fire is in a different league for being
a once-in-a-lifetime picture just like 2001: A Space Odyssey and
Lawrence of Arabia, focusing solely on
the human spirit instead of the story. That's why it'll stand the test of time.
All in all, only few films have the distinction of being among the most beautiful made, and Chariots of Fire is one of
them.
3/22:
The Academy Awards voters made the right choice in 1982 when they selected Chariots of Fire for Best Picture.
The opening scene still gets me every single time. It's powerful and represents what the movie is all about: the celebration
of human spirit. Honor and virtue are routinely stressed and backed by actions.
Ian Holm may have been Oscar-nominated for Best Supporting Actor, but in truth, Ben Cross and Ian Charleson, who were
unknown at the time, are more deserving of it. They've made the movie as it is. The racing scenes are excellent, just
a fantastic way of breaking them down from a different perspective. However, the writer took liberties with the story of what
actually happened.
Harold Abrahams did win the 100 meters and also a silver medal in the 4x100 meters relay in the 1924 Olympics, but he wasn't
the first to complete the Great Court Run successfully (it was David Cecil, aka Lord Burghley, who did). In fact, he had never attempted
it. Moreover, he didn't meet Sybil Evers until 1934, and they were subsequently married, his second time around the block.
Abrahams was also a long jumper which ended his running career in 1926, breaking his leg. His friend Evelyn (not Aubrey)
Montague took sixth in the 3,000 meters steeplechase race in the 1924 Olympics. He attended Oxford, not Cambridge, and
died in 1948, not after 1978.
Back to David Cecil, he refused his name to be used because of the film's fictional component but would regret his decision
after seeing it. Hence, Lord Andrew Lindsay had to be invented to take his place. Cecil did win the 400 meters
hurdles in the 1928 Oympics while taking silver in the 4x400 meters relay in 1932. He performed the hurdles stunt as depicted
in the film but with matchboxes instead of champagne glasses.
The Flying Scotsman, Eric Liddell is perhaps the most famous athlete ever to come out of Scotland. He was also Chinese, having
been born in Tianjin (Tientsin) and spent most of his life in China. In fact, Eric Liddell was the first Chinese athlete
to be an Olympian champion. Just about everything as stated in the film is true. He won the gold in the 400 meters while
taking the bronze in the 200 meters (Abrahams took sixth which was dead last) in the 1924 Olympics. The 100 meters was
his best event; he already knew the heat would be held on Sunday, skipping also the 4x100 meters
and 4x400 meters relays for the same reason. Hence, Eric trained for the 400 meters, and his previous best time was 49.6 seconds.
One of the team masseurs, not Jackson Scholz, handed him the inspiring note, just exactly as stated, prior to the championship
race, and he ran his heart out in a surprising time of 47.6 seconds, setting both Olympics and world records. Afterwards,
Eric Liddell went back to China for Christian missionary work and died of brain tumor in 1945 while at a Japanese-run
internment camp during WWII.
Sam Mussabini did exist and coached many athletes with some of them winning eleven medals in five Olympic Games. Having worked
as a cycling coach who was also knowledgeable about the game of billiards, he died in 1927 at age 59. His famous quote
was: "Only think of two things – the gun and the tape. When you hear the one, just run like hell until you break the other."
Elsewhere, one of the two masters at Cambridge University is John Gielgud while the other is Lindsay Anderson.
He was the director of a powerful British kitchen sink drama picture called This Sporting Life with Richard Harris
and Rachel Roberts. All of the actors trained for three months so they could pass muster as runners.
Because of the anti-semitistic message, Cambridge refused the producers permission to shoot there. Instead, it was
done at Eton College. After the film's success, the administrators immediately regretted the decision. The famous
beach scene was shot on location in West Sands at St. Andrews on the Fife coast of Scotland. To his credit, Ian Charleson
made sure that when he died of AIDS in 1990, the cause of death would be publicly made, and therefore, he's the first
major celebrity from the UK to acknowledge it.
All in all, Chariots of Fire is a British masterpiece.