Wonderful Evocation of the Era of Sportsmanship

Rating: 10/10 (19 July 2004)

Understated as it is, "Chariots of Fire" may not be to every taste. For instance, one has to be a devotee of Gilbert and Sullivan to understand some of the nuances. The acting is uniformly superb. Old veterans (Ian Holm, John Gielgud, Patrick Magee, Nigel Davenport) lend support to rising new faces (Ben Cross, Ian Charleson, Nicholas Farrell, Nigel Havers) as young runners preparing for the 1924 Paris Olympics.
The era of true sportsmanship is evoked, when the Olympics meant more than it does today. The trainer of Harold Abrahams, Sam Mussabini (Ian Holm in a delightfully crafted supporting role) is not even allowed in the Olympic stadium in Paris because he is a professional.
The two main runners, Harold Abrahams (Ben Cross) and Eric Liddell (Ian Charleson) wrestle not only with their extensive training, but with principle. Abrahams is a Jew striving to overcome his society's anti-Semitism by out-running them -- as well as his inner demons. Liddell, training as a Christian missionary (he would later die in a Chinese prison camp after the second World War), runs for God but is confronted by a matter of principle that tests whether his devotion is to his God or his sport (and his country).
The changes the script made from history, necessary for telling a story and building dramatic tension, are pointed out in this movie more than they are for other films that build their stories on history, such as "Braveheart" or "Becket" (Thomas Becket wasn't Saxon, for instance). It's well-known that Abrahamson wasn't as pestered by anti-Semitism as the movie portrays, and Liddell knew about his Sunday race well ahead of time. Good story-telling necessitates such changes. The film should not be viewed as strictly biographical but as a study of dedication, both to sport and to faith, and how two very different, but equally devoted, young men deal with the dilemmas of their devotion.
The acting is uniformly excellent. The famous (twenty years ago, ubiquitous) Vangelis score, at first distracting, becomes inseparable from the visual images on repeated viewings. The movie has a deliberate pace and makes no concession to the modern "summer movie" audience. There are no explosions, no one is killed, and there's also no "villain" in the conventional sense as Abrahams and Liddell struggle to confront and overcome their sublimated challenges to achieve personal victories.
The film is well shot. The opening visual, of the young Olympians running along the shore, has become iconic. The races are all shot differently. Since the runners are sprinters and their races are over quickly, slo-mo is used extensively. Nevertheless, every race has a distinct look and they never seem redundant. Vangelis is also a great help setting each race differently.
One caveat: the movie begins with and unnecessary framing device and two (or is it three?) flashbacks, the first from a memorial service to the run on the beach and the horns that announce Vangelis' theme; and the second after the opening credits. After these false starts, the movie settles into a leisurely pace as it carefully unrolls the intertwined stories of Abrahams and Liddell and their struggles trying to buck the rigid conformity of their society (for though nominally Christian, Liddell fights against the system every inch as much as Abrahams, finding as he does that the opprobrious term "fanatic" was applied to those who actually try to live out what they say they believe when the intangibles of faith comes into conflict with the reality of society's norms.)
A feel-good movie for anyone who enjoys true competition, and well worthy of the accolades heaped upon it after its release.