What Chariots of Fire can teach us about identity politics

Next week marks the 40th anniversary of Hugh Hudson’s Chariots of Fire, the Oscar-winning true tale of Olympic glory which captured the affections of critics and mass audiences alike. Fondly cited by everyone from Maggie Thatcher to Joe Biden, parodied by Mr. Bean, beloved and bemoaned for its Vangelis score and heightened slow-mo cinematography, Chariots reliably jerks tears from most filmgoers of a certain generation. Yet, four decades on, the film has lost none of its vitality, even for the newcomer. Indeed, so far from being a faded relic of its era, it still crackles with a sharp and nuanced screenplay that offers particularly apt food for thought in a news age dominated by debates over discrimination, both racial and ideological. 

Though billed as a sports drama, the film is really a psychological character study of its two protagonists, Harold Abrahams (Ben Cross) and Eric Liddell (Ian Charleson). The young athletes clash early but chart their respective outsiders-against-the-establishment courses along parallel tracks.