Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould (spoilers, sorta)

Cafe Society
1

Wonderful, wonderful film, especially the scene in which he plays a record as the hotel maid comes in and she sits, and we watch her face, and then suddenly we see as she gets it; beautiful.

However, according to my count, there were actually only twenty-eight short films (counting them by the times the screen went blank and then a new title card was displayed).

Does anyone know anything about this? Did I miscount by four whole films (I don’t think I did; one maybe, but not four)? Is the film’s title indicative that Glann Gould’s story is not done? Was the title chosen for its euphony, trusting that no one would count?

Just curious,

jackelope

2

Heh, that’s my favourite scene, too. The expression on her face is just priceless and the way she whispers “Danke Shein” at the end is quite touching. I love this movie, and think its unconventional, impressionistic structure perfectly suits such an enigmatic man as Glenn Gould.

I have the DVD at home and I believe the chapter stops are arranged per short film. When I get home from work this evening I can pop it in the DVD player and report back here.

3

Well, I double checked the DVD and there are, indeed, 32 chapter stops coinciding with 31 short films. Alas, the film-makers cheated on the last by listing the end credits as the 32nd chapter. In case you’re interested, here are their titles:

  1. Aria
  2. Lake Simcoe
  3. 45 Seconds and a Chair
  4. Bruno Monsaingeon
  5. Gould meets Gould
  6. Hamburg
  7. Variation in C Minor
  8. Practice
  9. Opus 1
  10. Crossed paths
  11. Truck Stop
  12. The Idea of North
  13. The L.A. Concert
  14. CD318
  15. Yehudi Menuhin
  16. Passion According to Gould
  17. Solitude
  18. Question with no answers
  19. A Letter
  20. Gould Meets McLaren
  21. The Tip
  22. Personal Ad
  23. Pills
  24. Margaret Pacsu
  25. Diary of One Day
  26. Motel Wawa
  27. Forty-Nine
  28. Jesse Greig
  29. Leaving
  30. Voyager
  31. Aria
  32. End credits

BTW, if you liked this movie you should also check out The Red Violin. Its another great classical music movie by the same creative team who did 32 Short Films.

4

I’ve heard of this movie often but I’ve never seen it. Are the films biographical, fantasy, some combo thereof, etc? Is there dialogue or just music?

5

Thanks, Hodge; that’s interesting. And you know, I’m embarrassed to say that it didn’t occur to me until just this moment that the 32 short films correspond to the 30 Goldberg Variations plus the bookend pieces (each called “Aria,” as in the scene titles above).

Sampiro, the film is exactly what its title promises: 32 short films, each of which could probably stand on its own as an interesting tidbit, about Glenn Gould, the eccentric and brilliant pianist. Gould is played by Colm Feore (and I believe Gould himself had a hand in the making of the film?), and of course there’s lots and lots of great music. The scenes don’t go linearly through Gould’s life, but pick out different episodes and trends and such. And some are just provocative interviews with people who were his close friends. It’s fascinating. And when it’s over, I predict you will run-don’t-walk to buy Gould’s CDs.

6

It’s too bad the coorespondance isn’t perfect, though. Those damned end credits, if only they’d inserted one more short.

Sadly, no. Gould died in 1982 and the film was released in 1993.

7

Ah, too bad. One thing that struck me as I watched it this time is that we never actually see him playing the piano, except for the short that was shot with a fluoroscope so that we see a skeleton playing. What a dizzying film.

And yeah, I wish they’d have added one more short in there and let the credits run in silence. Or come to think of it, the final “Aria” would have been nice and appropriate over closing credits.