Not even Ken Russell at his most flamboyant has come up with a musical biopic quite as odd as director François Girard's offbeat film portrait of Canadian classical pianist Glenn Gould. But Russell's lurid excesses could not be further removed from the quirkiness and cool intelligence of Girard's film - qualities shared by the reclusive and enigmatic Gould himself, who notoriously retired from concert playing at the height of his fame in the early Sixties to concentrate on studio recording and died in 1982 at the age of 50. The film's title and curious structure is inspired by the 32 parts of the work that made Gould famous, Bach's Goldberg Variations. Mixing documentary, interviews and dramatic recreations, it illuminates facets of Gould's enigmatic personality (his love of solitude and enthusiasm for Petula Clark, for example) and takes the viewer to the heart of his prodigious artistry.

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