Changes: Death Defying Acts

Latest revision as of 15:40, 28 October 2014

Death Defying Acts is a 2007 British-Australian supernatural romance film, directed by Gillian Armstrong, and starring Guy Pearce & Catherine Zeta-Jones. It concerns an episode in the life of HUngarian-American escapologist Harry Houdini at the height of his career in the 1920s. It was screened in a special presentation at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival.

Directed by: Gilliam Armstrong
Produced by: Chris Curling, Marian Macgowan
Written by: Tony Grisoni, Brian Ward
Starring: Guy Pearce, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Timothy Spall, Saorise Ronan
Music by: Cezary Skubiszewski
Cinematography: Haris Zambarloukos
Edited by: Nicholas Beauman
Country: U.K., Australia
Language: English
Running time: 97 minutes
Budget: N/A
Box Office: $8 million
Release date: September 13, 2007
Distributed by: Weinstein Co.

Plot

In 1926, 13 years after his mother's death, illusionist Harry Houdini (Guy Pearce) has begun debunking

Catherinezeta2 468x312 — Mary McGarvie is a fake psychic from Ediburgh

mystics, psychics and others who claim to have paranomarl powers. He offers US$10,000 to anyone who can quote his mother's dying words to him.

Impoverished and uneducated Scottish con artist Mary McGarvie (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and her daughter Benji (Saorise Ronan) set their sights on Houdini's reward when he visits Edinburh on tour. Mary's psychic act pulls in the public: Benji surreptitiously gathers information on members of the audience, information Mary uses to con them into believing they can reach out to their deceased loved ones.

Their only obstacle is Houdini's protective manager, Sugarman (Timothy Spall). Mary manages to charm the unsuspecting magician, but as they spend more and more time together, Sugarman intervenes, trying to prevent Houdini from becoming entangled with Mary, of whom he is suspicious.

Sugarman's main desire is to see Mary and Benji gone; they claim they will be gone for good once they secure the reward for finding out what Houdini's mother said to him on her death bed. Sugarman realizes he can't get rid of them as easily as he had hoped. Mary is caught trying to open Houdini's chest and covers up by saying she was just searching for something to channel the psychic energy of the deceased.

Benji gets the key to the chest from Sugarman. When Mary and Benji fail to turn up any useful information, they turn again to Sugarman. He tells them that Houdini was out doing a show and missed seeing his mother before she died.

When the time comes, Mary is unable to perform the experiment and attempts to leave. At this point Benji starts having a fit on the ground and claims to be channelling Houdini's mother on her death bed, uttering

Death-defying-acts-243x232 — Benji says she hears Houdini's mother's voie

the words of the Kaddish and addressing Houdini as "Ehrich", his real name, and speaking partly in German and partly in German-accented English asking where he is, and why he is not with her. This could be interpreted as either a genuine seance or a very skillful and convincing impersonation by the young artist.

When the note he wrote to confirm the veracity of the experiment was removed from its safe and shown to be blank, Houdini reveals the "eternal shame" he feels because he wasn't able to reach his mother before she died, and thus was unable to comfort her in her moment of death, or to hear her final words. The McGarvies are awarded the $10,000.

Mary is disgruntled because she believes Harry does not love her as she believed. When he says he does, they become romantically involved before Houdini leaves for his last performance, in Montreal.

Harry and Mary get romantically involved

During his travels, he is climbing a set of stairs when a "Red-Haired Prankster" punches him in the stomach while he was not prepared, rupturing his appendix, eventually killing him.

Cast[]

- Guy Pearce - Harry Houdini

- Catherine Zeta-Jones - Mary McGarvie

- Saorise Ronan - Benji McGarvie

- Timothy Spall - Sugarman

- Malcolm Shields - Leith Romeo

- Leni Harper - Leith Romeo's wife

- Ralph Riach - Mr. Roberston

Music[]

The film's original score was provided by Soderbergh's regular collaborator,, Thomas Newman. The score was released by Varese Sarabande on March 5, 2013.

Death Defying Suite
Inmoral Souls
The Great Houdini
Princes Kali
The Star Picture House
Hello Edinburgh
Houdini's Angel
My Inmortal Soul
The Audition
You're The One
Scott's Monument
Benji's Nightmare
Foxtrot Foxtrot
Love of Money
Maid Does The Dishes
Just Like Falling
You Saved Me
The Final Curtain

Production[]

The film was shot on location in London and Edinburgh, and at Pinewood Studios, Buckinghamshire, produced by Myriad Pictures and is being distributed by The Weinstein Company. Guy Pearce spent six weeks learning Houdini's tricks from magician Ross Skiffington. Magic consultant for the film was English magician Scott Penrose.

