Harrington 1 (Courtesy of Matthew Harrington. Used with permission.) Matthew Harrington Creative Spark Essay 2/Draft 3 Dr. Boiko December 10, 2004 Glenn Gould, the Eccentric Artist The scene fades in and the camera seems to be lost in a blanket of white, maybe somewhere in Antarctica. Slowly in the distance a faint figure can be seen, maybe a man, maybe something different. In the background is music: “the very faint sounds of Glenn Gould playing one of Bach’s Goldberg Variations in 1955,” (Review, Faith 1) and as the figure walks closer to the camera the music grows louder. Finally, as the man (as it is clear by this point) is just about to the camera and the music is more than loud enough to be heard the scene cuts out and the second film begins. So begins the unique 1993 portrayal of the highly celebrated Canadian pianist Glenn Gould titled Thirty-Two Short Films about Glenn Gould, by director François Girard. The disjunctive structure and style of the film reflected Gould’s personality in life. Girard’s film celebrated, honored, and valued the simple fact that Gould was different and through his interpretation of Gould, he tried to install the same feeling into his audience. It should be mentioned that although Girard valued Gould’s eccentric nature, he also made sure to emphasize the impact he made on those around him with his music. But before I speak about the film and the way it portrays Gould, let us first learn a little bit about the man named Glenn Herbert Gould and in the same fashion as the film. 8 Short Biographical Notes about Glenn Herbert GouldHarrington 2 1. “Glenn Gould was born in Toronto on 25 September 1932 into a musical family…[he] died in Toronto on October 4th, 1982, after having suffered a stroke” (Official). 2. As pointed out in the movie, Gould was first introduced to music while still in the womb, proving that it is never too soon to teach a child new skills. 3. “At five, he began to compose, and played his own little compositions for family and friends. At the age of six Gould was taken to his first live musical performance” (Official). Gould was definitely a child prodigy just as Mozart had been in his early days of music, a point that is not touched on in the film. 4. Gould's first public performance was in 1945 on the organ, a concert which was reviewed under the headline "Boy, age 12, Shows Genius As Organist" (Official). 5. “From 1955 to 1964, he gave concerts throughout North America and made three overseas tours (1957-1959) playing in USSR, West Europe (including London) and Israel” (Sadie). Gould loved to tour in his earlier years so that he could reach out to the public; strangely enough, this fact is not hit on in the film. 6. In 1964, Gould retired from performing live, “citing moral and musical objections to the concert medium” (Sadie). Friends and critics believe that there may be other reasons. 7. After his retirement, Gould focused his career on “produc[ing] radio and television recitals and other programs for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC)” (Sadie). He took a different approach as to how to present his music to the public. 8. When it came to types of music, Gould preferred music from specific periods including “Baroque, Classical, Late-Romantic and 20th Century Austro-German repertories” (Sadie).Harrington 3 The Fractured Structure of the Film The film, or “semiexperimental quasi - documentary” as Shlomo Schwartzberg – critic for “Performing Arts & Entertainment” in Canada – puts it, is unlike most films in the way that its flow is not linear. Girard goes out on a limb with the film, trying to reach the tasty and ripe fruit in the distance and in the end it pays off. Girard takes the number 32 “from Bach’s 32 Goldberg Variations, the two recordings of which bookend Gould’s career” (Steyn, paragraph 2). In 1993 when the film was released, the most reviews agreed that through its unique style, “it [was] as brilliant and inspiring as the person it [brought] to life [Gould]” (Schwartzberg, paragraph 2). The portrayal of Gould in the film, through its different and disjunctive style, is what appeals to me. The use of color, style, and music in a different way made it interesting to watch. The juxtaposition of scenes, with that of the music, helps the viewer step into Gould’s world at various times throughout the film. Each film, or story, has a distinct flavor to it and each one touches on a different aspect of his life. Not all of the films feature Gould and not all are about music. Some are as short as 25 seconds and others are longer than 5 minutes. Through all these dissimilarities though, the effect of the film is still tremendous and it keeps the audience’s attention. For example, in the first scene (depicted in the first paragraph) Girard incorporates a technique of abruptly ending the scene to transcend into the next. He continues to do this throughout the remainder of the entire film, and each time it is just as unexpected as the last. By doing this, Girard forces the viewer to think about what was just shown in the last scene. At oneHarrington 4 time after watching one of the scenes, I asked myself: “what was the whole point of that ‘film?’ Was there suppose to by something more to it?” It made me want to rewind it and watch it again, an effect I am sure Girard was aiming for. Musicians, writers, and painters create to entertain and in doing this they try to produce works of art that people want to listen, read, or view over and over again. A good song is one that people can listen to numerous times and not get tired of. I am sure that if people had the control when in theaters they would have rewound the film numerous times just like I did the first time I watched the film. The Man Who Filled Glenn Gould’s Gloves In casting for this film Girard had his work cut out for him: finding someone who could fill Gould’s gloves on the big screen would not be an easy task. Not only did the actor have to look like him and dress like him – in the movie he always looked like a hobo with layers of clothes, a beanie on his head, and huge gloves on his hands – the actor also hand to develop his traits and personality. Girard honored Gould for his unique dressing habit and personality, so the person needed to be someone who could not only play the part, but become it. Fortunately, one man took on this challenge and ran for a touchdown with