Genius Within

I went to see the film 'Genius Within: The Inner Life Glenn Gould,' at the Film Archive last Wednesday.

The Film Archive isn't the most welcoming foyer with it's white, reflective floors and aerodynamic chairs, I almost felt like I had walked inside a very trendy spaceship. I must admit I prefer the cosy, old fashioned rather than the minimalistic hip but on the up side the food was yummy and the staff suave. I was oh so charmed,(thinking of one young man in particular who's 'my pleasure' was a much appreciated reply to my 'thank you.' Sometimes the small things do matter.)

The film was a well directed, reflective take on Glenn Gould's life. I do always wonder about documentaries that have been made after the death of the subject though. How much of the truth can be told?

Obviously Glenn Gould was a complicated difficult man (aren't most artist's) but a complicated difficult character is always a great subject for a film.

Glen Gould's piano playing blew my mind. To be able to see and hear him play was a real treat and thoroughly appreciated. His hands: fingers long, delicate, and when they moved around the piano so dexterously they almost looked double jointed. His unique way of interpreting the classical greats compositions and rearranging them to express his own take on the music with real feeling was like the title says inner genius.

With his James Dean looks and his unbelievable talent, Glenn Gould mesmerises in concert.

His intense dislike for any sort of pretension, his need for solitude and his eventual drug dependencies were all moments in his life that I viewed with interest.

The film also prompted me to think about how the media often focus's on an artist's unique idiosyncrasies and eccentricities rather than the art itself. If an artist has a rather unique personality the media will force the artist under some sort of media microscope which almost creates a caricature personality of the artist. I imagine how hard this would be for a true artist such as Glenn Gould to deal with. If I was in this position I imagine that all my natural reactions would become contrived as I felt the global eyes scrutinize. I felt real empathy for Glenn Gould in having to deal with this unfortunate down side to fame.

The landscape shots of the Canadian terrain also captured me especially the last scene of a Canadian hillside, the redness of the leaves in Autumn clustered so bright amongst the green juxtaposed to the sombre piano music. Glenn's own eulogy to himself which ends this great and no doubt lasting memorial.

The moment in the film that remains most vivid in my mind is the comment made by one of Glenn Gould's few friend who divulges to the audience that Glenn sometimes seemed 'As fragile as glass, that if you threw a stone at him he would shatter.'