Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould

Director François Girard
Year 1993
Run Time 98min
Genre Drama
Mirroring the structure of Bach’s Goldberg Variations, the recording that made eccentric Canadian pianist Glenn Gould famous, this dramatic narrative is broken up into 32 short pieces. Each short film provides an insight into an aspect of Gould’s life and career. Some are filmed as dramatic re-creations, while others are more abstract: There is even an animated piece accompanied by a recording of a Gould performance.

Colm Feore is brilliant as Gould, humanizing the difficult genius whose studio recordings, imaginative radio documentaries and insightful writings are still influential in contemporary classical circles.

“Instead of a laborious bio-pic, we get a sly, quick-witted meditation on a character always likely to elude our grasp.” — Anthony Lane, The New Yorker

Director

François Girard

Girard won a Grammy for Secret World Live, a Peter Gabriel concert film. Thirty-Two Short Films About Glenn Gould won four Genie Awards, including Best Picture. The Red Violin won eight Genies and an Oscar for Best Original Score.  His recent films include Boychoir, starring Dustin Hoffman, and Hochelaga terre des âmes, which was nominated for eight CSAs, winning four. His latest, The Song of Names, premiered at TIFF 2019.

Writers

François Girard, Don McKellar

Cast

Colm Feore, Gerry Quigley, Gale Garnett, Don McKellar

Producer

Niv Fichman

Genre

Drama

Interests

Arts and Culture, Biography, Classics, History

Original Language

English

Language Version

EN CC

Canadian Distributor

Rhombus Media