CHARIOTS OF FIRE is a pleasant, mildly inspirational movie but hardly worthy of all the accolades it received. This true story, based on an original screenplay by Colin Welland, is about what it means to win and what one must do to achieve it. Eric Liddell (Ian Charleson) is a serious
Scottish Christian who runs for the glory of Jesus. Harold Abrahams (Ben Cross) is an English Jew who is sensitive to prejudice and whose primary motivation is to be accepted. The movie delineates and crosscuts the lives of both men as they meet and compete at the 1924 Olympics in Paris.
The real-life Liddell became a Christian missionary, went to China, and eventually died in a Japanese prisoner of war camp, true to his faith to the end. Abrahams went on to become the spokesman for English amateur athletics, was knighted, and died a venerated elder statesman in 1978. Few who see
the film can forget the lyrically photographed scene of the runners striding through the surf in slow motion to the accompaniment of Vangelis's stirring score, particularly in light of subsequent parodies. leave a comment
