Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould · reception & legacy
1993 · François Girard
How Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould has been received, argued over, and remembered.
The arc
It arrived in 1993 already garlanded — Genie Awards including Best Motion Picture and warm art-house reviews — and has only hardened since into a fixture of 'greatest Canadian films' conversations and the go-to example whenever anyone complains that biopics are formulaic.
What's debated
Its recurring role in film-fan discourse is as Exhibit A in the 'why can't all biopics be like this?' debate — cited endlessly against cradle-to-grave Oscar-bait, while skeptics counter that its fragment structure admires Gould without ever really explaining him.
Its footprint
Its title became a meme template before memes: The Simpsons' '22 Short Films About Springfield' is a direct riff on it, and 'X Short Films About Y' headlines and list titles have been riffing ever since.
Where it stands
A canonized Canadian classic and cinephile handshake — the anti-biopic people tell you to see once they learn you're tired of biopics.