The Christopher Reeve Story Composer Ilan Eshkeri on Score The Life of a Legend

Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story is a new documentary detailing the life of original big screen Superman actor Christopher Reeve. Originally a theater actor, Reeve shot from obscurity to stardom after being cast in the 1978 film adaptation of Superman. The documentary pulls back the curtain on Reeve’s casting, how he handled his newfound fame, and even what his family and theater friends thought about his decision to take on the role (spoiler: not everyone was as excited as you might expect) .

Many in the public treated Reeve as if he really was Superman, which made the 1995 horse riding accident that left the movie star paralyzed even more ironically tragic. Fittingly, the scope of Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story Explores how Reeve and his family and friends (incl Mrs. Doubtfire star Robin Williams) handled the accident, and the work they have done since then to support spinal cord injury research. In order to ensure that the story resonated so much with the audience, the directors Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui turned to the composer Ilan Eshkeri.

Screen Rant Interviewed Ilan Eshkri about his unique approach to scoring Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story. The Ghost of Tsushima, layer cakeAnd Stardest The composer did not want to approach the film like most other documentaries, instead writing a playful, thematic score that was meant to evoke the richness of Reeve’s life and personality. Eshkri detailed the approach, his first meeting with the Rib family, and more Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story, which hits theaters October 11.

Ilan Eshkeri Discusses Joining Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story

“It was quite an undertaking”

Screen Rant: Thank you for doing this. How dare you make me cry so much in a documentary. It really is such a journey.

Ilan Eshkri: [Laughs] Yes. I was born the year the movie came out, but I grew up with it… There really weren’t any superhero movies in the early 80s. Superman was almost the only one. It was the only superhero movie of any kind of real value, so I really grew up with that.

I remember when Christopher had the accident and all that, but I didn’t remember what happened to Donna and the full extent of the tragedy of it all. And then [the film is] Also just the very human story like when he was Superman, in his personal life, you wouldn’t really have described him as a hero, but when he was in a wheelchair, he really was a hero.

When you got the project, how did you decide how you wanted to score it? The obvious thing to say is that sometimes it felt like you scored raves like a superhero.

Ilan Eshkri: These days, I’m really looking for a good collaboration. There is nothing wrong with this, but it is not a factory process for me. It’s not about, “This is what you did in the temp. I’m going to do something like that,” and I don’t do multiple projects at the same time. To me, it’s truly an artistic endeavor, and it’s about collaboration. I’m not going into it because I want to be told what to do. I want to find a creative team that wants to discuss and collaborate and create something together, and that’s definitely the relationship I have with Peter and Ian. I am very grateful for that, and for the trust and faith they put in me.

We talked about all things about the movie, not just the music – about the narrative, the story and what we’re trying to achieve for the film as a whole, and music is my part of that. And so it was a conversation. “What is it that we are trying to say about this character?” Then, taking this sort of superhero theme approach to it was quite nerve-wracking knowing that I would be sitting side by side with the great superhero music of all time and the great maestro of them all, John Williams. So, it was quite an undertaking. The first thing I wrote, I’m not too happy with. The main theme that plays in the titles and in the end titles was the second thing we settled on.

Eshkeri details writing themes for the life of Christopher Reeve

The topics touched on three main themes

How much you were trying to take specific things, or even just a feeling, from the John Williams Superman score?

Ilan Eshkri: I don’t think so at all. Of course, John Williams is a huge inspiration for me. I grew up with his music, I love his work, and I still learn from listening to his work, but there is a kind of classic Hollywood style in his work, which – of course for this project – is not necessarily suitable. I guess there is a nod to it in places…maybe more with the love theme than anything else. I think the score has a more contemporary feel than a John Williams score would have. There’s no way you can be John Williams, especially if you’re writing music that’s going to sit alongside his work, so I didn’t even want to try that. I wanted to just do what I do.

You mention a love theme. How did you decide which relationships and aspects of Reeve’s life you wanted to highlight with a motif or theme?

Ilan Eshkri: There are three main themes in the score. One of them is, I guess, what we can call the superhero theme, which plays on the titles. And it’s not about being a comic book superhero. It’s about what we learn in the film – that, indeed, he became a hero when he was in the wheelchair. What it is to be brave in real life – that’s what this topic is about. It’s about resilience, about inner strength, [and] About integrity.

