Canadian Film Forum

Paula Fartea

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Theme
The 1993 award-winning film Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould presents the biography of the famous Canadian pianist, Glenn Gould. The film had François Girard as a director and screenwriter and Don McKellar, as a screenwriter as well. The music and soundtracks were performed by Glenn Gould. The role of Glenn Gould was extraordinary played by Colm Feore, an American-born Canadian film actor. Gould’s father was played by Derek Keurvorst and Gould’s mother was played by Katya Ladan, but the entire story has Gould in the center of attention.
The documentary presents 32 stories from the pianist’s life. The film begins by showing Gould’s childhood and his love for music ever since he was a young boy. We get familiarized with this character through the eyes of close friends of Gould’s or people who knew him. Some parts of the films show some of the interviews he gave to journalists. Everybody who talked about him in this documentary had labeled him as being an eccentric but brilliant man. Bruno Monsaingeon, a musician and Gould’s collaborator remembers that even in summer time, when it was very hot outside, Gould wore gloves and scarves looking almost like a tramp. In Monsaingeon’s opinion, he did that because his health problems were obvious. Monsaingeon’ also confesses that Gould had the most amazing sense of humour and an ability to have fun.
The famous violinist Yehudi Menuhin talks about Gould’s love of the nature. Although Gould was very strict about the acoustics of the building he was playing in, he couldn’t stand being touched by someone but he loved fishermen, maybe more than his New York audience, said the violinist. His maid confesses he had numerous boxes, a dozen boxes of a certain company producing cookies.
Margaet Pacsu, another friend of Gould’s thinks Gould was actually addicted to his improvised pharmacy he kept in the bathroom and the animated body and the drug’s prescription being read by Gould makes us question even more.
We cannot discuss regular elements of time, because we cannot consider the interviews flashbacks but we can mention the fact that the 32 parts of the film are arranged in a chronological order as the film starts with the beginning of Gould’s life: his birth in a family with musical talent and it ends with his cousin’s regrets that Gould died thinking he was just a common person and few people would come to his funeral.
In my opinion the director’s goal was to make the audience get to know Glenn Gould and conclude that he was not only a brilliant pianist but a man of great culture, a wise man and a profound philosopher. The novelty of film techniques captures you quickly and the combination of film and animation makes you watch the film all over again. It is something else.

Paula Fartea · Trimis: 20/02/2012 23:46 Titlul subiectului: Canadian Elements

From the beginning of the film we can notice the idea of large spaces, shots filmed in winter times, the bright light of the snow and the lack of animated things in the shot. In the first scene, Glenn Gould is just a black dot who comes closer and closer to the camera. It takes him almost 3 minutes to get to the camera and for us to see a close up of the character. In my opinion the director shows the immensity of the Canadian landscapes.
Another Canadian element appears later on, in the episode named Solitude when Gould talks to his interviewer about the documentaries he made for the radio. We find out that his documentaries The Idea of North and Latecomers are about the idea of solitude and how it affects the people living in Northern Canada. The one taking the interview associates this idea of Canadian solitude to that of the radio, which is also a solitary experience and he is quite right because we can notice that Gould's relationships with people are mostly over the phone and his friends have noticed a plăcere of his in calling them.
The bilingualism is another Canadian element. The people interviewed in the film, Gould’s friends and the journalists speak either French or English. Thus, Gould must have spoken both languages as well. Although they speak two different languages they seem to understand each other perfectly.

Paula Fartea · Trimis: 21/02/2012 00:17 Titlul subiectului: Film Composition

Film Composition
Because this film is a documentary, most of the shots are close-ups. But even the close-ups are different than in other films. For example, the close-up on Glenn Gould when he was young seems almost sinister and frightening because of the rhythmic loud music in the background, his serious and unchanged face expression and the camera slowly closing in. Even more, there are numerous close-ups on the people interviewed about Gould’s life and Gould piano.
In some scenes, in which music is more important than the characters, the camera moves in a circular way and most of the times from upward. These circular shots are used by the director when Gould is an old man, showing that he is bold and has a lot of grey hair and he seems shorter. In my opinion, this angle is used to show that Gould is no longer the way he used to be. He has grown old.
In conclusion, the film was impressive both on a cinematic level as well as the compilation between strong felt music, animation and interviews. It is a complex, challenging movie which brings to the viewer one of the most unexpected experiences.

