Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould

Some films are so good that they remind us of cinema’s capabilities, by, in a sense, reinventing the medium’s shape and form. This is one of those films. Granted, Gould makes an extraordinary subject. But the masterstroke here is to a cue from Gould’s most famous piece, his interpretation(s) of Bach’s Goldberg Variations, and to structure the film as 32 fragments, each revealing a different perspective.

This approach pays off handsomely. We see Gould at various junctures, but while they’re loosely in chronological order, these sequences are not really biographical, but tasters of a strangely distant, always compelling personality. Beyond this, Girard gives us interviews with those who knew Gould, excerpts from radio broadcasts, brief excursions into abstraction, even a segment of Norman McLaren’s animation Spheres. Despite such formal dexterity, however, what’s most impressive is the simplicity and clarity of the enterprise. This absolutely deserves its reputation as one of the greatest accomplishments in Canadian cinema, from the 90s or any other decade.

Girard’s film teems with distinctive ways to evoke Gould’s remarkably creative re-creative genius.

Richard Brody, The New Yorker

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