{"id":49012,"date":"2016-07-08T01:48:46","date_gmt":"2016-07-08T08:48:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/?p=49012"},"modified":"2016-07-08T02:15:06","modified_gmt":"2016-07-08T09:15:06","slug":"chariots-of-fire-returns-to-theatres-and-gets-a-sequel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2016\/07\/chariots-of-fire-returns-to-theatres-and-gets-a-sequel.html","title":{"rendered":"Chariots of Fire<\/i> returns to theatres and gets a “sequel”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"chariotsoffire2-a\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Olympics will be upon us soon, and to mark the occasion, Chariots of Fire<\/a><\/i> \u2014 the Oscar-winning 1981 film about two athletes, one Jewish and one Christian, who represented Great Britain at the 1924 Olympics in Paris \u2014 is coming back to theatres for one night only. An unofficial \u201csequel\u201d has also started playing in China.<\/p>\n

The \u201csequel\u201d in question is The Last Race<\/a><\/i>, a Hong Kong-Chinese film that focuses on the last years of Eric Liddell, the Christian athlete from the earlier film.<\/p>\n

Liddell was born in China and worked as a missionary there after he won his gold medal. He eventually died in a Japanese internment camp near the end of World War II, and his bravery during his imprisonment made him a hero to the Chinese.<\/p>\n

The New York Times<\/a><\/i> reports that The Last Race<\/i>, which stars Joseph Fiennes<\/a>, opened in more than 50 cities last Friday \u2014 and it notes that the film\u2019s primary director, a Christian named Stephen Shin, had to treat Liddell\u2019s faith very carefully:<\/p>\n

Another challenge for the filmmakers was determining how to depict Mr. Liddell\u2019s strong faith without alarming the censors.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to be very careful with how you portray religion,\u201d Mr. Shin said. \u201cThe movie can\u2019t be a medium through which to promote certain religious beliefs.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the end, he said, the script was approved with only a few changes, and crosses and churches are shown throughout, even as the Chinese authorities are cracking down on the public display of crosses.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Times<\/i> also notes that changes had to be made regarding the film\u2019s depiction of the Japanese soldiers, lest they be put on \u201cequal\u201d footing with their Chinese prisoners:<\/p>\n

Yet despite the story\u2019s emphasis on heroism and self-sacrifice, Mr. Shin acknowledged that China\u2019s film censors had to be placated before they would allow the production to proceed. Depictions of Japanese soldiers during World War II, for example, are still regarded warily by China\u2019s Communist Party.<\/p>\n

In the original script, according to the director, a nurse in a hospital said to the invading Japanese soldiers: \u201cThis is a hospital. Everyone in this hospital is equal.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the film censors thought audiences would misunderstand,\u201d he said, \u201cbecause in the eyes of the Chinese, the Japanese were not equals, they were invaders. So I changed it to have her say: \u2018This is a hospital. We are here to save people and you are here to kill people, so I would ask you to please leave.\u2019 \u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Last Race<\/i> does not currently have a North American release date.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the original Chariots of Fire<\/i> is returning to theatres in about a dozen U.S. cities for one night only on August 1. Click here<\/a> for more information.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Last Race<\/i>, which depicts Liddell’s last years in a Japanese internment camp, opened in over 50 Chinese cities last Friday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1116,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[3065,3067,3064,3068],"class_list":["post-49012","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","tag-chariots-of-fire","tag-eric-liddell","tag-last-race","tag-stephen-shin"],"yoast_head":"\nChariots of Fire returns to theatres and gets a "sequel"<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Last Race, which depicts Liddell's last years in a Japanese internment camp, opened in over 50 Chinese cities last Friday.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2016\/07\/chariots-of-fire-returns-to-theatres-and-gets-a-sequel.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Chariots of Fire returns to theatres and gets a "sequel"\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Last Race, which depicts Liddell's last years in a Japanese internment camp, opened in over 50 Chinese cities last Friday.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2016\/07\/chariots-of-fire-returns-to-theatres-and-gets-a-sequel.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"FilmChat\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-07-08T08:48:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-07-08T09:15:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/files\/2016\/07\/chariotsoffire2-a-1024x278.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Peter T. 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