By Sue Klasky Jul 31, 2008, 0:13 GMT
"Death Defying Acts," directed by Australian Gillian Armstrong ("My Brilliant Career") stars Guy Pearce ("Memento") as magician and escape artist Harry Houdini, and Catherine Zeta-Jones as Scottish psychic Mary McGarvie.
The film takes place in 1926, when Houdini toured Britain. In the plot, he meets and has an affair with McGarvie. She and her daughter Benji (Saorise Ronan) were trying to con Houdini by holding a seance to contact his late mother. Houdini was very skeptical of psychics and mediums. The movie is in limited release.
Cezary Skubiszewski composed the original score for the film. Daryl McKensie orchestrated and conducted the Victorian Philharmonic Orchestra. The featured performers are John Barrett, David Alloway, Phil Gunter, Isabelle Morse, Mark Zorz, the Ashton-Smith SIngers of Australia, George Butrumus, Miriam Morris, Byron Troandafilidus, and Gazy Yelcin.
I liked this score with the way the tracks flow together with its combination of Celtic and klezmer-sounding music. The opening track "Death Defying Suite" sets the tone with a Scottish feel that appears half-way through the piece. It's performed with flute and strings.
This Celtic theme (probably Mary's theme) meanders in and out of the score; these pieces include "Benji's Nightmare" and "Love or Money" featuring strings and clarinet. The last track, "The Final Curtain" has lots of strings.
The music goes into a crescendo, then back to the flute, and into a forlorn Celtic tune, which refers back to the opening piece. "You Saved Me" is quiet with a Celtic flute.
Many of the tracks feature jazzy, ragtime and klezmer sounds, and are probably Houdini's musical theme. "Princes Kali" mixes Indian, jazz and klezmer music and performed on a clarinet. Maybe this is to honor Houdini's Jewish background, or because of the ragtime era.
Other tunes with this kind of mix includes "Houdini's Angels" and "Maid Does the Dishes." There's lots of clarinet, drums, horns, piano. The latter tune has a tango feel. In "The Star Picture House," there's a piano solo that turns into a ragtime tune. "Foxtrot Foxtrot" is 1930's dance music, light and breezy,
The music is not just Celtic and jazz. There are also dark, sad-sounding pieces such as "The Great Houdini" with strings, and lots going on in the music; "You're the One" features a sad clarinet solo. "My Immortal Soul" feels like Houdini making his presentation on the stage with a fanfare of cymbals.
Even though there is some repetition of the themes, it doesn't bother me. This is a CD you can play and enjoy on its own merits, and not just as a movie score.
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