And did those feet in ancient time
Walk upon England's mountains green?
And was the holy Lamb of God
On England's pleasant pastures seen?

And did the Countenance Divine
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem builded here
Among these dark Satanic mills?

Bring me my bow of burning gold:
Bring me my arrows of desire:
Bring me my spear: O clouds unfold!
Bring me my chariot of fire.

I will not cease from mental fight,
Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand
Till we have built Jerusalem
In England's green and pleasant land.

Jerusalem by William Blake


I have mixed feelings about sports films as a genre. I enjoy the exhilarating thrill of victory as much as the next film lover, but sports films tend to be too predictable for my taste. Most sports films rework one of the standard three or four clichéd plot lines, such as "underdogs overcome impossible odds," "humble hardworking athlete triumphs over arrogant opponent," "gifted athlete overcomes exploiting team owner or manager," or "burned out former great rekindles his love of life." Once the film has gone through its set-up, you pretty much know how it's going to end. Chariots of Fire is a cut or two above most sports films, however, dipping deeply into the kettle of character study. This film is not so much about who wins but about what motivated two rather special athletes to push themselves through the agonizing hard work and preparation required to reach the pinnacle of success. This film has a well-written script, an outstanding soundtrack, strong performances, and a director who respects the intelligence of his audience.

Historical Background: After graduating from Eton, British director Hugh Hudson got his start in films as a casting director for an advertising agency. Later, he spent time in Paris as a film editor, before returning to London, where he began making documentaries and, later, commercials for British television. His debut feature film was the present one, Chariots of Fire (1981). He must have been quite thrilled to win an Academy Award for Best Picture on his first try. The film won a total of five Oscars and when Colin Welland won an early one for Best Screenplay he famously announced, "The British are coming." And so they did! Producer David Puttnam also had a lot to do with the success of Chariots of Fire. Hudson's second film was also his second best: Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984). After that, Hudson made only four additional feature films, and none especially noteworthy: Revolution (1985), Lost Angels (1989), My Life So Far (1999), and I Dreamed of Africa (2000).

The Story: This is one of those character-driven films for which a plot synopsis does little justice. The story concerns the British Olympic track-and-field team that ultimately competed in the 1924 Olympics, winning several medals. At the center of this semi-biopic are two talented runners, Harold Abrahams (Ben Cross) and Eric Liddell (Ian Charleson), both driven to succeed by their interior passions. Abrahams, the son of a Lithuanian Jewish immigrant to Britain, feels like a perpetual outsider. Though he's treated well enough by his classmates at the old-boy prep school of Gonville and Caius in Cambridge, he is fiercely motivated to excel by a gnawing inferiority complex. When he is defeated for the first time in a match against the Scotsman, Liddell, Abrahams hires a professional coach, Sam Mussabini (Ian Holm), despite the protestations of the Masters of Trinity (John Gielgud) and Caius (Lindsay Anderson), who remain wedded to the fading ideal of pure sport as an amateur endeavor. The only one who has any luck softening Abraham's rough edges is the lovely Savoy operetta singer Sybil Gordon (Alice Krige). She puts up with his moods and obsession with winning and shares in his ultimate triumph – Olympic gold in the 100 meter dash.

Eric Liddell, by contrast, is the son of Presbyterian missionaries. He and all of his siblings were born in Asia, where their parents operate a mission. Liddell is devoted to God, his parents, and his sister, Jennie, but he's also gifted with boundless natural ability as a runner. Though he gets little encouragement for his athletic endeavors from his devout family, he feels that he can draw attention to the mission's work through his running. He also says that he experiences God's pleasure when he succeeds. Jennie agrees to maintain the mission on her own until after the Olympic games of 1924. True to his word, Liddell gave up running after the games and spent the rest of his life doing missionary work. At the games, Liddell encounters a difficulty when he discovers that the qualifying heat for the 100-meter dash is scheduled for a Sunday and his strict variety of Christian faith prohibits competitive games on the Sabbath. Liddell is prepared to sacrifice his chance at compete for a medal in order to adhere to his principles, but a teammate, Lord Andrew Lindsay (Nigel Havers), selflessly sacrifices his own spot in the 400-meter competition for Liddell. Liddell proceeds to win the gold medal.

Themes: Among the several reasons why we should all respect diversity, individuality, and eccentricities is that certain kinds of greatness benefit from such "abnormalities." Some of the men and women who have most impacted human civilization suffered from obsessions, anger, one-pointed determination, or mania, but channeled those extremes of personality into excellence. Eric Liddell was an exceptionally devout Christian who ran for the glory of God. Though I am not myself religious, I can easily respect and admire a man who wears his religion in the manner of Liddell. He used his religion as a positive force in his life, not as a basis for exclusion. Abraham's obsession derived from being a Jew in a country dominated by Anglo-Saxons. He was obsessed with the idea of proving himself the equal of any of his countrymen. What made these men great was their ability to channel their respective obsessions into supreme performance.

