Glenn Gould: Hereafter (2006) - full transcript
Bruno Monsaingeon signs a new masterpiece. He decided to talk about the question of Gould's genius in its totality. Based on dialogues between Gould (through the voice of Mathieu Amalric) ...
Incredible!
Hello, Glenn!
Incredible!
It's so moving!
The gloves... the scarf...
the coat... It's all so lifelike.
I came from Bologna,
the city
of Marconi,
the man who invented radio,
which he liked so much!
I first heard Glenn play...
in 1993.
The day after, I said to friends:
Please help me,
I fell in love with a dead person!
You may know
that we made a film together,
The Goldberg Variations.
Sometimes, we made up to 26 takes.
There were moments
of intense inspiration
during the shooting.
You remember the 25th variation?
While playing...
he lifted his left hand
as if he was "conducting" the celli,
as though saying to them:
Quieter, quieter!
With Gould, it was always like that.
There was never anything artificial.
What was so original
in his performing style
was that he shed light on the work
he played as if from within,
so that his listeners,
whether musicians or music lovers,
listened to his music
as if they could read it.
I had some misfortunes in my life,
including two strokes,
which is why I can't speak properly.
All that I loved in life was gone.
Suddenly, in March 2001,
as I was in my usual state
of complete indifference
to the outside world,
lying on my bed,
my husband called me from his car:
Put on the radio immediately,
something extraordinary
is happening!
I switched on the radio and heard
The Well-Tempered Clavier
played by Gould.
I did not even know
what he looked like.
I came back to life.
Gould plays it like a prayer.
He's a kind of ecumenical priest,
and brings us Bach's Gospel.
He had a direct link to God.
He had received the kiss of God.
For the first time in my life,
I thought there existed beings
of extraterrestrial provenance...
I discovered
that Gould had written letters
to several Japanese people.
He was answering fan letters.
I found the people
who had sent him letters.
Among the five
to whom Gould had replied,
two never received their letters.
Here is the letter I told you about.
So this is the letter
from Mr. Gould?
I can't believe
I would get a reply
after 30 years.
He probably forgot to mail it.
I asked him
if he'd teach me the piano.
Not knowing Mr. Gould's address,
I just wrote on the envelope:
Mr. Gould — Toronto — Canada.
I have correspondents
in Leningrad,
in the Ukraine...
in Israel...
What I am busy with, I call:
gouldianising my friends!
Whoever falls into my orbit
is submitted to an instant
gouldianisation.
I give them music to hear,
I show them pictures.
Since most of them
share my views,
they gouldianise easily.
I succeeded in gouldianising
my daughter-in-law in Warsaw,
a friend in Paris.
They had no information on Gould.
In Moscow, there was nothing.
As soon as I learnt
about Gould's existence...
I was fascinated.
All kinds of uncanny rumors
were spread about him:
Some said that he was unhappy,
that he had polio...
Others said
that he was hunch-backed...
or that he had committed suicide.
He grew into a kind
of mythic, mystic figure.
I decided to look for the truth.
I had three dreams involving him,
one more beautiful than the other...
like three films!
I won't tell you...
But in all three,
it came down to this:
Send all these people away!
I don't want to see them!
When I had these dreams,
I still knew very little
about his personality.
Are you aware
that whenever you tell a story,
you never look in the eye
the person you're talking to?
Rumor has it that you use
a huge amount of medicine.
Is that true?
Are you engaged?
Do you have a girlfriend?
Have you always had
a good relationship with your agent?
It all started
in 2000,
when I finally achieved
my long-standing dream...
of having a fictitious conversation
with Glenn Gould.
I made an audio "collage",
for my own pleasure,
in which I talked with Glenn Gould.
I've always wondered
what it would have been like
to meet him for real
or to interview him
in a video studio.
For me, it was a way...
to establish a direct contact
with the one
who had given me so much.
When I listen to Glenn Gould,
admiration is not
what stimulates me,
but rather what he has done,
the kind of man he was,
how he led his life,
what it's got to do with me.
In everything,
he acts as a composer,
or transforms himself
into a composer.
But when he played Chopin,
he did not become Chopin:
Chopin became Gould.
Whereas with Bach,
Gould disappeared.
Only Bach remained.
Glenn Gould,
1932 — 1982.