Box office[]

Saorise Ronan, Guy Pearce and Catherine Zeta-Jones at the movie premiere in Sydney

Death Defying Acts earned $2,839,345 at the Spanish box office, $800,505 in South Korea, $713,741 in Australia and $608,455 in Mexico. Globally, the film took $6,415,141. It was on a very limited release in larger markets such as the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States, resulting in low box-office takings there.

Critical reception[]

The film received mixed reviews, with a 44% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Awards and nominations:[]

The APRA-AGSC Screen Music Awards of 2009 were issued on 2 November, by Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and Australian Guild of Screen Composers (AGSC) at the City Recital Hall, Sydney.
2009 APRA Best Soundtrack Album win for Death Defying Acts by Cezary Skubiszewski.

@@ Line 19: / Line 19: @@
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@@ Line 24: / Line 28: @@
 <span style="font-size:20px;">Plot</span>
-In 1926, 13 years after his mother's death, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illusionist illusionist] Harry Houdini ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Pearce Guy Pearce]) has begun debunking mystics, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychic psychics] and others who claim to have [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paranormal paranormal] powers. He offers US$10,000 to anyone who can quote his mother's dying words to him.
+In 1926, 13 years after his mother's death, illusionist Harry Houdini (Guy Pearce) has begun debunking
-Impoverished and uneducated [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scot Scottish] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Con_artist con artist] Mary McGarvie ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_Zeta-Jones Catherine Zeta-Jones]) and her daughter Benji ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saoirse_Ronan Saoirse Ronan]) set their sights on Houdini's reward when he visits [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edinburgh Edinburgh] on tour. Mary's psychic act pulls in the public: Benji surreptitiously gathers information on members of the audience, information Mary uses to con them into believing they can reach out to their deceased loved ones.
+[[File:Catherinezeta2_468x312.jpg|thumb|346px|Mary McGarvie is a fake psychic from Ediburgh]]
-Their only obstacle is Houdini's protective manager, Sugarman ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy_Spall Timothy Spall]). Mary manages to charm the unsuspecting magician, but as they spend more and more time together, Sugarman intervenes, trying to prevent Houdini from becoming entangled with Mary, of whom he is suspicious.
+mystics, psychics and others who claim to have paranomarl powers. He offers US$10,000 to anyone who can quote his mother's dying words to him.
+Impoverished and uneducated Scottish con artist Mary McGarvie (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and her daughter Benji (Saorise Ronan) set their sights on Houdini's reward when he visits Edinburh on tour. Mary's psychic act pulls in the public: Benji surreptitiously gathers information on members of the audience, information Mary uses to con them into believing they can reach out to their deceased loved ones.
+Their only obstacle is Houdini's protective manager, Sugarman (Timothy Spall). Mary manages to charm the unsuspecting magician, but as they spend more and more time together, Sugarman intervenes, trying to prevent Houdini from becoming entangled with Mary, of whom he is suspicious.
 Sugarman's main desire is to see Mary and Benji gone; they claim they will be gone for good once they secure the reward for finding out what Houdini's mother said to him on her death bed. Sugarman realizes he can't get rid of them as easily as he had hoped. Mary is caught trying to open Houdini's chest and covers up by saying she was just searching for something to channel the psychic energy of the deceased.
+Benji gets the key to the chest from Sugarman. When Mary and Benji fail to turn up any useful information, they turn again to Sugarman. He tells them that Houdini was out doing a show and missed seeing his mother before she died.
-Benji gets the key to the chest from Sugarman. When Mary and Benji fail to turn up any useful information, they turn again to Sugarman. He tells them that Houdini was out doing a show and missed seeing his mother before she died. When the time comes, Mary is unable to perform the experiment and attempts to leave. At this point Benji starts having a fit on the ground and claims to be channelling Houdini's mother on her death bed, uttering the words of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaddish Kaddish] and addressing Houdini as "Ehrich", his real name, and speaking partly in German and partly in German-accented English asking where he is, and why he is not with her. This could be interpreted as either a genuine [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seance seance] or a very skillful and convincing impersonation by the young artist. When the note he wrote to confirm the veracity of the experiment was removed from its safe and shown to be blank, Houdini reveals the "eternal shame" he feels because he wasn't able to reach his mother before she died, and thus was unable to comfort her in her moment of death, or to hear her final words. The McGarvies are awarded the $10,000.
