Chariots of Fire director Hugh Hudson dies

The man who directed and co-produced one of the most the iconic running films, 1981’s Chariots of Fire, has died. Hugh Hudson, 86, died in hospital in London on Friday.

Based on a true story, the film was Hudson’s first feature, after a successful career directing documentaries and commercials. It depicts the quest for Olympic glory of two British 100m runners, Harold Abrahams (who was Jewish), and Eric Liddell, and it struck a chord with audiences and critics alike, winning Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, Best Costume Design and Best Original Score (for Vangelis’s stirring theme music). It was also nominated for Best Supporting Actor (Ian Holm, who lost to John Gielgud, for his role in Arthur), Best Director (which Hudson lost to Warren Beatty, for Reds) and Best Film Editing (which editor Terry Rawlings lost to Michael Kahn, for Raiders of the Lost Ark).

In the film, the main theme is the competitiveness between Abrahams, who runs as a way to deal with the sometimes subtle, sometimes overt anti-Semitism he encountered daily; and Liddell, a devout Christian, who runs for the glory of God. Both men go to Paris to compete for Great Britain at the 1924 Olympics, but when Liddell discovers that the heats of the 100m are to take place on a Sunday, he refuses to race, because it’s against his religion to “work” on the Sabbath. He ends up running the 400m instead, on a different day, and wins. Abrahams is defeated in the 200m, but goes on to win the 100m. (Canada’s only medal at that Games was gold in the 100m hurdles for Earl Thomson.)

The film’s writer, Colin Welland, died in 2015.