Chariots Of Fire - Wednesday 31st July 2024

I think I watched this to get me in the mood for the 2024 Paris Olympics, as the film is set during the build up to the Paris Olympics a hundred years earlier, in 1924. Anyone who grew up in the 80s will be familiar with the infamous theme music by Vangelis, and the sense of wanting to run a race that it evoked. Such was the power of movies back in the day, that even if you hadn’t seen the film, you still knew about it, because it permeated through the culture.

Anyway, fast-forward forty-odd years, and I finally see the film. It wasn’t what I expected, to be honest. I imagined it to be a Rocky-esque film about individual triumphalism, when actually, it’s an understated period drama about particular men at very particular time in history.

I mean, it was alright. Dry and understated is pretty much a hallmark of most British films, and this was no different. Did it get me excited about running, or the Paris Olympics? Not even slightly! Still, it’s a decent film, and if you fancy a period drama about British runners from a hundred years ago, this is the film for you!