Cinema
Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould
François Girard · 1993
Synopsis
Thirty-two fragments, on the model of the Goldberg Variations. Here, the child discovers Bach through his mother, at the family cottage on Lake Simcoe. There, in a Hamburg hotel, he cancels his concerts by telephone, then plays a record for the chambermaid. Elsewhere, he listens to the conversations of the customers in a roadside diner, interviews himself, or gives way to an animation by Norman McLaren. People close to him speak to the camera.
Context
The film was shown at Venice on 7 September 1993, then at the Toronto festival. Written by the filmmaker and his co-screenwriter, it gives up continuous biography. It never says what the number means; it happens that Gould was born in 1932 and had grown up at 32 Southwood Drive, in Toronto. The twentieth sequence reuses an excerpt from Spheres, an abstract short film by McLaren and René Jodoin, set to pages of Bach played by Gould.
Who it is for
One hour thirty-three minutes, in pieces that do not follow on from one another; no musical knowledge is needed.
Prizes and reception
Four Genie Awards, including best film and best direction; restored in 4K and released by Criterion in 2025.
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