Paula Fartea · Trimis: 24/02/2012 04:10 Titlul subiectului: My favourite scene

The scene I liked best starts at 2’42”. As the film is made out of 32 scenes about the pianist Glenn Gould, each part has a different title. That helps the viewer have a better understanding of the scenes. The scene I choose to discuss is entitled Lake Simcoe. In my opinion, the viewer gets involved in knowing Glenn Gould’s childhood with every shot.

Firstly, we are presented an extreme long shot camera angle (wide angle lens) of the lake beside Gould’s house, a beautiful still water surface. Then, we keep seeing the lake but from a different angle; the camera is placed behind some trees. The camera stays fixed on the golden leaves of the trees. Then, the camera moves down from the sky and trees to find a white house, surrounded by dead leaves. In front of the house, we can see a man gathering the leaves. While watching this image, we can hear a calm and profound voice. A first person narration begins.

We are told from the beginning that the pianist had his mother’s trust and support. In her opinion, at the age of five Glenn will be a great pianist. Gould thinks she had decided that much earlier. Even when he was still in her womb, his mother had played the piano continuously to give him a head start. Gould confesses his mother was actually his first teacher and he never doubted her methods, especially because she introduced him to Bach, later on his favourite composer.

The camera moves slowly from one room to the other and stops for a close-up on the mother holding her son in her arms above the piano, encouraging him to try again and again. In the background we can still see Gould’s father gathering leaves. Then, the camera does a close-up on the mother’s face. We can clearly see some wrinkles around her eyes, thus she must be around 30 something. She doesn’t wear any makeup but she has a smooth creamy face. The image suggests she is a fulfilled woman. Then, there’s a close-up on the child face, concentrated on playing the piano. Gould remembers that his childhood was full of music even at the cottage on Lake Simcoe. Those days seemed idyllic to him.
The camera changes its angle and the scene ends with a medium long shot. The son and his mother are filmed from outside, through the window.

I must admit I chose this scene because I was seduced by the slow motion of the camera before doing a close-up and by the peaceful radio like voice of the main actor.

Grand_Shaman · Administrator Data inscrierii: 26/Oct/2007 Mesaje: 112

Paula, thank you for this fine introduction to this film about Glenn Gould.

Obviously this is not an usual blockbuster, not a film for everyone. But I am glad that it found such an attentive reviewer in you, Paula. And helped us discover another facet of Paula ;-)

The scene you chose is memorable enough, and you have done your best to revive it before our eyes.

My only gripe is when you characterize the film as "a documentary." You you go back to the textbook definition, then a documentary about Glen Goyld would have needed to:

1) Feature Glenn Gould himself.

2) Glenn Gould should not be aware that he is being filmed, or he should not act out.

3) Nothing should be staged.

4) The film should be informative enough, structurally well organized and clear, and be approachable even by those who know very little about Gould.

Now, how does this film relate to these pre-conditions of any documentary?

Paula Fartea · Trimis: 27/02/2012 22:11 Titlul subiectului:

You are so right. In my rush to finish this assignment on time, I failed to notice my mistake. Of course, it’s not a documentary. First of all, Glenn Gould is played by Colm Feore. Secondly, like you said nothing is staged. Moreover, I think that a documentary needs to have a “formal flavour”, one thing we cannot find in this fun to watch film. The way it was filmed makes you think you haven’t seen anything like it before. I recommend it to all of my colleagues. Watching this film was a unique experience.