Last night was the opening screening for Scott Hicks's documentary Glass: A portrait of Philip in twelve parts.  The director took time to introduce the film, which is a very intimate look at the life of prolific composer Philip Glass. The composer turns 70 this year; thus, this is quite the honour to bestow on such occasion.

The feel throughout the film is that of a private conversation.  Hicks takes us through Glass' typical day at work, his vacation home in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia; he even takes us on tour with him and his musical ensemble. We come to know Glass through his friends, his wife (Holly Glass), his siblings and of course, through his music.  The film is filled with Glass's compostions; thus making it melodic and even more personal.  It is indeed a film that inspires.  In the film, we see Glass discuss his love of music. He states, "music is about listening."  We also get a sense of his obsession with his work through his wife's comments.  She mentions that music is how Glass communicates his most private feelings.  Holly herself shares her feelings with the director and through him, with the audience.  We get the sense that there is a kind of sadness in her because Glass is very unavailabe due to his work.  Nonetheless, theres is a deep love shared between the two. 

Hicks also introduces us to several of Philip's friends and collaborators.  Glass is a man who likes to work on his music alone but loves to share in the creative process.  He embraces different forms of music from different cultures.  In his own life, Glass also has embraced tibetan, toltec and other faiths.  This is how he achieves balance in his life.  Perhaps this is why he creates such amazing music.

After the screening, Hicks answered some of the audience's questions.  He described how through the film, we see that "Philip turns out to be a man of many surprises." Hicks also said that Glass would lay out clues for him, so that he could investigate parts of his life more thoroughly. When asked about his music selections, Hicks said that the music was to resonate with the scene at hand. 

Reel to Reel programmer Thom Powers reminded us that Hicks shot most of the film himself.  To address this Hicks explained that "Philip was starting a dialogue with me, or the camera.  [Thus] that was the film I was making."  It is evident that Glass and Hicks are very good friends.  There is no other way to describe how this film came to be.  It was a great way to end the day.