Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould

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