The Task: Watch and write about every movie on my shelf, in order (Blu-rays are sorted after DVDs), by June 10, 2015. Remaining movies: 97 Days to go: 65
Movie #343: Chariots of Fire
My ex-husband once told me Chariots of Fire was the most boring movie he’d ever seen. He’s wrong; it’s not boring. It is, however, completely different than I expected it to be. Having neither seen nor heard anything about the film beyond its iconic running on the beach scene, set to its infamous theme music, I thought it was about marathoners or something. I wasn’t sure. It’s actually about sprinters, which isn’t too far off, but imagine my surprise when I discovered its most famous scene (and music) doesn’t actually appear in the film proper — only over the opening and closing credits. It’s like the rest of the film hardly exists at all. Am I the only one who’s watched it?
Chariots of Fire is a tale of faith, of drive and of competition among British athletes in the 1920s. And as they come together in the 1924 Paris Olympics, it becomes about British patriotism as well, and about competing against the reputedly superior Americans. Ben Cross plays Harold Abrahams and Ian Charleson plays Eric Liddell, the two central athletes of the film. Abrahams is Jewish and despite his family’s high standing and his status as a renowned Cambridge student, he still comes up against prejudice for his heritage. He’s a fierce competitor, driven and compelled to run, in part to prove himself as good or better than those who would put him down. Liddell, on the other hand, is a devout Christian of a missionary family who intends to join a mission himself. He runs because he feels his speed is a gift from God, and to ignore it would be akin to forsaking Him. He believes in his running, and he fights for the ability to pursue it, but when one of the Olympic heats is to be held on a Sunday, it tests his faith. In the end, he refuses to run — even up against pressure from the Prince of Wales — because to him God comes first. But in the true spirit of patriotism and sportsmanship, Eric’s teammate Andrew Lindsay (Nigel Havers) gives up his spot in the 400 to give it to Eric, despite Eric being an outsider to the Cambridge chaps and a former competitor of Harold’s.
The movie is as much about being true to yourself and sticking to your beliefs as it is about competing for God and country. Harold has to defend his passion for winning to the men of Cambridge as much as Eric has to defend his unwillingness to break the Sabbath. And both succeed not because one is competitive enough to hire a professional trainer (Ian Holm) or because one is faithful to his religion, but rather because both stay true to who they are, and do what is right for them.
The movie is somewhat flawed, though, employing a couple of framing techniques that both fall somewhat flat, neither entirely enclosing the action they’re framing. In truth, the structure as a whole is not as tight or strong as it could be, as it flits somewhat haphazardly between Cambridge and Scotland without clear intention or transition. Worst of all, the bulk of the action occurs via flashback within a flashback, which is awkward to say the least. It’s doubtful that I would classify Chariots of Fire as the best picture of its year.
But it’s not boring.
Viable Option 