Musicians sometimes speak of their work in near-religious terms, but few take the connection between musical performance and the spiritual world quite as far as Peter Firth, the flute-slinging protagonist of Born Of Fire. First seen at a recital where his playing is undermined by surreal visions of a heavily clothed damsel in distress and sinister melodies beyond his control, Firth finds a kindred spirit in astronomer Suzan Crowley. Crowley is haunted by the same sinister sounds, as well as a strange astronomical phenomenon in which the sun is eclipsed by a giant human skull. Could Firth's visions be linked to this unusual eclipse, the strange music, the mysterious deaths of Firth's parents, volcanic activity in Turkey, and the periodic appearance of a bizarre, chrome-domed figure prone to lurking about menacingly? Crowley certainly believes so, and advises Firth to travel to Turkey for answers. Once there, he learns that his father fell under the influence of a hair-impaired figure known as The Master Musician (Oh-Tee), who promised to teach him "breathing techniques"—and as an extra bonus, gave him a new wife, who was then flung off a cliff. Firth learns this and more from a turban-bedecked Turk, who also enjoins Firth to use his flute-playing prowess for good, not evil, and warns that he must eventually square off against Oh-Tee. Not wanting to be left out of the proceedings, Crowley joins Firth in Turkey, where the two quickly pair off for some hot astronomer-on-flautist action in full view of Firth's deformed Turkish half-brother. Firth's Turkish delight soon turns to horror, however, after Crowley freaks out and, under the influence of Oh-Tee, dies a hideous and gratuitously unclothed death. Oh-Tee, meanwhile, indulges in such patently self-indulgent rock-star behavior as strolling about nude, living in solitude, and shooting fireballs from his eyes and mouth. Deeply saddened by Crowley's demise, Firth engages Oh-Tee in an all-or-nothing musical duel that ends the supernatural flautist's reign of fiery terror. Or does it? Born Of Fire ends with Oh-Tee's hideously burned hand jutting out of a lake, leaving open the possibility of a comeback in the near future.
Most Dugg A.V. Club Articles
Advertisement
- Comments