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I’ve been thinking about this because I watched the movie for the first time recently, and I watched it twice this evening (once on fast forward specifically so I could get as much Nigel Havers as possible in as little time as I could before bed – slowing down to watch him, of course XD ). (just to clarify – I speak of the characters in the story told in the movie, not of the real life people.)
Aubrey – Well, he is the contented sort, as Harold points out near the end. He’s always polite and cheerful. He’s a friendly guy, the sort who is glue between a group of friends.
Harold – Complex and confusing. I can’t figure him out. : P
Henry Stallard – I ALWAYS FORGET HIS NAME. Now I have written it down perhaps I shall remember.
Andrew and Eric – These two guys are my favourites (and not just because they’re the cutest – well, Aubrey’s pretty cute too!). They have my two favourite polarities of joy. Andy (Lord Lindsay – isn’t that a wonderful name?) finds entertainment in everything (well, everything good, anyway) and he’s casual and perpetually cheerful and does things for a lark. He’s always laughing, and his exuberance is heartwarming. (And his hair is shiny and golden.) Eric is quite different; a bit deeper, but equally spirited. You can just see, in the last race slo-mo, his exultation that is as big as the world itself, not for himself, but for the joy of running (running for God, as he keeps saying).
The story is about Harold – he had a goal, and he worked super hard to get there (which reminds me – I need to finish memorizing that Ravel : P ). But I prefer watching the other two, because they’re simpler. Lindsay does it because it’s fun, and because it’s fun for him (and because he is a lord who can spend time on it ; ) ), he is really good at it. But he gets nervous before his race. He’s human. He’d like to do well and is afraid that he won’t. Eric doesn’t care nearly as much, it appears to me, as the others. He trains hard, but simply and never forgets the enjoyment – this is pretty obvious in the training montage. He wants to win, but not for himself – he’s just fast and he plans to use that to its full, as he says, to honour the one who gave it to him. If he doesn’t win, he still did his best, and someone else was just faster. If he does his best, at the end of the day he will still be content. Of course, if he did poorly he would feel pretty bad.
I’m rambling. The point is that Lindsay laughs, Eric exults, and those two are two of the best things to do with life. And those characters, those actors, did a fantastic job of showing that.
I have to say the make-up department did a fantastic job on making old versions of Aubrey and Lindsay for the funeral scene (there are two, but I think they prolly filmed them at the same time ; ) ). They are clearly the same people, once you get to recognize the young versions, but they are perfect old people! : D …Never mind me.
Cheers and luv!
