[F_MINOR] Glenn Gould's Toronto

[Matt Fisher <fishmatter@HOTMAIL.COM>]

After many years of searching I finally located a copy.  Unfortunately I'm
not permitted to circulate it - it came from the CBC archives.  I'm in the
process of figuring out how to make it available, and will do so if I can.

The film is much, much better than I remember it.  It's about Gould and
Toronto, of course, but it's also about the differences between Canada and
the US.  The level of analysis is extremely high, and the film displays a
self-awareness that is non-existent in American media.

A particularly funny bit takes place as Glenn discusses Toronto's shift from
cultural wasteland to party hotspot.  People used to go to Buffalo to have a
good time, but over the years Toronto picked up and now it isn't necessary
to go south to have fun.  At the same time the CN Tower was built.
Torontonians, it seems, no longer need to go to Buffalo, but they still like
to be able to look at it.

There is a wonderful moment when Glenn sings to a group of elephants at the
Toronto zoo.  They don't respond, and he eventually gives up, saying that
perhaps he's singing in the wrong key.

He freely admits that he is an outsider living in the city - most of the
places he visits he has never seen before.  At the Ex he talks about how he
was never allowed to visit; his parents feared the omnipresent germs and
general lack of cleanliness.  Obviously this was mirrored in his later life.

The city is portrayed as a series of churches - churches for god, churches
for money, churches for entertainment.  He fondly remembers, as a tormented
child, the Sunday services which provided respite from all the anguish of
school.  Only by removing himself from city life could he feel truly
comfortable in Toronto.

I think the film deserves wide distribution - it would be a great companion
piece to 32 Short Films...  I hope I can make it happen.

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