Director: François Girard
Screenplay: François Girard, Don McKellar, Glenn Gould
Starring: Colm Feore, Derek Keurvorst, Katya Ladan, Kate Hennig, Don McKellar, Sharon Bernbaum, Yehudi Menuhin
Year: 1993
Country: Canada
BBFC Certification: TBA
Duration: 93 min
I tend to be open to any genre of films, but there are a couple that I’m not keen on. One of these is the biopic. Whilst there are one or two that I think of very highly (Lawrence of Arabia is the first that springs to mind), I’m unforgiving of those that hit the biopic stereotypes that I despise. I think, generally speaking, I find them quite false, particularly if focusing on a figure who’s very well known. It’s hard to look past the artifice and not see the truncated telling of this person’s life as being a glossy, often pointless retread of events we’re already fully aware of. I much prefer a documentary approach, where the material feels more genuine (particularly if there is footage of the subject themselves).
Some films like to move away from the stereotypical format of the biopic though, and it’s these titles that interest me. One such film is director François Girard’s Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould (1993), which is being released on Blu-ray by The Criterion Collection.
The film offers a uniquely experimental and suitably enigmatic portrait of the legendary Canadian classical pianist and composer, Glenn Gould. Rather than conforming to the traditional biopic structure, the film presents the titular mosaic of vignettes (actually only 31, unless you count the credits), each exploring a different facet of Gould’s life, work, and idiosyncratic personality.
Gould, a figure of immense stature in classical music, was renowned for his extraordinary talent but equally for his deeply private nature and his eventual denunciation of live performance. Girard’s film beautifully captures this elusive quality.
The film was originally planned to be a theatre project before evolving into this cinematic incarnation. Interestingly, Girard himself, a product of the Canadian independent filmmaking scene, initially wasn’t interested in making a film about Gould when producer Niv Fichman first approached him. However, the opportunity to experiment with the biopic format and to avoid the conventional idolisation of Gould ultimately swayed him.
Girard’s meticulous research involved listening to over 100 hours of Gould’s recordings. A deliberate artistic choice was made to never show the adult Gould playing the piano in the film though. This was because no actor could authentically mimic the pianist’s unique and exceptionally skilled playing style.
The individual shorts within the film vary widely, particularly in the first half. One unusual segment, “Forty-Five Seconds and a Chair”, is precisely as it sounds, and it was merely included to help the audience adjust to seeing the chosen actor as Gould.
Some of the shorts are very brief and simple, while others are longer, including several interviews. Most of these interviews are real and feature figures such as Yehudi Menuhin (another classical music luminary) and Gould’s piano tuner. Another interview is a staged interpretation of what Gould interviewing himself might have been like. This short, which was actually written by Gould when he was still alive, allows the film to explore the musician’s feelings about how he is perceived.
The film also incorporates a little animation, including a segment showing visual interpretations of a short piece as soundwaves, and another by the respected animator Norman McLaren, which centres around the hypnotic movement of spheres on-screen.
Instead of a straightforward narrative, the film relies on these diverse segments to convey a ‘sense’ of Gould, if you will. This approach avoids telling the audience what to think or feel, instead allowing them to form their own impressions of this strange and captivating personality.
The film is a visual and aural treat too. It’s handsomely shot, with crisp framing and beautiful lighting, and features a wonderful soundtrack, as one might expect. Each short is backed up by a different recording or composition by Gould.
Like the best music biopics, Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould allows the music to do much of the heavy lifting. The audience is not told why Gould was a brilliant musician; they simply hear it for themselves, and the film rightfully focuses on the music itself. This approach will likely make you want to seek out and acquire his albums afterwards.
The sound design is consistently interesting too, with instances of overlapping conversation, mirroring Gould’s skills at interpreting counterpoint in his music. The film also delves into Gould’s isolated nature, his relationship with the press, and the interactions with people asking him questions. I also thought that, whilst never openly suggesting it, the film gave the impression Gould might have been autistic. The film is also quite frank about his dependence on a vast quantity of prescription drugs.
Although it doesn’t tell a straightforward narrative, Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould provides a strong sense of the man without attempting to fully explain him, which contributes to its unique spin on the biopic genre. This lack of driving narrative makes the film feel quite long, but it remains consistently interesting, reflecting the unconventional and enigmatic character of its subject.
Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould is out on 23rd June on Blu-Ray in the UK, released by The Criterion Collection. The transfer is stunning, with a crisp picture and rich colours. The audio is pristine too.
DIRECTOR-APPROVED 4K UHD + BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
– New 4K digital restoration, supervised and approved by director François Girard, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
– One 4K UHD disc of the film and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
– New audio commentary featuring Girard and cowriter-actor Don McKellar
– New conversation between Girard and filmmaker Atom Egoyan
– Glenn Gould: Off the Record and Glenn Gould: On the Record, companion programs from 1959
– Archival interviews with actor Colm Feore and producer Niv Fichman
– Trailer
– English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
– PLUS: An essay by author and film critic Michael Koresky
Director/co-writer François Girard and co-writer Don McKellar provide a commentary over the film. This is excellent. The pair break down each of the shorts in detail, discussing their aims and intentions.
Girard also speaks to Atom Egoyan about the film in an interview. They speak in depth about the inception of the film and Girard’s approach. It’s an excellent piece.
There’s also an interview with producer Niv Fichman. He grew up as a musician but decided to go into film instead. He’d long wanted to make a film about Gould, even when the musician was still alive, but didn’t get a chance until after he died. He has some interesting stories to tell, including one about the time he followed Gould and looked through his rubbish!
Actor Colm Feore is also interviewed. He talks about how he got the role, the approach of the film to its subject and the unusual directorial techniques of Girard. It’s another valuable addition to the set.
Also included is a two-part archival documentary on Gould from the 60s. This runs for close to an hour in total and makes for a wonderful counterpoint to the film. It takes a more conventional approach, but it contains plenty of input from the pianist himself, both at the keyboard and away from it. I enjoyed it a great deal.
I didn’t receive a copy of the booklet, unfortunately.
So, Criterion have done justice to this bold, unconventional biopic, with a very strong release. Highly recommended.
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