A less obvious theme raised by this film is the changing nature of sports, not only during the twenties but continuing right up to the present as well. In Chariots of Fire, the British athletic establishment still clung to the heroic and traditional ideal of amateur athletics. The American team, by contrast, was trained more rigorously under the guidance of professional coaches. The 1924 Olympics was one of the last in which exceptional amateurs could still effectively compete against teams trained professionally. Abrahams recognized that the old ways were just not going to work anymore and hired Sam Mussabini to help improve his technique. Today, the battle for amateur sports has been largely lost. Even college ball players sometimes receive illegal gifts from well-healed boosters as a kind of unofficial and under-the-table compensation. Professional athletes have become more and more selfish, remote from the fans, and motivated more by compensation than a love for their respective sports. In the NBA, teamwork has been largely replaced by high-flying acrobatics and individual showmanship. The new battleground in relation to the prostitution of sports is the widespread use of performance-enhancing drugs. It remains to be seen whether the use of anabolic steroids can be effectively reigned in. Already, the record book in baseball has been permanently distorted.

Production Values: The screenplay by Colin Welland is a well-structured character study and biopic. Instead of the usual predictable sports film clichés, Welland gives us an in-depth analysis of what drives two men to become Olympic champions. The film's title refers to a line in the William Blake poem quoted at the top of this review. The film is well paced and the interweaving of the two parallel, and ultimately converging, stories is effective enough to allow viewers to easily distinguish between the respective threads. Some liberties were taken with the details of the story. For example, Jackson Scholz denied ever having given Liddell a note of encouragement. It hardly matters. A little bit of dramatic license is what writers are paid to exercise. The story is inspiring but feels honest. This film was so novel in its approach to the sports genre that the writer and director had difficulty securing funding. Producers prefer not to gamble on originality.

The images in Chariots of Fire are beautifully composed and the period detail is superb. Automobiles from the twenties come and go and the costumes look great. The scenes at Gonville and Caius College were filmed at Cambridge University and the Olympic scenes at the sports stadium in Paris. The pastoral scenes in rural Scotland are lovely as well.

One of the most memorable aspects of this film is its soundtrack, which won as Oscar. The original music, written by Greek composer Vangelis Papathanassiou, is stirring and bold. The style of the music, which might be described generally as contemporary avant guard classical music, might seem inappropriate for a twenties era period film, but it works amazing well, setting the tone for the entire film and giving wings to the most dramatic moments. There's also the added bonus of some delightful Gilbert and Sullivan excerpts, since Abrahams was an avid G & S aficionado and his girlfriend a performer at the famous Savoy Theatre that specialized in G & S operettas.

Most of the principal actors utilized in this film were little known at the time, but gained valuable exposure from this film's success. Ben Cross did outstanding work as Abrahams as did Ian Charleson as Liddell. Charleson later worked in Gandhi (1982) and Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984). Nigel Havers was very impressive as Lord Lindsay, enough so that he went on to work in Passage to India (1984), The Whistle Blower (1986), and Empire of the Sun (1987). Alice Krige and Cheryl Campbell were delightful as Sybil Gordon and Jennie Liddell respectively. Krige later appeared in Barfly (1987) and Star Trek: First Contact (1996). Cheryl Campbell, like Charleson, worked in Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984).

Two supporting actors who were already well known were John Gielgud and Ian Holm. Gielgud had previously appeared in Julius Caesar (1953), Richard III (1955), The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1956), Becket (1964), The Charge of the Light Brigade (1968), Murder on the Orient Express (1974), Providence (1977), and The Elephant Man (1980) and would later appear in Gandhi (1982), The Whistle Blower (1986), and The Portrait of a Lady (1996). Holm had already worked in Oh! What a Lovely War (1969), The Homecoming (1973), Juggernaut (1974), Alien (1979), and Time Bandits (1981) and would go on to such films as Dance with a Stranger (1985), Brazil (1985), Wetherby (1985), The Madness of King George (1994), The Fifth Element (1997), The Sweet Hereafter (1997), and Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), in which he played Bilbo Baggins.

Bottom-Line: The two DVD Special Edition is worth the price, featuring a beautiful new pristine transfer and a 5.1 audio track, which is important for this film, considering the notoriety of the soundtrack by Vangelis Papathanassiou. There's an interesting commentary track by director Hugh Hudson that mixes anecdotes with some solid analysis of filming issues. Disc 2 has two featurettes. The first is a 27-minute long "making of" piece called "Wings of Their Heels." The second, called "Chariots of Fire: A Reunion," runs about nineteen minutes and is somewhat less interesting. Also included are a number of scenes that were cut from the film. One scene was included in the European version of the film but cut from the American release because it involves a cricket match. Finally, there're two screen tests and a theatrical trailer.

This film combines a strong script with excellent direction, good quality performances, lovely period detail, and an exceptional score. It's a good deal more profound and a good deal less predictable than the average sports film. I highly recommend it. This film took five Oscars and is rated by the British Film Institute as the 19th best British film of all-time.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children up Ages 8