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Run-up to the Olympics: Chariots of Fire (1981)

Continuing on the Olympic theme I started yesterday, I have decided to spotlight a couple of Olympic-themed films.

Let’s start in the location of this year’s games – the United Kingdom, or rather England to be exact. The first film I will highlight is the multiple Academy Award winning feature, Chariots of Fire. 

SYNOPSIS

Chariots of Fire is a 1981 British film. It tells the fact-based story of two athletes in the 1924 Olympics: Eric Liddell, a devout Scottish Christian who runs for the glory of God, and Harold Abrahams, an English Jew who runs to overcome prejudice. (Source: Wikipedia)

This is a film I have only seen within the past five years – as a youth I always felt that this film was always inaccessible to me. It always seemed a bit cold and remote to me.

After having seen it, I can honestly say that the needle has shifted, if only slightly. Do not get me wrong it is a well-crafted film, but the performances in particular felt a little stilted and stagey for my tastes. One would think that a film about running would have some “pace” to it; instead, I feel like the film was dragged down as a result of it. You certainly felt all of the 124 minute running time.

On the positive side, I did like the framing device by which the story was told – and oh yeah and that musical score (Vangelis) is iconic.

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On This Date (June 7th)

Today , let’s take a music -movie interlude. I tried to also tie in a little history. On this date in 1969 the Supergroups, Blind Faith (Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Ginger Baker and Ric Grech) performed their first concert in Hyde Park, London. In particular, I am a fan of Steve Winwood and Eric Clapton and this collaboration did produce a couple of awesome songs, some of which I heard live in concert in 2009.

Going back to 1969 – for those of us who were not ‘around’ to enjoy the event, in 2006 a DVD was produced commemorating the event. Check out the trailer below:

While I have not seen the film myself, it is yet another entry on my must-see list.

As for the movie tie-in … after some thought and some digging around, I decided to put together a list of films that features some of their songs. Can’t Find My Way Home seems to be the most popular song used in movies (according to the IMDB 6 titles in total – their song Sea of Joy appeared in Werner Herzog’s 1971 sci-fi drama Fata Morgana):

Here is a clip of the end scenes from the film Fandango, starring Kevin Costner and Judd Nelson; Can’t Find My Way Home appears in the end credits:

 

I had no idea about this film until I stumbled upon my research for this post. By all accounts that I have read, the film is a hidden gem – a youth-inspired road movie.

Have any of you seen this film? If so, let me know what you think of it in the comments below.

 

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Another Classic Graces the Silver Screen …

Happy Monday all and sundry!

As I was watching TCM, I saw that TCM is teaming up with Fathom Events again. Most recently we were treated to classics Casablanca and To Kill a Mockingbird and now, in honor of the 60th anniversary of its release we have a chance to catch Singin’ in the Rain on the big screen.

The musical comedy stars Gene Kelly (who also received co-director credit with Stanley Donen), Debbie Reynolds and Donald O’Connor and chronicles the struggles a silent film company and cast encounter as they make the difficult transition from silent motion pictures to sound.

This one time event takes place on July 12th, 2012 at select theaters (tickets go on sale 6/8). Be sure to check the Fathom Events website for event locations.

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