1981--Chariots of
Fire, Hugh Hudson
Nominated: Atlantic City,
On Golden Pond, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Reds
Should have won: Raiders
of the Lost Ark
Be sure to see: An
American Werewolf in London, The Beyond aka Seven Doors of Death,
Dark Night of the Scarecrow, The Fox and the Hound, The Funhouse, The
Howling, The Prowler
The
second of only three sports movies to win best picture, Chariots
of Fire tells the true story of
two British sprinters competing in the 1924 Olympics. Harold
Abrahams runs to impress Cambridge; Eric Liddell runs to please God.
Eric defeats Harold in a 100 meter dash, so Harold hires a pro
trainer to prepare him. Eric upsets the Olympic committee when he
refuses to run his heat because it falls on the Sabbath. It is
decided Eric can run in the 400 meter race since it does not fall on
Sunday.
Chariots of Fire is
one of those movies that begins at the end. We begin at the funeral
of one of the runners, the preacher offering the congregation to
remember his life and how he ran. This then cues one of the most
famous scenes set to music in film history. A pack of young men
wearing all white, running through mud by the water; all in slow
motion with the song “Chariots of Fire” elegantly playing. If for
no other reason to see this movie, see it for the score. The music is
the best aspect of the film, and I don't know if that is a positive
thing or not. The score is always a movie's best supporting character
but the issue with this one is the score is better than the visuals which makes it the lead character.
I did enjoy the
movie though. I relived my old track days when I ran the 100 and the
200 and as I watched these men competing I said...sheesh, what
terrible form! Their arms were flailing all over the place and their
faces weren't relaxed. These guys were training for the Olympics for
crying out loud. You would think they would get a better trainer, and
then I realized Sam Masambini (no not Tom Savini—I am winking at
any horror fans reading this) is training Harold and he is the finest
trainer in the world. Harold gets into trouble for letting the half
Arab, half Italian train him because Masambini is a pro and he isn't
allowed to employ a pro. I made a point to include Masambini's
nationality because the the people scolding Harold made the point to.
I'm not sure why it was important to bring up but the movie did so I
am. There is a great training montage but it isn't up to par with
Rocky Balboa's or Daniel Larusso's.
Vangelis wrote the
score. I guess he is like Madonna or Cher and is above the whole two
name shenanigans. The movie catches a lot of heat for beating Raiders
of the Lost Ark and Reds
and perhaps rightfully so. It is a pretty good movie, however, just not very memorable and not one I'd revisit.
It is a page in history
worth turning to. These guys might very well get smoked off the track
in today's world though, despite their intense training methods. But
on their ride back to their hotel they could shuffle their i pods to
this movie's soundtrack. It is pretty damn good.
It just goes to show that the Academy cannot always predict the most memorable picture of the year. I've never heard of this movie, but I have heard, watched, and re-watched Raiders of the Lost Ark. Score is important, but is not the only aspect to a Best Picture.
ReplyDeleteGood review of this one. I saw it long ago. I don't remember what the title references but a better title would be "Brits in ther jockys jockying for the lead"
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