They shall run

I spent yesterday watching an old movie. The day was rainy and dreary, perfect for screening one of my favorite movies of all time...Chariots of Fire. I'll let Wikipedia tell you the story of the film HERE.
I'd planned on getting a few things done around town that day, one of which was returning some materials to the local public library. Upon entering I found it quiet and slow which I half expected on such a gloomy day. I saw it on the shelf and every time I do I swear it calls my name. The two disc set that includes new documentaries and never before seen footage. Why do I bother resisting? I'd seen it a mere six months ago so I may as well get used to the idea that I am a prisoner of this movie and I will never escape it's evil clutches. Nor would I want to. It's shot beautifully on location around Britain. Matter of fact it didn't use any pre-fab interiors.All of the interiors were shot in real places, not in some sound stage. This is what gives this film the immediacy I so enjoy.



I'm not a believer but I do admire the conviction and determination of the two main characters and find myself wishing I were them. Running for their country but more than that I envy them for the times they lived in. I've always felt that I was an Edwardian lost in the wrong era. And being a young actor in 1980 I felt that I could have played the American runners just as well as the Yanks represented on film. And the producers would have had the benefit of knowing that I was a track star in high school whose skills as both an actor and a runner could now be fully utilized. I guess I missed the boat by being born late but I couldn't find an oar even in my own time back in 1980. But one day I will get over this tragedy and move on with my life, such as it is.

Hearing Ian Charleson deliver his sermon intoning "they shall run, and be not weary..."
still makes me pause and take a deep breath. How very pastoral and how very inspiring at least in terms of poetry. The next time it rains and I have nothing to do I just might find myself back at the library heeding the siren call of this wonderful movie. I mean, what better way could one have of spending a dreary afternoon? I swear that I just might lose myself between the wars and not come back.