Glenn Gould, Hereafter

The legendary Canadian pianist, whose performances of Bach's keyboard music have become benchmarks, has been the subject of quite a few films, most strictly biographical. But while it includes considerable material about Gould's life, including interviews with the artist and excerpts from his recordings, Bruno Monsaingeon's Glenn Gould, Hereafter (the same filmmaker previously made Glenn Gould, The Alchemist) concentrates on the abiding spell cast by the musician, an idiosyncratic artist who retired from live concerts in 1964 and was only 50 when he died of a stroke in 1982, but still continues to attract a fanatical following because of the obsessively perfected, deeply personal readings he committed to vinyl over the 18 years he spent in near seclusion. The most curious aspect of this documentary is its focus on several women with a cult-like devotion to Gould: one travels to Toronto from Italy and holds a conversation with a life-sized statue of the pianist, while another works the Internet to, as she puts it, “Gouldalize” others. But Glenn Gould, Hereafter also contains a wealth of archival material—including shots of Gould ambling about the countryside, examples of his playing (some of it previously unreleased), revealing bits of television interviews—all of which offer a window into the life and work of this eccentric genius. Though somewhat affected in approach, the film proves to be both a reverential tribute to a remarkable, if very peculiar, artist and an illustration of the amazing dedication he still commands from admirers a quarter-century after his death. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (F. Swietek)