The Virtues of Hesitation

Glenn Gould tells the tale of a student's winter journey from Toronto to distant Winnipeg with images and music reflecting the majesty of the North. Based on Gould's radio documentary of the same name.

Leornard Bernstein conducts the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, first with pianist Glenn Gould performing Bach's Keyboard Concerto #1 in D minor and then with soprano Eileen Farrell singing the "Suicidio!" aria from Amilcare Ponchielli 's opera "La Gioconda". Finally, composer Igor Stravinsky takes over the podium, conducting the last three scenes from his ballet "The Firebird". Bernstein also gives an opening talk on the vagaries of musical score notation and introduces each of the three guest performers. Originally aired on January 31, 1960 on CBS Television as part of its Ford Presents series.

This short documentary (the second of two parts) follows Glenn Gould to New York City. There, we see the renowned Canadian concert pianist kidding the cab driver, bantering with sound engineers at Columbia Records, and then, alone with the piano, fastidiously recording Bach's Italian Concerto.

A look at the acclaimed pianist's 1957 trip to the Soviet Union, when he became - at age 24 - the first North American to perform behind the Iron Curtain. The film features previously unheard recordings of Gould's concerts in Moscow and Leningrad, including his recital and lecture at the Leningrad Conservatory.

Billy Pilgrim, a veteran of the Second World War, finds himself mysteriously detached from time, so that he is able to travel, without being able to help it, from the days of his childhood to those of his peculiar life on a distant planet called Tralfamadore, passing through his bitter experience as a prisoner of war in the German city of Dresden, over which looms the inevitable shadow of an unspeakable tragedy.

As the result of a head injury, brilliant computer scientist Harry Benson begins to experience violent seizures. In an attempt to control the seizures, Benson undergoes a new surgical procedure in which a microcomputer is inserted into his brain. The procedure is not entirely successful.

Robert Ross (Brent Carver) lives a protected adolescence in a well-off Toronto suburb. Secretive and withdrawn, he shares his thoughts only with his sister Rowena (Anne-Marie MacDonald) who is mentally disabled. He feels compassion for his weak and conventional father. He avoids any confrontation with his mother (Martha Henry), a dominating woman whose despondency at having given birth to a handicapped child has turned to bitterness. Rowena occupies a central position in Robert's existence of daydreams and make-believe. When she dies, Robert clashes openly with his family, and decides to take himself in hand. It's 1914. He enrolls in the Canadian army, and, after training in Alberta and Montreal, he finds himself in England and France. The war becomes another way for him to resolve his conflicts, his dramas, his passions--his wars.

In this witty documentary monologue, Glenn Gould reflects on his complex relationship with Toronto — praising its quietude, poking fun at its reputation, and weighing its cultural mosaic, urban resilience, and rivalry with Montreal. With his trademark mix of clarity, irony, and personal reminiscence, Gould reveals a bond with the city that is neither boosterish nor dismissive, but as nuanced and singular as the man himself.

Filmmaker David Langer traces the short but remarkable life of classical pianist Glenn Gould, an eccentric artist who took the world by storm when he made his professional debut at age 14 but had stopped performing entirely by the time he was 32. Extras include Gould's performances of Johann Sebastian Bach's "Concerto No. 5 in F minor, Largo and Presto" and "Fugue No. 4."