Chariots of Fire – 1981 | 123 mins | Drama | Colour

Plot Synopsis

The biggest surprise in the form of a Best Picture Oscar in the last twenty years definitely came in 1981 when Chariots of Fire upset Atlantic City, On Golden Pond, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Reds to capture the Academy’s highest honour. It had been an interesting and evenly balanced evening up to the announcement of its victory. A film’s direction and screen writing generally determine a Best Picture winner. Reds, On Golden Pond, and Chariots of Fire all won three major awards so the evening’s momentum had been building to an exciting finish. Reds had captured Best Director (Warren Beatty), Best Supporting Actress (Maureen Stapleton) and Best Cinematography (Vittorio Storaro). On Golden Pond had won Best Actor (Henry Fonda), Best Actress (Katharine Hepburn) and Best Screenplay Adaptation (Ernest Thompson). Chariots of Fire grabbed Best Original Music Score, its greatest asset (Vangelis), Best Costume Design and Best Original Screenplay (Colin Welland). When actress Loretta Young opened the envelope, even she was very surprised and the audience went into a surprised frenzy itself when Chariots of Fire was indeed named Best Picture. Producer David Putnam was very gracious in his acceptance speech. He invited director Hugh Hudson on stage to stand with him in giving the Academy many thanks for acknowledging the film.

Chariots of Fire is a film that has been forgotten in many ways and that’s a shame because of the sheer nature of its culturally nutritious message in the form of demonstrating the triumph of the human spirit. Upon seeing it for the first time, one may dismiss it, as lacking in character development, with a documentary style of direction and British accents that may be too thick for many to understand. My mother had a hard time understanding many of the dialogue sequences but my father actually did shed a few tears in the film’s exposure of two athletes, one from England, and one from Scotland, who capture gold medals at the 1924 Paris Olympics. The film is an acquired taste for many and actually improves with each viewing.

The movie tells the story of Englishman Harold Abraham’s (Ben Cross) and Scotsman Eric Liddell (Ian Charleson, who died in 1990 from AIDS). Abraham’s is a freshman at Cambridge University and Eric Liddell is a devoted citizen of Scotland who believes deeply in his church and the teachings of God. He later became a missionary in World War II. He died in occupied China at the end of the war and his fellow countrymen and women mourned such a great loss. The film shows their lives before the Olympic games, how they conduct their lives, their romances, their passions, their training and their frailties. Of particular note is the performance of Ian Holm as Sam Mussabini, Harold Abraham’s’ trainer. He would receive the film’s only acting nomination and received it in the Best Supporting Actor category.

What works best of all in Chariots of Fire is the music score by Vangelis. There are many scenes of competitive track and field, the category that both men enter the Olympics under, and the music set to some of the scenes is worth the price of admission alone. Director Hugh Hudson finds tremendous emotion in putting very fitting music to many scenes and slowing the scenes right down and since I am a huge fan of slow motion if it’s used properly, I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of this film since the slow motion scenes stand out perhaps better than anywhere else I’ve ever seen them used.

It’s a shame that Hugh Hudson’s career as a big time movie director never really came to fruition after Chariots of Fire. In 1984, he directed Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes with little success and his career was pretty much decided upon with 1985’s awful Revolution that caused Al Pacino to go into a four year hiatus. At least Hudson had one great film in him and I hope he finds a repeating triumph later in his career as great as Chariots of Fire. Although he didn’t win the Best Director Oscar, Chariots of Fire will live forever in immortality with Oscar gold as its defence of greatness.

Review© Walter Frith