Then there is the love theme for his relationship, first of all with Ga (Exton) and secondly with Donna. I think that this love theme is also relevant for the three children, whom I just, by the way, have the great pleasure and honor of meeting at the premier in New York. Wonderful people, they all are. But the theme is just about love in Christopher’s world, because when you meet his family now, there’s such a strong bond. I truly believe that this bond can only exist through the strength of love. I think Donna was very responsible for that as well. That [theme] Has a little more romantic Hollywood chord progression in it.

The superhero theme is not so much in the classic Hollywood style, but it uses French horns and strings so that, texturally, it has the sounds. The love theme leans a bit more on late romantic classical chord progressions. I borrowed a little from Tchaikovsky, from one of his violin orchestra short pieces.

Then, there is a third topic. On the album, the best version of​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​is at the ends, [and] It’s called “for a reason”. The theme is all about hope and looking to the future and moving forward. It plays at the end of the film, and it plays at the beginning of the Oscars. It’s about triumph over adversity.

Reeve’s family gave Ashkri the “highest compliment” he could receive for his work

The composer tried to capture their emotions about their father

I saw you met Reeve’s family. What was it like to meet them and talk to them about the project?

Ilan Eshkri: First of all, they are very sweet, very nice people. They are very inspiring in their own right. All three of them have achieved incredible things in their lives.

One of the things that is very difficult with documentary as opposed to fiction is that in fiction, you can manipulate the audience and the audience will accept it. You can push the boundaries with the music. You can use music to help the imagination of the audience go wild. With documentaries, you can’t do that, because if you push too far, the audience starts to feel manipulated and they stop believing what’s on the screen. You have to get it absolutely pitch perfect for the emotion on the screen, and it’s a really fine line.

I was really concerned about this, and after we got to know each other a little bit, my first question was to say, “I hope you feel like I’m capturing the emotions correctly, [and] That I understand something of how you really feel.” And they all said that I did. To me, that’s probably the biggest compliment. [I could get]And the biggest success of doing this work.

Was there a point in the movie, or an aspect of Reeve’s life, where you found it most difficult to write music that didn’t feel like it was manipulating the audience in the way you describe?

Ilan Eshkri: Not really, because for me this is always an ongoing process. [With] Everything I write, I write, I review, I rewrite, I review, I rewrite, I amend, I change… it’s constantly changing. And honestly, if I didn’t have to give it in, it would probably still be changing. It can always be more perfect. It is constant.

For me, the work is never really complete. It just needs to be taken away from me. I think that’s maybe because what I love is the process of creating the work. I don’t love the finished product as much as I love the process of doing it. No one thing is particularly easy or more difficult than another because everything is just a process of refining all the time.

Eshkeri Lobbyes to Become the Composer For Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow

So his daughter would “actually think I was cool for a change”

Did the process of making the film affect what you wanted to do next? Do you want to make more documentaries or a superhero movie?

Ilan Eshkri: I would love to make a superhero movie. They’re making Supergirl next, and I have a nine-year-old daughter. If only I could get the gig, she’d actually think I was cool for a change. It would be lovely to do so.

It’s funny how the career goes because I started in my early career with documentaries. The first score I ever recorded at Abbey Road Studios was a documentary about the Colosseum in Rome, and I did a lot of Horizon documentaries for the BBC. That’s where I started, and I did some projects with David Attenborough, but I haven’t really gone back to documentaries. [since] I started doing Hollywood movies, fantasy adventures, and big, giant video games. Working with Ian and Peter brought me back to that, and I really enjoyed it. If the right documentary came along, I would love to make another one.

I think, too, the way people make documentaries has evolved. It’s more sophisticated, and the music we can write is more sophisticated. I think that the score for Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story stands out as a weighty film score as much as any Hollywood film score. I think it stands alongside any Hollywood film score. You wouldn’t expect a documentary to have a score this fleshed out, and the film has a kind of Hollywood feel about it—not least because it’s the first theatrical release from the new DC Studios.

About Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story

Christopher Reeve’s story is an amazing rise from unknown actor to iconic movie star, and his definitive portrayal of Clark Kent/Superman set the benchmark for the superhero cinematic universes that dominate cinema today. Reeve portrayed the Man of Steel in four Superman films and played dozens of other roles that showcased his talent and range as an actor, before being injured in a near-fatal horse-riding accident in 1995 that left him paralyzed from the neck down. After becoming a quadriplegic, he became a charismatic leader and activist in the quest to find a cure for spinal cord injuries, as well as a passionate advocate for disability rights and care – all while continuing his career in cinema in front of And behind the camera and devote himself to his beloved family. The film is a moving and vivid cinematic telling of Reeve’s remarkable story.

Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story Will be released in theaters on October 11 Superman/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is now on digital platforms.