Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould (1993)

Director:

François Girard

Writers:

François Girard (screenplay) &
Don McKellar (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

26 November 1993 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | Music

Tagline:

The sound of genius.

Plot:

A collection of vignettes highlighting different aspects of the life, work, and character of the acclaimed Canadian classical pianist.

Plot Keywords:

Glenn Gould | Goldberg Variations | Piano | Stock Exchange | Superstition

Awards:

7 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Colm Feore	...	Glenn Gould
Derek Keurvorst	...	Gould's father
Katya Ladan	...	Gould's mother
Devon Anderson	...	Glenn age 3
Joshua Greenblatt	...	Glenn age 8
Sean Ryan	...	Glenn age 12
Kate Hennig	...	Chambermaid
Sean Doyle	...	Porter
Sharon Bernbaum	...	Female guide
Don McKellar	...	Concert promoter
David Hughes	...	Stagehand
Carlo Rota	...	CBC producer
Peter Millard	...	CBC Engineer
John Dolan	...	CBC Assistant Engineer
Allegra Fulton	...	Waitress

Also Known As:

32 Curtas Metragens Sobre Glenn Gould (Portugal)
Glenn Gould - 32 lyhytelokuvaa (Finland)
Trente-deux films brefs sur Glenn Gould (Canada: French title)

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

Portugal | Canada | Finland | Netherlands

Language:

English | French

Colour:

Colour

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Canada:PG (Ontario) | Australia:G | Finland:S | Spain:T | UK:U

Filming Locations:

Paris, France

Company:

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC)

Trivia:

The structure of the film is based on the structure of the piece that Glenn Gould is most famous for playing, Bach's Goldberg Variations. The Goldberg Variations are 32 short pieces of music that are usually played together.

Quotes:

Glenn Gould: I don't know what the effective ratio would be but I've always had a sort of intuition that for every hour you spend with other human beings, you need X number of hours alone. Now what that X represents, I don't really know, whether it be 2 and 7/8ths or 7 and 2/8ths, but it's a substantial ratio.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in "The Simpsons: 22 Short Films About Springfield (#7.21)" (1996)

Soundtrack:

Allegro molto e vivace from Sonata No. 13 in E Flat Major

The genius of Glenn Gould

I enjoyed this film considerably, however, I am also a die hard Glenn Gould fan. The film captures the genius and eccentricity of Gould with vignettes scored with Gould's interpretations of Bach and Beethoven weaved with glimpses of his autistic, or Asperger's, personality. Some of the negative or neutral critics listed here are not completely inappropriate. The film tends to cater to the classical music devotee as opposed to developing a narrative for the casually disinterested viewer. However, anyone with superficial knowledge of Gould, but with an interest in Bach or Beethoven, will enjoy this film, if anything, for it's choices in musical scores.