Chariots of Fire, by Hugh Hudson (1981)
Oscar for best film in 1982, Chariots of Fire, by Hugh Hudson (Greystoke), focuses on the journey of two British sprinters, Eric Liddell, a particularly devout Scottish Christian, and Harold Abrahams, an English Jew who was the victim of anti-Semitism, on the eve of and during the 1924 Olympic Games. Vangelis’ famous instrumental theme cradles the film’s opening scene, which is equally legendary, featuring runners in white filmed in slow motion on a Scottish beach. A popular film with a classic style, moving, inspiring and a bit of a racy one, which earned three more Oscars for Hudson’s team, who passed away in 2023. (On Apple TV, YouTube)
Nadia, Butterfly, by Pascal Plante (2020)
The only Canadian film selected for the Cannes Film Festival in 2020, a year when the prestigious festival did not take place in person, Nadia, Butterfly, by Pascal Plante (The Red Rooms), is a fascinating foray into the psyche of an Olympic athlete (swimmer Katerine Savard) who has decided to retire. Nadia, a butterfly specialist, is about to compete in her final games at the Tokyo Games (which have actually been postponed by a year). Bronze medalist at the Rio Games, Katerine Savard, who unfortunately did not qualify for the Paris Games, is now wondering about her sporting future. (On ICITou.TV, Apple TV, Crave, YouTube)
Foxcatcher, by Bennett Miller (2014)
Bennett Miller, director of the excellent sports drama Moneyballhas drawn from a news story this disturbing study on sports psychology. Miller looked at the story of Mark Schultz (Channing Tatum), American Olympic wrestling champion, gold medalist in Los Angeles in 1984. Invited by billionaire John du Pont (Steve Carell) to train with his brother Dave on his vast estate in preparation for the Seoul Games, Schultz is crushed under the yoke of the power dynamics of this strange patron. Winner of the Cannes Best Director Award, Foxcatcher earned Steve Carell a Best Actor Oscar nomination. (On Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube)
Without Limits, by Robert Towne (1998)
Two fiction films were made in two years about the American long-distance runner Steve Prefontaine, who died at the age of 24, shortly before the Montreal Games. Prefontaine, by Steve James (with Jared Leto), and Without Limits, by Robert Towne, in which Billy Crudup plays the young college champion (and the late Donald Sutherland, his coach). Robert Towne, Oscar winner for the screenplay of Chinatown by Roman Polanski, was a finalist for that of Greystone by Hugh Hudson. Towne, died on the 1er Last July, he directed four feature films, including Personal Bestanother film about racing (starring Mariel Hemingway), in 1982. (On Apple TV, Google Play, YouTube)
Munich, by Steven Spielberg (2005)
Munich is not strictly speaking an Olympics movie, but it is undoubtedly one of the best thrillers to deal with this sporting event. In 1972, in Munich, Palestinian terrorists from the Black September organization assassinate 11 members of the Israeli Olympic team. Steven Spielberg, supported by the brilliant screenwriters Tony Kushner and Eric Roth, focuses on the hunt for a former Mossad agent (Eric Bana) at the head of the clandestine operation “Wrath of God”, charged with eliminating the culprits. And in whom doubts about the moral justification of his actions creep in. (On Crave, Prime Video, YouTube, Apple TV)
I, Tonya, by Craig Gillespie (2017)
Fake documentary about the famous Tonya Harding-Nancy Kerrigan affair, I, Tonya is a delicious dark comedy that earned Allison Janney an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, for her role as the mother of Margot Robbie’s figure skater. Miracleon the unexpected victory of the American hockey team at the Lake Placid Games, Eddie the Eagle And Cool Runningsabout winter sports outcasts at the Calgary Games – the first British ski jumper and the Jamaican bobsleigh team – are other notable “winter stories.” (On Prime Video, YouTube, Apple TV, Paramount+)