It is notoriously difficult to make a compelling film about the life of an artist. Directors usually resort to depicting those troubled geniuses, such as Van Gogh and Michelangelo, who had vivid and turbulent lives, even then the resulting film is often lamentable. Glenn Gould may have been a genius, and may have had more than his fair share of eccentricities but it requires something special to make a powerful and strange film about an over-intellectual pianist. Francois Girard's 'Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould' is certainly special, and often dazzling.
Of course it will not appeal to those who like blockbuster type films, or to those who can't read without moving their lips, it requires an intelligent, informed and attentive audience (which pretty much rules out the vast majority of the cinema-going public) but not one that is especially interested in classical music. Anyone who is interested in the creative spirit in man or in experimental film-making will I think find this a wonderful film.
Just fifteen years after its release the film now seems to have been completely forgotten. The fact that, at the time of writing, it is not yet available in Europe on a DVD seems a terrible indictment of the current state of the money-obsessed, Hollywood-driven film marketing industry. If you have a brain - and a soul go search this little gem out.
Of course it will not appeal to those who like blockbuster type films, or to those who can't read without moving their lips, it requires an intelligent, informed and attentive audience (which pretty much rules out the vast majority of the cinema-going public) but not one that is especially interested in classical music. Anyone who is interested in the creative spirit in man or in experimental film-making will I think find this a wonderful film.
Just fifteen years after its release the film now seems to have been completely forgotten. The fact that, at the time of writing, it is not yet available in Europe on a DVD seems a terrible indictment of the current state of the money-obsessed, Hollywood-driven film marketing industry. If you have a brain - and a soul go search this little gem out.