A Great Feel Good Movie

Rating: 8/10 (11 April 2009)

Chariots of Fire is a simple, feel-good movie. It certainly won't make into the cinema history books. Technically speaking, it's average. Director Hugh Hudson has a firm understanding of how to shoot a scene. The screenplay by Colin Welland is possibly the best aspect of the movie. With the help of a great cast - Ian Holm and Ian Charleson deserve special credit for their performances - this is a well-accomplished drama about a group of athletes competing in the 1924 Olympics.
The conflict here is between Harold Abrahams (Ben Cross) and Eric Liddell (Cahrleson). Harold is a Jew who finds in sports a way of fighting against racial oppression. Eric is a priest who believes God has given him the gift of running and so he runs to honor him. Each character is fascinating. Each has a good reason to run, and the screenplay explores how their passion affects their personal lives. Harold is obsessed to the point he ignores everything else, including love and friends. Eric wonders whether he's not putting his personal glory before God's.
Ian Holm plays Sam Mussabini, a trainer who prepares Harold for the Olympics. One of the best aspects of the movie are the running montages. Editor Terry Rawlings crafts each montage in a different way. Especially good are the opening titles of the British team running on the beach, an iconic sequence, and the training montage which shows the distinct way Harold and Eric train. Harold is a methodical man, he has a scientific approach, a personal trainer. But Eric simply runs on the high hills of Scotland, like a possessed man, showing his communion with God.
Vangelis' classic score can't be ignored either. You'd think a synth-heavy score would be unsuitable for a period movie, but it's one of the most beautiful pieces of music ever created for cinema.
In the end, Chariots of Fire is a movie made to leave people satisfied. Only an insensitive won't cheer at the triumphs of everyone in this movie. Watch it and rejoice.