Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould

Finland, Netherlands, Portugal, Canada

1993

98 Min

Color

1.66:1

French, English

Currently 3.9/5 Stars.
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PROD Michael Allder, Niv Fichman, Barbara Willis Sweete, Larry Weinstein

SCR François Girard, Don McKellar

CAST Colm Feore, Derek Keurvorst, Katya Ladan, Devon Anderson, Joshua Greenblatt, Sean Ryan, Don McKellar, Kate Hennig, Sean Doyle, Sharon Bernbaum

SOUND Jane Tattersall

Toronto: Best Canadian Feature Film - Special Jury Citation, Berlinale (Forum), Mar del Plata (Art in Cinema)

Synopsis

As the title suggests, this dramatised documentary about the eccentric Canadian pianist Glenn Gould is broken up into thirty-two short films (mirroring the thirty-two part structure of Bach’s ‘Goldberg Variations’, the recording that Gould made famous), each giving us an insight into some aspect of Gould’s life and career. Out of respect for the music lead actor Colm Feore is never seen playing the piano, merely reacting to Gould’s own recordings, which are extensively featured —IMDb

Director

François Girard

François Girard (born January 12, 1963) is a French-Canadian director and screenwriter particularly noted for his innovative film Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould. Born in Quebec, Girard’s career began on the Montreal art video circuit. In 1990, he produced his first feature film, Cargo; he attained international recognition following his 1993 Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould, a series of vignettes about the life of piano prodigy Glenn Gould. In 1998, he wrote and directed The Red Violin, which follows the ownership of a red violin over several centuries. The Red Violin won an Academy Award for Best Original Soundtrack, thirteen Genie Awards and nine Jutra Awards.

He has also directed various works for the stage, including Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms, Oedipus Rex and Novencento at the Edinburgh International Festival; Kafka’s The Trial at the National Arts Centre, Ottawa; the oratorio Lost Objects at the Brooklyn Academy of Music; Siegfried in Toronto; and… read more

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Annabel Lee

31May12

".. for every hour you spend with other human beings, you need X number of hours alone. Now what that X represents l don't really know. whether it be two and seven-eighths or seven and two-eighths. but it's a substantial ratio. "

House of Sober Second Thought

4Sep11

Worth watching at the very least for the McLaren animation, for the performances of one of Gould's chamber compositions and his spoken-word fugue 'The Idea of North', and for some of the interviews. The movie as a whole is affecting, but parts of it are bland - Feore acting Gould is never as interesting as the man himself.

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Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

18Apr11

I love this film and have many of his recordings. I've also had the good fortune to work at a few Canadian instituions where GG performed on a regular basis. It was always amazing to see people journey from far and wide to have their photo taken in front of his plaque or a statue of his likeness. He was a true genius.