Here are three scenes from the movie Chariots of Fire.

You'll notice how important it is to listen to the emotional state of the other and to act accordingly, knowing how to listen to the context, creating a relationship of trust so that the partner listens.

The movie tells the fictionalized story of Eric Liddell and Harold Abrahams, two British sprinters who participated in the Olympics in 1924. You will see the two protagonists meeting for the first time in a preparatory race for the Olympics.

Here’s the link for the first scene 

Chariots of Fire, H. Hudson, UK, 1981, 20th Century Fox (00:46:33 - 00:47:56)

  • How would you describe the way Harold’s girlfriend tries to comfort him?
  • Do you think it is effective?
  • If not, why did she not reach her goal?

Now read the description of the second scene: the coach introduces three athletics champions to Harold and he highlights what their strengths are. These three athletes are possible obstacles for Harold’s career and the coach warns him, creating in the boy a high sense of competition. He states the following: “look at them, think them, breathe them”. Harold expresses his point of view, and he says he mostly fears “the flying Scots”. However, the coach says that “he’s not the real problem, he’s not an 100 meters man” (which is Harold’s discipline). Despite Harold states that he was beaten by the Scots, the coach continues saying that “the short sprinters run on nerves” and this is not the case of the Scots. According to him, Harold didn’t win the last race because of a problem of strides, which are too long. Therefore, he tells Harold that he should increase the number of strides and he adds that he will surely achieve this goal, because long strides mark the defeat of the sprinter. 

Chariots of Fire, H. Hudson, UK, 1981, 20th Century Fox (00:50:55 - 00:53:18)

  • How would you describe the trainer’s approach?
  • Do you think her approach is effective?
  • What exactly makes this approach effective/ineffective?