+When the time comes, Mary is unable to perform the experiment and attempts to leave. At this point Benji starts having a fit on the ground and claims to be channelling Houdini's mother on her death bed, uttering [[File:Death-defying-acts-243x232.jpg|thumb|left|Benji says she hears Houdini's mother's voie]]the words of the Kaddish and addressing Houdini as "Ehrich", his real name, and speaking partly in German and partly in German-accented English asking where he is, and why he is not with her. This could be interpreted as either a genuine seance or a very skillful and convincing impersonation by the young artist.
+When the note he wrote to confirm the veracity of the experiment was removed from its safe and shown to be blank, Houdini reveals the "eternal shame" he feels because he wasn't able to reach his mother before she died, and thus was unable to comfort her in her moment of death, or to hear her final words. The McGarvies are awarded the $10,000.
+Mary is disgruntled because she believes Harry does not love her as she believed. When he says he does, they become romantically involved before Houdini leaves for his last performance, in Montreal.
+<gallery type="slideshow" position="center" widths="338">
+death_defying_acts_guy_pearce_catherine_zeta_jones_1.jpg|Harry and Mary get romantically involved
+</gallery>
-Mary is disgruntled because she believes Harry does not love her as she believed. When he says he does, they become romantically involved before Houdini leaves for his last performance, in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montreal Montreal]. During his travels, he is climbing a set of stairs when a "Red-Haired Prankster" punches him in the stomach while he was not prepared, rupturing his [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vermiform_appendix appendix], eventually killing him.
+During his travels, he is climbing a set of stairs when a "Red-Haired Prankster" punches him in the stomach while he was not prepared, rupturing his appendix, eventually killing him.
 ==Cast==
@@ Line 89: / Line 108: @@
 [[File:Deathost.jpg|thumb|334px]]
+#Death Defying Suite
-#"Acute Parasomnia" – 0:41
+#Inmoral Souls
-#"Very Sick Girl (Main Title)" – 2:25
+#The Great Houdini
-#"Houston Free Meds" – 2:22
+#Princes Kali
-#"Relativity – 1:22
+#The Star Picture House
-#"Past Behaviour" – 1:28
+#Hello Edinburgh
-#"Another Acquittal" – 3:27
+#Houdini's Angel
-#"Knife" – 1:20
+#My Inmortal Soul
-#"Hopelessness" – 1:22
+#The Audition
-#"Allison Finn" – 2:27
+#You're The One
-#"Dark & Stormy" – 1:10
+#Scott's Monument
-#"Poisonous Fog" – 2:29
+#Benji's Nightmare
-#"Salt Water" – 2:00
+#Foxtrot Foxtrot
-#"Conduct Review" – 2:09
+#Love of Money
-#"Double Jeopardy" – 0:46
+#Maid Does The Dishes
-#"Malingering" – 5:42
+#Just Like Falling
-#"St. Luke's" – 1:23
+#You Saved Me
-#"Take Back Tomorrow (End Title)" – 2:21
+#The Final Curtain
-#"The Forgotten People" (performed by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thievery_Corporation Thievery Corporation]) – 3:12
 ==Production==
 The film was shot on location in '''London''' and '''Edinburgh''', and at '''Pinewood Studios''', '''Buckinghamshire''', produced by '''Myriad Pictures''' and is being distributed by '''The Weinstein Company'''. Guy Pearce spent six weeks learning Houdini's tricks from magician '''Ross Skiffington'''. Magic consultant for the film was English magician '''Scott Penrose'''.
 ==Box office==
-''Death Defying Acts'' earned $2,839,345 at the '''Spanish''' box office, $800,505 in '''South Korea''', $713,741 in '''Australia''' and $608,455 in '''Mexico'''. Globally, the film took $6,415,141. It was on a very limited release in larger markets such as the '''United Kingdom''', '''Canada''' and the '''United States''', resulting in low box-office takings there.
+''[[File:Catherine_Zeta_Jones_Guy_Pearce_Premiere_Death_0Cr4xS47YRDl.jpg|thumb|left|362px|Saorise Ronan, Guy Pearce and Catherine Zeta-Jones at the movie premiere in Sydney]]Death Defying Acts'' earned $2,839,345 at the '''Spanish''' box office, $800,505 in '''South Korea''', $713,741 in '''Australia''' and $608,455 in '''Mexico'''. Globally, the film took $6,415,141. It was on a very limited release in larger markets such as the '''United Kingdom''', '''Canada''' and the '''United States''', resulting in low box-office takings there.
 ==Critical reception==
 The film received mixed reviews, with a 44% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.