32 Short Films about Glen Gould
Acedean: So you think yer pretty hot at the piano, huh?
Glen: Well... I... I mean, not to boast or anything, but as the fans say...
Acedean: Sure, piano boy. Ain’t you ever had a real job?
Glen: A real job?
Acedean: yeah, you know, liftin’ stuff, diggin’, weldin’, even somethin’ with all these new-fandangled
computers?
Glen: That’s an interesting question.
Acedean: aren’t you going to answer it?
Glen: No.
Acedean: Okay... well, I was sent here to interview you for the Santaquin Sitation about this movie about
you, 32 short films about Glen Gould. So what did you think of it?
Glen: I rather liked it.
Acedean: You did?
Glen: yes, I did.
Acedean: How come?
Glen: Well, take the Goldberg Variations for instance. There Bach presents a theme, and then plays
around with it 30 times, just seeing what you can do with it, looking at it from all angles, and then
comes back to it once again. He does that in a lot of his works actually.
Acedean: Yeah, last weekend Me and Cousin VerDell went up there to the Cathedral of the Madeline to
Salt Lake City an’ heard this lady play some piece by Bach, Passacaglia in C Minor. It did that
same thing. ‘Cept only 21 variations. It was pretty Wicked Awesome, though.
Glen: Exactly. That’s one thing I enjoyed about this film. It was like: “Here’s Glen Gould. And here he is
in a different situation, and another and another and another. I mean who would really want to
take some single event in my life and make a two hour movie about it? What, like build up to this
big concert, and there’s some bad guy who’s tampered with my piano, and I have to fight him right
before I play, and then I announce it’s my last concert or something. That would be terrible. I
found this format much more encompasing.
Acedean: Didn’t understand a thing you said just there. ‘Cept somethin about fighting. I think it would’ve
been cool to have some fighting.
Glen: I bet you do.
Acedean: So which one of them shorties was your favorite?
Glen: I particularly liked the Stock Exchange scene. I didn’t know they’d throw that in there. And I loved
how nervous the skeleton x-ray piece makes one feel. What’s funny is that’s not a hundreth of
what I feel every time I play.
Acedean: I really liked the Spaceship one. I don’t know, I just keep thinking about it. How the voice just
put it so matter of factly, you know. That was cool. And that one about Solitude, how yer just
standin there in the middle of the snow talking about solitude. And the interviewer sounds all far
away, like he’s kind of intruding on your space. I don’t know, I thought it was neat. That drugs
one was weird, though.
Glen: And that was only the legal ones!
Acedean: huh?
Glen: nothing.
Acedean: Am I as annoying as all them other reporters. I mean the ones in that one sequence, you now,
where all of them just keep asking all the stupid questions?
Glen: You’re nothing like them.
Acedean: Am I your friend?
Glen: Can I call you every other night at 2 a.m.?
Acedean: Are you crazy?
Glen: hmm.
Acedean: What’s your favorite movie?
Glen: I rather like Hard Day’s Night. You just can’t beat the Beatles. Wow, I just created a pun.
Acedean: Ever seen Tough and Deadly?
Glen: no
Acedean: Rowdy Roddy Piper’s in it. And every time they fight, this sweet heavy metal music comes on.
It totally rules.
Glen: Like in Mortal Kombat? I saw that one last night.
Acedean: Well, back to the subject. What’s up with the gloves and scarf?
Glen: What’s up with your hat?
Acedean: nothin’
Glen: Okay.
Acedean: I’m in a band, you know, it’s called Placenta.
Glen: You guys do Cheeseburger, right?
Acedean: yeah! You wanna jam? I brought my guitar. I just want to be able to write that I played Crazy
Train with Glen Gould.