On Wings of Eagles

9/3/2022

This film picks up where "Chariots of Fire" (1981) leaves off with the Olympic champion Eric Liddell (Joseph Fiennes) now a missionary in the land of his birth - now war-torn - China. When the Japanese invade, he is initially fêted - well fed and looked after, but that is all part of the ultimate game of humiliation as he is basically being groomed for a race against "Xu Niu" (Shawn Dou). This is quite an interesting depiction of just how this man's Christian faith and sense of decency were pitched against the ruthlessness of his captors who used both physical and psychological methods to reduce their captives to jelly. Whilst this certainly hints at those atrocities, the whole look and feel of the film is just a little sterile and Fiennes isn't really up to much in the lead. Somehow his s