10 movies to inspire the inner runner
Katherine Monk, Canwest News Service
Published: Monday, May 12, 2008
They may be purest metaphor for human accomplishment, but movies about running and the art of the pushing one’s body to the extreme can be downright dreary — if not ridiculous.
The problem isn’t the marathon idea, but the lack of externalized drama until the race itself. The real dynamics are internal, as the runner is inevitably forced to face internal demons of commitment, strength, desire and will.
Finding the face of that drama is difficult to accomplish without resorting to cheesy dialogue that may involve a line like this one from Without Limits, Robert Towne’s 1998 film about Olympic hopeful Steve Prefontaine: "the real purpose of running isn’t to win a race. It’s to test the limits of the human heart."’
Films that have been most successful at conveying the personal magnitude of a marathon generally weave that struggle onto a larger, epic frame that allows the theme of personal sacrifice to be meaningful to the audience.
Perhaps that’s why a movie such as Gallipoli, Peter Weir’s 1981 war movie that focuses on two sprinters trying to survive a slaughter, is one of the most memorable films involving runners: The final sacrifice is literal — not to mention cinematically compelling — as the heroes are mowed down in battle during the final scene.
Metaphor isn’t always a sure ticket to success. There have been true disasters in the running genre, such as Run For Your Life — in which a battered woman decides to get even with the man who killed her baby by running in a marathon. Sometimes, the "you can do anything"’ idea is pushed a little too hard.
That said, there’s a handful of movies that actually deal specifically with running, but for the most part, they follow the runner cliché without reinvention: The Long Run, Running Brave, Prefontaine, On the Edge, Four Minutes, Without Limits, and Robert Towne’s landmark piece of earnest athletic kitsch: Personal Best.
In the big picture, there’s no shortage of truly worthy movies that feature running as a central theme. So in the hopes of helping all you runners jog your mind, as well as body, here’s a look at 10 films where the characters go the distance.
1. Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner (2001) — Zacharias Kunuk’s movie about a young Innu warrior trying to assert his family’s place in the social circle is a cinematic milestone for several reasons: Not only is it the first feature film to feature Inuktitut dialogue, it was produced, written and directed by the people of Igloolik, Nunavut. A gorgeous piece of filmmaking that makes the most of the arctic’s wonder, the movie puts you in a cinematic trance — which is an excellent approximation of the runner’s mind state. The film also features one of the most memorable running scenes ever put to film: Atanarjuat running completely naked on ice floes in order to escape his nemesis. The sequence lasts so long, and gets so bloody, it gives Mel Gibson’s Passion of the Christ a run for the martyr tape.
2. Marathon Man (1976) — Sure, it’s about the hunt for Nazi war criminals and a fortune in diamonds stolen from Holocaust victims, but John Schlesinger’s 1976 classic is remembered mostly for Dustin Hoffman’s perpetually puffing performance as he runs through the streets of Manhattan with a bleeding mouth. Hoffman was a running enthusiast in real life, so he could handle the long, repeated takes of him sprinting through New York.
3. Chariots of Fire (1981) — Though more people probably remember the Vangelis score better than the actual film — with the exception of the running scene on the beach — Hugh Hudson’s period film about two athletes training for the 1924 Olympic Games is probably the most elegant and artistically successful films to deal with running as a central theme — thanks to its artful blend of the epic and the personal.
4. Run Lola Run (1998) — Tom Tykwer’s compelling morality tale deals with one woman running through the streets of Berlin in an effort to change the fate of her boyfriend before it’s too late. Though we hear very little about the act of running, the movie is in constant motion as we run alongside Franka Potente for the duration.
5. Gallipoli (1981) — Mel Gibson and Mark Lee look so good in this Peter Weir opus, their bodies alone may have helped spark the early ’80s running fad. Again, this film isn’t about running per se, it’s about one of the bloodiest massacres in history, but the material fuses into one memorable metaphor about lost potential and personal sacrifice. It also features the memorable coach’s line: "Your legs are steel springs . . ."
6. The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962) — Tony Richardson directs Michael Redgrave in this somewhat predictable inspiration story about a reformatory rebel who finds his stride as a distance runner. Redgrave plays the reform school governor who watches the young Tom Courtenay transform himself through sport.
7. Personal Best (1982) — This Robert Towne movie caused quite the commotion when it "came out," but not for the incredible sports content. The movie featured ingenue of the moment Mariel Hemingway as a young athlete who finds love in the arms of her female teammate. The movie may have one too many melodramatic scenes between the women, but the running content is well handled — even if Hemingway doesn’t have a natural gait.
8. Without Limits (1998)/Prefontaine (1997) — These two films about Olympic hopeful Steve Prefontaine came out a year apart, and contained a not-so-surprisingly similar narrative. The former, Without Limits, is another film from running fan Towne, and feels a little more relaxed with Billy Crudup in the lead. But Prefontaine has its merits too, and director Steve James and actor Jared Leto do a good job getting inside the head of the man who "turned running into a bloodsport."
9. On the Edge (1985) — If you know about running, you know all about the Dipsea Race in Marin County — a gruelling cross country race that attracts the true fanatics. Bruce Dern — another real-life runner — stars alongside Pam Grier in this moody movie that features incredible footage of the California landscape, and lots of running sequences shot at magic hour.
10. Rocky (1976) — Though it’s really a boxing movie, John Avildsen’s Oscar- winning reel features a classic montage that’s now become a template for self-improvement as we watch Sly Stallone running through the streets of Philadelphia until he finally climbs the steps of the museum and throws his arms in the air — proving kitsch can be inspiring and moving if it’s handled with the right touch.
Other running movies you may want too check out: The Long Run; Running Brave; Four Minutes; Running on the Sun; Running Man; Run Fat Boy Run; The Swimmer; Forest Gump; The Terry Fox Story; The Athlete; Courage; Distance Runners; The Games; Saint Ralph; Sahara Marathon; Run for Your Life.
