Glass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts (2007)

Academy Award®-nominated director Scott Hicks ("Shine") documents an eventful year in the career and personal life of distinguished Western classical composer Philip Glass as he interacts ... See full summary »

Director:

Scott Hicks

Stars:

Philip Glass, Holly Critchlow, Chuck Close

Nominated for 1 Primetime Emmy. Another 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Philip Glass	...	Himself
Holly Critchlow	...	Herself, Philip Glass' fourth wife
Chuck Close	...	Himself
JoAnne Akalaitis	...	Herself, Philip Glass' first wife
Kurt Munkacsi	...	Himself, producer
Scott Hicks	...	Himself (voice)
Maki Namekawa	...	Herself, concert pianist
Marlow Glass	...	Himself, Philip Glass' son
Cameron Glass	...	Himself, Philip Glass' son
Dennis Russell Davies	...	Himself
Sheppie Abramowitz	...	Herself, Philip Glass' sister
Marty Glass	...	Himself, Philip Glass' brother
Stokes Howell	...	Himself
Rebecca Litman	...	Herself
Zack Glass	...	Himself, Philip Glass' son

Storyline

Academy Award®-nominated director Scott Hicks ("Shine") documents an eventful year in the career and personal life of distinguished Western classical composer Philip Glass as he interacts with a number of friends and collaborators, who include Chuck Close, Ravi Shankar, and Martin Scorsese.

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Plot Keywords:

composer | collaborator | nova scotia | new york city new york | concert footage | 

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Taglines:

In July 2005, filmmaker Scott Hicks started shooting a documentary about the composer Philip Glass to celebrate his 70th anniversary in 2007.

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Genres:

Documentary | Biography | Music

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

Australia USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 April 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

Glass

Filming Locations:

Australia

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$5,546, 20 April 2008, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$20,018, 11 May 2008

Company Credits

Production Co:

Independent Media, Kino Films, Mandalay Motion Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

119 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

This documentary's director Scott Hicks became a fan of the work of composer Philip Glass after he went to a midnight screening of Koyaanisqatsi (1982) in 1984 at the behest of his son.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Philip Glass: [voiceover] I never was a captive of other people's ideas about me. Whatever they thought, that didn't bother to me, I did what I wanted to, and um - I didn't care. I've been like that my whole life, and - it saved me a lot of trouble. Even when it came to writing music I didn't care what people thought. You know, there's a lot of music in the world, you don't have to listen to mine. There's Mozart, there's the Beatles, listen to something else! You don't have to listen to this. You...

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Connections

Features Koyaanisqatsi (1982)

User Reviews

Beautiful, Brilliant

Living in Toronto, once a year I get the benefit of having the world's largest film festival come to my doorstep. Tonight I was lucky enough to be in the audience for the first screening of Scott Hicks' new biographical movie on composer Philip Glass. I did not know what to expect from this film, namely because I was only vaguely familiar with Glass' work and also because I was skeptical that a movie about a minimalist composer would be either entertaining or fascinating. But my initial doubts were completely wrong - the movie blew me away. The movie was very profound, extremely interesting, and surprisingly funny - not to forget full of beautiful music (this movie has introduced me to the work of this wonderful composer who I would otherwise have never explored). The cinematography was also excellent - far beyond what you get in the usual documentary. Hicks' breakdown of Glass' life into 12 distinct stages was the perfect way to show him at his different mental states. Near the start of the movie, Hicks shows footage of Glass that you (or at least those who are not Glass followers)originally think has nothing to do with his music. Yet as the movie goes on, and you reach deeper and deeper within Glass'life and his head, you realize that what the other footage is showing is key to understanding Glass because it makes up an essential part of Glass' musical origins/motivations. The movie begins slowly but builds into a powerful crescendo.

Glass' life is not only interesting due to his line of work, for he paints a good picture of how he engages in a complex artistic process. His comments on music and art are original and very worthwhile; even if you have no interest in Glass' music, his comments on his process are worthwhile for anyone interested in art of any sort. This is a movie worth seeing.