Glenn Gould: A Portrait (1985) 9/12

Of all the films, documentaries and retrospectives I’ve seen on Glenn Gould, this one is my favorite. It was written, directed, and narrated by Vincent Tovell and Eric Till.

That this documentary is out-of-print is a crime. (Anyone from the CBC listening?) As far as I know, this film is unavailable for viewing anywhere online (except here).

One of the things that makes this documentary so wonderful is that it was made only three short years after Glenn’s untimely death in 1982 at age 50. The love and the pain on the faces and in the voices of all the interviewees, especially his dear cousin, Jesse Greig, is palpable.

If you’ve seen «32 Short Films on Glenn Gould,» you’ll notice that it «borrowed» heavily from this documentary. (It seems to me that François Girard lifted entire segments.) I enjoyed the film; I prefer the documentary.

I apologize for the crappy video and audio quality. I ripped this straight from an old VHS tape, using One Touch Video Capture. It’s the best I could do. I guess sometimes you just can’t keep that creaky chair from creaking.

May Glenn Gould forgive me.