I was trying to decide what to watch when I came across Chariots of Fire about to start on Retroplex. I have not seen Chariots in at least 15 years so I decided to watch it. I was curious to see how the film held up after almost 30 years.
The film is based on true events that occurred at the 1924 Olympics in Paris, France. England had one of the greatest victories in their sports history when their track and field team beat out the heavily favored Americans.
The film opens in 1978 at the funeral of one of the last remaining members of the 1924 team. The story focus on two athletes; Harold Abrahams (Ben Cross) and English Jew he attends Cambridge and is out to prove he is as good as any Christian Englishman: and Eric Liddell (Ian Charleson) a Scottish Missionary and devout man who runs for the glory of God. Both men face challenges of faith as they attempt to compete for sports highest honor.
The film was a hit in 1981. It's images of men running on the beach to the famous score launched an entire fashion line at Bloomingdale's. the movie went on to win the Academy Award for Best Picture beating out favorites Reds and Raiders Of the Lost Ark. But looking at it 30 years later it is a very good sports story. It is uplifting and explores interesting ides of religion, duty, class and anti-semitism, but while the story is told well it's not very dramatic. The biggest conflict in the movie is whether Eric Liddell will put country before God and run on the sabbath.
One glaring note in the film is the music. The main theme has become a popular theme song, but the rest of the film is filled with jarring 80's style electronic sound heavy on the synthesizers. What was cutting edge and modern then is dated and out of place now. The exception is the clever use of Gilbert & Sullivan music for certain scenes, especially when Harold Abrahams sings "He is an Englishman"
The film is well directed, especially the sports competition scenes, but three decades after it release it's shine has faded while Raiders Of The Lost Ark has become a Hollywood classic that became a touchstone for action movies.
At The Movie House rating *** 1/2 stars
2 comments:
AH, very interesting....One of my favorite films of all time...Also, one of the great Acasdemy debates of all time...many ocnsidering the win of the Award by Chariots ove rRaiders (I know at least one person who thinks so) to be a great fraud, second only to Shakespeare in Love beating Private Ryan...but anyway, I love this film for a variety of reason, many of them subjective...I like drama/dialogie films, great interest in the sport, excellent period piece, great soundtrack and so on...I beg to differ with you on the music...I have this soundtrack and it is one of my favorites...much of the movie has haunting background music...in fact, it is the only complete osundtrack that is on my IPOD and I listen to it while running...Raiders is a very good movie and I think which is better depends solely on personal taste...I aqm not an action adventure movie guy, therefore, I like Chariots better...anothe rchap can have the opposite viewpoint... By the way, talk about no staying power, that Shakespeare thing is gone in the dustbin of history...Well done on the review
Dear Anonymous,
Thanks for your comments. The music to Chariots of Fire, by itself is very interesting and some of it is excellent. But when juxtaposed against the film the music clearly dates the film as being a product of the 1980's. There are a coup[le of scenes where the music is completely jarring and brings you out of the picture. A film score should augment a movie and become part of the exprerience. A great score can stand on it's own and immediately invokes the movie and mood in memory. The opening title music to Charioys of Fire is a great score. The rest of it is not so good. There were two scenes in particular, when the Americans were warming up and I can't remember the other. watch the film and see how obtrusive some of the synthesizer music is.
The original soundtrack was not taken directly from the movie. It was edited and re-recorded and only has a small portion of the films music. Obviously the best parts.
Which is better is a better film is not a question of taste. Raiders influenced every single action picture that came after it. It completely redefined a film genre and essentialy re-invented the serial picture of the 1940's. It became a cultural icon that has been seen by multiple genrations since it was released. Chariots Of Fire is a good solid sports drame with interesting themes and uplifting moments, but it was hardly new or groundbreaking and did not influence cinema history in any way. It's greatest claim to cultural fame is a fashion line at Bloomingdale's
I did not give Chariots Of Fire a bad review. I really enjoy the movie, but I did point out that it's status has slipped in 30 years and it has not aged well. Raiders Of the Lost Ark is as good today as it was when it came out.
We will leave the SPR vs. SIL discussion for another day.
Post a Comment