Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould

Unbearable highbrow wank.

A perfect detailing of the life of one of history's greatest pianists. The brilliant mind of Glenn Gould is acutely explored through these 32 engaging vignettes.

Pretty overtly-dramatic and quite redundant.

i do quite like the concept of "film portraits" and i think this film had the potential to be very innovative. however, i think this film, despite a few interesting tidbits, was on the whole poorly executed, monochromatic, and disappointingly canadian. there was much untapped and unexplored in this film. overall, very bland and distinctly canadian. i don't understand how or why, but i always find canadian films evoke a sense of listlessness, and this film was no exception.

Fascinating way to present a biopic.

"Tough subject, well realised."

Gould comes off less a genius than as some sort of clown; to the filmmakers, his nearly supernatural musicianship is just one quirk of many.

A fascinating study of a fascinating figure; a decidedly non-traditional biopic, examining Gould, his music, and his many interests (playing the stock market, radio documentaries) in a string of vignettes which include interviews, animation, and Colm Feore's effective, unpretentious portrayal of Gould himself. Not surprisingly, some of the shorts are better than others (the interviews are probably the weakest), and there's much ground that goes uncovered, but it's a worthy endeavor nonetheless.

A unique type of biography about a unique man. You aren't expected to understand everything about him, just to see parts of his personality. It comes off letting you feel more like you've met him than just learned about him. The music and sound here is almost like your guide through the film and the way the film paints his reactions to his music is fantastic. Great stuff, great stuff.

I really appreciated the open-endedness of this, a film which struck me, in its structure, to be drawing on the musical tradition of playing variations on a theme. If only all bio-pics could be this good.

I saw this almost twenty years ago, and I can barely remember it. But I remember not caring it for it very much.