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Men In Black 3

It’s not a sequel that needed to be made, but thanks to the charm of its leads and a tone that harks back to the wit and humour of the original, it’s a pretty enjoyable trip.

Bel Ami

The excellent female support cast saves this patchy effort, which is let down by its leading man and a flat screenplay.

The Dictator

A disappointing, often repulsive and mean-spirited mess of a film with seemingly only one real criterion on its agenda: to shock and offend.

The Woman In Black

Packed with atmosphere, this old-fashioned but deftly told ghost story delivers ample chills and thrills.

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Genius Within: The Inner Life Of Glenn Gould (Film)

by Julian Wood | October 05, 2010 16:11 | Edited October 06, 2010 17:10

This fascinating documentary would fare better from more uninterrupted musical numbers.

Glenn Gould is certainly good documentary material. The sometimes reclusive Canadian pianist, who died at fifty, blazed so spectacularly across the world of twentieth century musicianship that he attracted cultish devotion. All agree that his interpretations of Bach are timeless, but Gould is eerily brilliant and always on the outer. Gould - the treasured only child - at times seems almost like an undiagnosed autistic, and the film does flirt with the mythology of the artist who is too "different" for this world. For the most part though, directors Michele Hozer and Peter Raymont head back towards near hagiography and the warm embrace of Gould's achievements. This is primarily a celebration, and not a critical study.

 

The structure is chronological, with the obligatory first reel mix of childhood prodigy footage ("I could read music before I could read letters") and intercut adult interviews. Gould definitely had an eccentric image (which he may have encouraged), but he was also highly intelligent, articulate and quite charming. He enjoyed broadcasting experimental radio shows, and took a prescient interest in the future possibilities of studio recording innovations. After he gave up performing at age thirty in 1952, he became a dedicated and demanding studio artist. This is where the film might have gotten more of the real juice, but unfortunately the directors cannot resist putting talk over the top of all the playing. Every note in the film's score is Gould's, but with no real concert footage either, we're left wanting more uninterrupted clips.

 

There have, of course, been films about Gould before, most notably Francois Girard's famous 1993 vignette style Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould.  Genius Within attempts a much more direct look at the man and his life, but ends up admitting that the "inner genius" is there, but is ultimately ineffable.