Chariots of Fire

Chariots of Fire was released in 1981 and directed by Hugh Hudson. Rather than simply retelling the plot, the film is worth revisiting for the characters, conflicts and ideas that give its story its identity.

Family emerge through what the characters face and the choices they make, giving the story more to explore beyond its immediate plot.

Harold Abrahams, Eric Liddell and Jennie Liddell, do not begin the film seeing one another clearly, and watching those first impressions break down is a big part of why Chariots of Fire still works.

Elsewhere, during a 1978 funeral service in London in honour of the life of Harold Abrahams, presided over by his former colleague Lord Andrew Lindsay, there is a flashback to his youth, when he was running along a beach with a group of athletes.

He becomes the first person to complete the Trinity Great Court Run, running around the college courtyard in the time it takes for the clock to strike 12, and achieves victories in various national running competitions. From there, the film can concentrate less on explaining the setup and more on what happens between the people inside it.

Ben Cross plays Harold Abrahams. During a 1978 funeral service in London in honour of the life of Harold Abrahams, presided over by his former colleague Lord Andrew Lindsay, there is a flashback to his youth, when he was running along a beach with a group of athletes.

In 1919, Harold Abrahams enters the University of Cambridge, where he experiences antisemitism but enjoys participating in the Gilbert and Sullivan club.

Chariots of Fire has more on its mind than the basic setup suggests. family sits close to the centre of the film, but it is explored through the characters rather than treated like a lesson.

Chariots of Fire could hardly be separated from the decade that produced it. Released in 1981, it carries the attitudes, style and filmmaking rhythms of the 1980s without needing to announce them.

It also sits comfortably within the era's biographical, sport, drama and historical filmmaking, even if the movie itself is more interesting than any single genre label suggests.

That is part of why it still appears in conversations about 1980s movies and 1980s biographical movies. The film has become tied not only to its own story but to the wider memory of what 1980s movies felt like.

Watching Chariots of Fire now means seeing both what has lasted and what unmistakably belongs to 1981.

What still works best is the human material. Ideas around family have not stopped being relevant simply because the clothes, language and cultural references belong to another era.

Some moments inevitably land differently for a modern audience. Revisiting an older film properly means enjoying what still works without pretending every choice has aged equally well.

A textual epilogue reveals that Abrahams married Sybil and became a leading figure in British athletics, while Liddell went on to do missionary work and was mourned by all of Scotland after his death in Japanese-occupied China.

A large part of that staying power comes from the characters. Harold Abrahams, Eric Liddell and Jennie Liddell, are still useful shorthand for the personalities and pressures the film explores.

Chariots of Fire has lasted because people continue to recognise something in it. Nostalgia helps, but nostalgia alone does not keep a movie in the conversation for decades.