Saturday 22 March 2008

Gillian Armstrong's DEATH DEFYING ACTS

Since her debut film in 1970, Australian director Gillian Armstrong has been a strong and varied body of work from her first foray in Hollywood with Mrs. Soffel(1984), The Last Days of Chez Nous(1992), her most successful and well-known film to date, Little Women(1994) to the enigmatic charm of Oscar & Lucinda(1997).

Her latest film, Death Defying Acts tells the story of Harry Houdini in the height of his career in the 1920s and stars Guy Pearce, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Timothy Spall. The screenplay is by the frequent Terry Gilliam collaborator, Tony Grisoni. Here is the trailer:



The synopsis is as follows:
It is 1926, and Harry Houdini is the most famous performer in the world. Audiences flock to watch him perform his amazing stunts. But the man behind the legend is a tortured soul, having been unable to hear his mother’s dying words. He offers a $10,000 reward to anyone who can contact his mother from beyond the grave. When a beautiful but deceptive psychic, Mary McGregor, and her sidekick daughter, Benji, take the challenge, Harry is initially skeptical, but is soon captivated by her charms. The more time he spends with the mysterious woman, the more attracted he is, and what began as a con soon evolves into a passionate and complicated love affair, as Houdini attempts the most dangerous stunt of his career.


Death Defying Acts is due to be released in the UK in August 2008.

Links:
Death Defying Acts (Myriad Pictures)
Death Defying Acts Wiki
Gillian Armstrong (Senses of Cinema)
Gillian Armstrong Wiki

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