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4.0étoiles sur 5
VIGNETTES, NOT "SHORT-FILMS", AND FASCINATING!, Juil 21 2003
Several reviews of this DVD operate under the misconception that it is intended as a documentary or as a fictional re-enactment of some short films on Gould. It is neither. The "movie" (by which I mean the integrated thirty-two vignettes) is an exploration of Glenn Gould (Pearl Harbour, Colm Feore, Storm of the Century), the Canadian-born musician who is considered to be one of the world's greatest pianists, an eccentric genius whose performance of Bach's Goldberg Variations was recorded and included onboard the Voyager space probes. By no means a conventional biography, the film's episodes rarely attempt to pin down exact events or particular dates in his life. Exceptions include his interviews, radio broadcasts, and his final concert appearance. Rather, the film shows us phases and stages of his life, from his childhood to his career as a concert performer, his hobbies - the stock market, humour, travel, and experimental radio broadcasts - and his last days, when he complained to friends and relatives of his apprehension of death. The aesthetic of the film is self-consciously arty, deliberately bizarre, and exceedingly concerned with crisp, polished sound - exactly like Glenn Gould. It runs for 100 minutes or so, which means each vignette should have an average of 3 minutes. In reality some of them are 1 minute long, and other more key sequences (like one where Gould is at a truck stop) are of 5-6 minutes duration. Very worthy purchase if you are familiar with or interested in the quirky but brilliant musician.
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Canadian Essential: Chosen by the Amazon.ca editors
as one of the 50
Canadian Essentials in
DVD.