I finally found you,
I am close to you.
I thank you for all you gave me.
The most beautiful thing in my life
will always be
listening to your music.
Thank you!
Hello, Glenn!
Incredible!
It's so moving!
The gloves... the scarf...
the coat... It's all so lifelike.
I came from Bologna,
the city
of Marconi,
the man who invented radio,
which he liked so much!
I first heard Glenn play...
in 1993.
The day after, I said to friends:
Please help me,
I fell in love with a dead person!
You may know
that we made a film together,
The Goldberg Variations.
Sometimes, we made up to 26 takes.
There were moments
of intense inspiration
during the shooting.
You remember the 25th variation?
While playing...
he lifted his left hand
as if he was "conducting" the celli,
as though saying to them:
Quieter, quieter!
With Gould, it was always like that.
There was never anything artificial.
What was so original
in his performing style
was that he shed light on the work
he played as if from within,
so that his listeners,
whether musicians or music lovers,
listened to his music
as if they could read it.
I had some misfortunes in my life,
including two strokes,
which is why I can't speak properly.
All that I loved in life was gone.
Suddenly, in March 2001,
as I was in my usual state
of complete indifference
to the outside world,
lying on my bed,
my husband called me from his car:
Put on the radio immediately,
something extraordinary
is happening!
I switched on the radio and heard
The Well-Tempered Clavier
played by Gould.
I did not even know
what he looked like.
I came back to life.
Gould plays it like a prayer.
He's a kind of ecumenical priest,
and brings us Bach's Gospel.
He had a direct link to God.
He had received the kiss of God.
For the first time in my life,
I thought there existed beings
of extraterrestrial provenance...
I discovered
that Gould had written letters
to several Japanese people.
He was answering fan letters.
I found the people
who had sent him letters.
Among the five
to whom Gould had replied,
two never received their letters.
Here is the letter I told you about.
So this is the letter
from Mr. Gould?
I can't believe
I would get a reply
after 30 years.
He probably forgot to mail it.
I asked him
if he'd teach me the piano.
Not knowing Mr. Gould's address,
I just wrote on the envelope:
Mr. Gould — Toronto — Canada.
I have correspondents
in Leningrad,
in the Ukraine...
in Israel...
What I am busy with, I call:
gouldianising my friends!
Whoever falls into my orbit
is submitted to an instant
gouldianisation.
I give them music to hear,
I show them pictures.
Since most of them
share my views,
they gouldianise easily.
I succeeded in gouldianising
my daughter-in-law in Warsaw,
a friend in Paris.
They had no information on Gould.
In Moscow, there was nothing.
As soon as I learnt
about Gould's existence...
I was fascinated.
All kinds of uncanny rumors
were spread about him:
Some said that he was unhappy,
that he had polio...
Others said
that he was hunch-backed...
or that he had committed suicide.
He grew into a kind
of mythic, mystic figure.
I decided to look for the truth.
I had three dreams involving him,
one more beautiful than the other...
like three films!
I won't tell you...
But in all three,
it came down to this:
Send all these people away!
I don't want to see them!
When I had these dreams,
I still knew very little
about his personality.
Are you aware
that whenever you tell a story,
you never look in the eye
the person you're talking to?
Rumor has it that you use
a huge amount of medicine.
Is that true?
Are you engaged?
Do you have a girlfriend?
Have you always had
a good relationship with your agent?
It all started
in 2000,
when I finally achieved
my long-standing dream...
of having a fictitious conversation
with Glenn Gould.
I made an audio "collage",
for my own pleasure,
in which I talked with Glenn Gould.
I've always wondered
what it would have been like
to meet him for real
or to interview him
in a video studio.
For me, it was a way...
to establish a direct contact
with the one
who had given me so much.
When I listen to Glenn Gould,
admiration is not
what stimulates me,
but rather what he has done,
the kind of man he was,
how he led his life,
what it's got to do with me.
In everything,
he acts as a composer,
or transforms himself
into a composer.
But when he played Chopin,
he did not become Chopin:
Chopin became Gould.
Whereas with Bach,
Gould disappeared.
Only Bach remained.
Glenn Gould,
1932 — 1982.
I finally found you,
I am close to you.
I thank you for all you gave me.
The most beautiful thing in my life
will always be
listening to your music.
Thank you!