Trentadue piccoli film su Glenn Gould

Let me preface this review by saying: the music of Bach permeates my existence. Over the years, I've listened to nearly every recording there is, repeatedly. That said, I had trouble watching this movie. The first time I tried, I quit after five minutes. Last evening, I made it all the way through. While at times moving, the film disturbs.

For one, it does not do visual justice to the music. Bach's compositions are not about waving hands in the air, geometry animations, or men walking off into infinity. They're complex literary statements. This variety of music is akin to the best silent cinema; it says volumes, but without words. Like pantomime, it tells a nuanced story, weaving multiple plot lines together into an evocative fabric. Few of the 32 vignettes approached that ideal. Could it be that some of Bach's greatest admirers fail to grasp the deeper meaning within the music?

In addition, Gould's personal faults grate on the nerves. It's clear he wasn't an ideal specimen. He mistook music for life. Music is a condiment, a catalyst perhaps. It frames life, drawing attention to worthy matters. It spices and enlivens life, making it savory. But it is not life. His mind was filled with picture frames, but no pictures. He fell in love with music in the same way that parrots sometimes mistakenly bond with their human owners. They are not parrots, and music is not a woman. One wonders how Bach might greet Gould in heaven: "So, the bachelor thinks he understands the man with two wives and twenty children? Let's see what kind of music you'll play after we give you a well-rounded life."

As a moviegoer with not much expertise on classical music, or interest in film without a coherent narrative, Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould is a bit of a challenge. Certainly I was aware of Gould's reputation; this film also incorporates animation by Norman McLaren, another Canadian legend.

A curious hybrid of fictionalized biography and documentary, the film is indeed slightly fractured, but not as much as the comically inept Leonard Maltin whined about. Its pieces come together to tell more of running story than you'd think. It's true someone thirsting for more action and events may come away disappointed, but there is drama and humour here. Above all, what links the story together is the passionate and energetic piano playing of Glenn Gould himself, enough to inspire even a person without much of an ear for classic music.

Girard succeeds where many have failed- he creates an intimate portrait of an artist without falling subject to the cumbersome confines of the narrative 'birth to death' storyline format. What better way to breathe life into a musician's 'story' than rhythmically assembling a collection of several recreated happenings, bits of documentary conversation, and performances of actual musical pieces (orchestrated works of Gould's) that each examine a particular instance from Glen Gould's life?

By avoiding a typical diluted overview of the artist's entire timeline of events, Girard instead picks out specific happenings in Gould's life that each tells a story of a complex, confused, and brilliant man. These shorts are shown in a somewhat chronological order, so as not to completely ignore the fact that the collection of shorts aims to sculpt a more complete picture of Gould. Their consecutive placement being rhythmically conscious, the viewer is never lost in the experimental efforts or the non-narrative spectrum of the shorts, as they are closely followed by the more tangible aspects of Gould's life. Aesthetic elements from Gould's creative life are often carried over from one short to the next, which helps reinforce the unity as a whole of the 32 separate films.

One of the most important aspects this structure brings to its audience is freeing them from the typical passive role. Instead of loosing yourself into a 2 hour story that tries its hardest to make it's viewer forget their lives, troubles, and identities by sweeping them into a fantasy world, the constant breathes between these short episodes remind the audience what they're seeing more resembles a diary from the artist rather than an alternate reality to 'forget oneself' in.

Aside from the highly effective (and I believe far more suitable) structural effort of the film, the camera's language combined with the film's language is very conventional (aside from the sound editing in several cases). At times, the extremely literal usage of visual imagery falls a little flat, but it also works within its context in particular cases. Other innovations in the film stem from the content chosen (or even more so, what the filmmaker chooses not to show in several of the shorts). An excellent film for those who are humbled at the overwhelming confusion even the brilliant can carry.

the concept works. i like how the film is composed of individual films, yet the individual films do an excellent job of telling a singular, cohesive story. the best aspect is that we don't have to deal with the boring plot proceedings- we just fill in the blanks ourselves. learning about gould's personality through the dialogue kept my interest, but looking back, it was actually the strictly instrumental pieces that really kept my interest. fortunately gould's actual performances are mesmerizing enough on their own to really supplement the visuals. a couple of favorites off the top of my head are "man sitting in chair" and "a day's journal" (sorry, not the exact titles i think). colm feore, i've seen you in about a dozen pictures, but this is the one that made me really notice your name.

I had never heard of Glenn Gould before this movie was released, but I had heard so many good things about the film that I just had to check it out. Am I glad I did. The film is quite unconventional in that it is not a strict "biopic" in any sense of the word. The film -- much like the title suggests -- takes 32 vignettes that concern some aspect of GG's life. Gould, a Canadian classical pianist, was by all accounts an unusual yet charming man. A merciless hypochondriac who popped pills incessantly and wore heavy clothing even in the middle of summer, Gould was also enormously talented, both as a pianist and a producer of highly unusual radio programs. The film examines Gould's life, his passions, his obsessions, and of course his music. The soundtrack is breathtaking. Colm Feore portrays the enigmatic Gould brilliantly. If you are a fan of daring, original films -- as well as a Gould fan -- you will not want to miss this.