Chariots of Fire is considered one of the leading sports films. It all started in 1981, When Hugh Hutson’s award-winning feature film, of British production, made its debut on the big screen.
Based on...
It is based on the true story of two British amateur runners, who have set a goal to win the gold medal at the 1924 Olympics. his participation in the Games in order to get his blood back, and the Scottish theologian Eric Lindell (1902-1945), who is by nature fast and wants to honor God for the gift he has given him.
Eventually both athletes will achieve their goal: Abrams will win the 100m and Lindell the 400m.
The idea for the film came from English producer David Pattnam, who read a book about the story of Eric Lindell in 1977.
Screenwriter Colin Welland undertook to write the screenplay after extensive research, which lasted almost two years, having the misfortune to did not catch Abrams alive, who died in January 1978.
Patnam was commissioned to direct the award-winning commercial and documentary filmmaker Hugh Hutson, who had not made a feature film.
Hutson and Patnam for the two main roles in the film wanted young and indestructible actors and found them in the faces of Ben Cross (Harold Abrams) and Ian Charlson (Eric Lindell), two eminently theatrical actors.
Well-known actors such as Ian Holm, Brad Davis, John Gilgood and director Lindsay Anderson were cast for supporting roles.
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The music, written by Vangelis Papathanassiou, plays an important role in the film. Although the film is set in the 1920s, Vangelis used electronic sound systems of the 1980s, with a wide range of composers and pianos.
It was a daring that worked, because in the movies of the time it was customary to write symphonic music. Especially the music of the opening titles is considered one of the top and most popular moments in the history of film music and has been widely used in movies and TV shows.
The film premiered on March 30, 1981 in London with great brilliance and in the presence of members of the royal family.
The success was an immediate commercial and artistic success and the first prizes came two months later, at the Cannes Film Festival.
On May 27, 1981, the film won the Best Supporting Actor (Ian Holm) Award and the Ecumenical Jury Prize, and was nominated for a Golden Palm.
In the same year it was named best British film, during the BAFTA Film Awards in London.
The following year the film was nominated for seven Oscars. At the ceremony on March 29, 1982, it won four: Best Picture (David Patnam), Original Music (Vangelis Papathanassiou), Original Screenplay (Colin Welland) and Costume Design (Milena Canonero).
"Chariots of Fire" stayed for one week at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in May 1982, after climbing steadily for five months (it made #1 in its 22nd week on the chart), and to date remains the only piece by a Greek artist to top the U.S. charts.
The single spent 64 weeks on the Australian charts, although it only peaked at #21. In Japan, “Chariots of Fire” was the biggest-selling single of 1981. The track proved moderately successful in the UK, where it reached #12, but its parent album peaked at #5 and spent 107 weeks on the album chart.
The single reached #3 (2012), #18 (2014), #16 (2015) position on the Billboard Classical Digital Songs chart.
Owing both to its sweeping tune and the content of the movie in which it first appeared, “Chariots of Fire” has become somewhat synonymous with the Olympic Games.
The BBC used the piece as its theme music for its coverage of the 1984 Summer Olympics held in Los Angeles and the 1988 Summer Olympics held in Seoul.
It was also used as a theme for the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo, and it was played prior to the start of the men’s 100m race final at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.
It became prominent leading up to, and during the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
Runners in a test event at Olympic Park, whose route ended at the grand opening of London’s Olympic Stadium, were greeted by the piece as they finished their route into the new stadium.
The piece was also used to fanfare the carriers of the Olympic flame on parts of its route through the UK. The piece, and other remixes of it, was also used during each medal ceremony of the Games.
Reference: BBC