Glenn Gould: Au delà du temps (2006)

Glenn Gould: Au delà du temps (2006). 1h 46m

“This is a review by Scott Morrisont, who nailed this DVD head-on.   u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis DVD is self-recommending if only because it is by our leading music documentarian, Bruno Monsaingeon, and is about one of musicu0026#39;s legendary figures, Glenn Gould. Add to that the fact that Monsaingeon and Gould were friends for thirty years and that Monsaingeon had already made a number of previous documentaries about Gould, and you have a recipe for a great film. Monsaingeon is a working musician (a violinist) as well and his ability to understand the musical aspects of Gouldu0026#39;s life is beyond question. (There is even a clip of Monsaingeon playing first violin in a snippet of Gouldu0026#39;s Opus 1, his String Quartet.) Gould, of course, was himself a documentarian and he certainly left behind miles of film in which he plays, discourses about music and all manner of other things. There are even home movies of Gould as a young teen playing on the family piano. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eOne charming conceit of the film is that Monsaingeon found five u0026#39;ordinary peopleu0026#39; whose lives had been touched in special ways by Gouldu0026#39;s playing and he filmed them in various activities connected with that. For instance, there is a former rock musician who goes pretty far to commemorate her emotional connection with Gould — I wonu0026#39;t spoil the surprise by telling you what it was she did. There is a Russian woman who develops a missionary fervor about exposing others to Gouldu0026#39;s music. There is an Italian woman who makes a pilgrimage to Toronto and has a dialog with the startlingly lifelike statue of Gould that sits outside the Gould studio there. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eOne might wonder what more could be said about Gould after all the previous books and films about him. It is a tribute to Monsaingeonu0026#39;s art that he found a way to approach his subject in a new and fascinating manner. He constructs the documentary as if it were being narrated by Gould himself. Gouldu0026#39;s fabled Lincoln Continental becomes a character in the proceedings, traveling through ravishingly photographed northern Canadian forests as we hear Gould discourse in a voice-over on various things. There are numerous video and audio clips, some never seen before, that give us a taste of both his playing and his thinking. We hear and see him play music not generally associated with him — especially by those who think of Gould as being a Bach specialist — music by Hindemith, Chopin, Weber, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, and others, even Gouldu0026#39;s quirky Mozart. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eGouldu0026#39;s personal eccentricities are not emphasized but are not avoided either. One does, however, come away, yet again, reminded of George Szellu0026#39;s famous remark about him, u0026#39;That nut is a genius!u0026#39;. Gould was an utterly unique and important figure and it is no wonder that almost twenty-five years after his tragic death at 50, in 1982, his life is still being explored and celebrated. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSo, even if youu0026#39;ve seen other films about Gould, including those by Monsaingeon, you will be rewarded by watching this film. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eStrongly recommended. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eScott Morrisont”