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Show Dennis Christopher, Brad Davis. Patrick Magce and Peter Egan. The original sereennhiv wns hv Colin Wclland. and tlic original music was composed, arranged ar-ranged and performed by Vangelis Patlianassiou. by David I'lei'sher A special screening of the recently-completed film "Chariots of Fire" was shown before a capacity crowd Saturday night at the Egyptian Theater; the champagne cham-pagne affair served as the Utah premiere for this film which traces the lives of two young men from different backgrounds determined to excel in track. It is based on the lives of Eric Liddell and Harold Abrahams, both of whom competed in the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris. As I was watching "Chariots "Char-iots of Fire" I sensed a feeling of anticipation well up inside me. Here are two fierce competitors, Eric Liddell, Lid-dell, a devout Christian who firmly believes God has given him the gift of being able to run fast and who thus runs for the glory of God, and Harold Abrahams, a man proud of his Jewish heritage yet who resents the anti-semitism he has encountered encoun-tered during his life. What I expected to see in the film simply didn't materialize. The relationship between Liddell and Abrahams is tenuous at best; in fact, they never really get to know each other. The motivations are clear, but whatever affect the two men had on each other is left up to the imagination, and this is unfortunate because the film fails to live up to its potential in telling a compelling story. It leaves me to believe that Director Hugh Hudson wanted want-ed to stay close to the true facts and avoid sensationalizing sensationaliz-ing the story by using a lot of fiction; and if this is the case, then I admire Hudson's honest intentions. But the wav the film is set up, one can't help but EXPECT Liddell and Abrahams to at least become acquainted and later to influence each other, at least to a certain extent. It's as if there are two separate stories being told with only a thin string connecting them together; consequently, if there is a climax in "Chariots of Fire," it's so thin as to be almost invisible. I also think the director, at some point, asked himself, "Do I want to make a feature film or a documentary?" The result was something in between. The cinematography is marvelous; mar-velous; Hudson uses a number of slow motion sequences very effectively. The opening and closing shots of men running along a beach are nice because they set a certain mood. And there are several other scenes that, from an aesthetic aesthet-ic standpoint, arc pleasing to watch; again, these are mostly shots of men running. Ian Charleson as Eric Liddell and Ben Cross as Harold Abrahams are completely com-pletely believable as the two runners obsessed with winning. It's obvious that Charleson and Cross did their homework in researching research-ing the men they portrayed on the screen. Ben Cross, who was present at Saturday night's screening, screen-ing, said during a brief press conference that he grew to identify with Harold Abrahams Abra-hams even though his own background was much different. diffe-rent. Cross, who is not Jewish, explained that he practiced running a lot before filming began on the picture. "Chariots of Fire" is Ben Cross's debut in feature films. After joining the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1977. Cross appeared in "Privates on Parade" and "Wild Oats," then later in the musicals "I Love My Wife" and "Chicago." Along with Ben Cross and Ian Charleson, "Chariots of Fire" stars Nigel Havers, Nicholas Farrell, Cheryl Campbell and Alice Krige, with guest stars Ian Holme, Sir John Gielgud, Lindsay Anderson, Nigel Davenport, |
