THIRTY-TW0 SHORT FILMS ABOUT GLENN GOULD

THIRTY-TW0 SHORT FILMS ABOUT GLENN GOULD Colm Feore (1994, Columbia TriStar, unrated, priced for rental) At the time of his death in 1982, Canadian classical pianist Glenn Gould hadn't performed publicly in roughly 18 years, an absence reflecting his iconoclastic views on the artist's social responsibility (none) and on technology (that is, the imminent obsolescence of the concert hall). As dramatized in this smart, rapturously scored film, these views led him to a life of eccentric semi-reclusion and artistic experimentation. Feore's broad-ranging portrayal of the humane yet inscrutable Gould offers a pleasantly unique variation on the misunderstood-artist theme, an interpretation complemented by the film's innovative structure: 32 scenes combining dramatic scenarios, musical numbers, and documentary interviews with individuals touched by Gould's queer magic. A- -Erik Esckilsen