Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love

Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love

Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love

source: Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love

In the 1960s, the Canadian writer (and later famous songwriter) Leonard Cohen hung out in a Bohemian community on the Greek island of Hydra. He formed a relationship with a woman, Marianne, who subsequently featured in some of his songs; in the way of the time, Marianne also had a brief fling with a young man called Nick Broomfield. Broomfield is now a celebrated maker of documentary films; and his latest, 'Marianne and Leonard', tells the story of the lifetime connection between his former lover and the artist she inspired, made after both of them recently died. What's interesting in the film is a tension that Broomfield seems to avoid addressing directly: that on one hand, Cohen comes across as a sensitive and profound thinker; on the other hand, also as a spoiled, pretentious individual who took whatever his talents enabled him to take without real regard for other people. A succession of acquaintances vouch for him, saying that you just couldn't expect Leonard to make the same commitments (and, where necessary, sacrifices) that you might of others. He may have maintained a lifelong friendship with Marianne (who eventually went home to Norway and adopted a suburban life), but only on his terms; for sure he liked her, but it's unclear that he ever actually did anything for her which in any way conflicted with his own interests, and it's strange to watch a film where everyone seems to pre-emptively forgive his behaviour. Broomfield's documentary is at its best when it tries to convey the wider milieu, of which Broomfield himself was part, than when it is genuflecting to St. Leonard and his muse, who by contrast appears to have been a genuinely lovely person, but perhaps not a particularly interesting one. Today, Broomfield says, Hydra is a millionaire's playground. But he paints an interesting picture of a time when it was something else.

... but it turned out to be a very entertaining doc on a fascinating subject. The footage that Nick Broomfield selected was mostly new to me, so there wasn't the stale feeling you get when you watch something for the umpteenth time. The two best interviewees were Aviva Layton, who had some very funny and true things to say about living with a genius, and Ron Cornelius who was most interesting when talking about the concert tours in the 70's. He learned how to stay away from acid and Mandrax. I missed any words from Suzanne (tea and oranges) Verdal--although her name appears in the credits--and Jennifer Warnes, who can be seen briefly in concert footage.

I'm not sure this idea for a third episode of Mamma Mia is exactly what the fans were waiting for... Using the music of Leonard Cohen rather than ABBA was a bold choice, but I think it works. Likewise the documentary format is an interesting way of telling the same story yet again, while not feeling like the same story. But if you liked the first two, all your old favorites are here! Greek islands, that mythical time of "the sixties" when social conventions didn't exist, beautiful people (and their sidekicks) coupling ambiguously to a glorious soundtrack, the dream of eternal youth. The second half veers, I have to admit, in a daring direction. We give up some of the 60s pretense of happiness and unicorns; and investigate the consequences of that lifestyle. Obviously the first Mamma Mia explored this lightly, with Sophie being a little unhappy at not knowing her father, but this time we go much deeper -- lives, minds, careers ruined, marriages destroyed, suicides and early deaths, a lot of broken and institutionalized children. Dark dark stuff, but it needed to be said to really ground the story in complete truth... So what more could you hope for from yet another sequel?

I love Leonard Cohen, cherish his music, and enjoy watching films about him - four so far this year. I had high expectations for the Nick Broomfield documentary about Leonard and the love of his life, Marianne Ihlen, a beautiful woman from Norway he met on the Greek island of Hydra in 1960, which was at the time a creative, counterculture hub. Leonard and Marianne spent almost a decade together on Hydra where Leonard wrote poetry, books, and songs and eventually left to pursue his career as a musician in the world beyond the isolation of the island. Leonard asked Marianne to join him in his life in Toronto, where things were never the same between them, and Leonard's appetite for women moved him out of Marianne's orbit, and she suffered for it, though their love remained. I have mixed feelings about the film. Marianne was the inspiration behind "So Long, Marianne," "Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye," "Bird on the Wire," and "Moving On" from Thanks for the Dance, Cohen's posthumous 2019 album. I guess I hoped this movie might offer more insight into Marianne herself - who by all accounts was a kind and nurturing person, creative in her own right who sang, had aspired to be an actress, and was a painter later in her life; rather, it put Marianne into the uncomfortable, limiting box of "MUSE" for Leonard and others. It seems her son Axel didn't fare well in this unstructured, free love environment, and Marianne was also affected as her love Leonard flew away to Toronto, New York, and the world stage. It's not a bad film, it just left me feeling sad for Marianne and Axel, whose life stories feel incomplete, and whose potential felt sadly squandered. At the end of the film a documentary maker read a good-bye letter from Leonard to Marianne in hospital before she died of leukemia. It said, "Well Marianne, it's come to this time when we are really so old and our bodies are falling apart and I think I will follow you very soon. Know that I am so close behind you that if you stretch out your hand, I think you can reach mine. And you know that I've always loved you for your beauty and your wisdom, but I don't need to say anything more about that because you know all about that. But now, I just want to wish you a very good journey. Goodbye old friend. Endless love, see you down the road. Love and gratitude, Leonard." My first young love was a musician and artist who I love to this day with all of my being, though circumstance drew us apart at the height of our romance. We are still connected, but we leave the past in a glass case on a high shelf so as to not to disturb those portraits of perfection we drew together. A letter from him in my last days would be a most cherished moment to sum up this depth of love from my tenure on this earth. Marianne radiated and glowed as Leonard's letter was read to her. It is a tremendously moving moment, and was worth the whole film to me.

Marianne Ihlen was a Norwegian woman living in the Greek Island of Hydra in the 1960s. There, she met Canadian poet Leonard Cohen and became his lover and muse. This documentary covers their early years together, Cohen's rise to fame, and how their lives and relationship evolved over the years that followed. This film is rich in material and covers many fascinating topics including Cohen's career. It's fascinating to learn of his life and work before becoming a legendary singer/songwriter. And events surrounding his first stage appearance are very surprising considering the great career that followed. In addition, the film is often blunt about Cohen's struggles with depression. "Marianne & Leonard" is beautifully expressed in the first half with a very poetic flow. It is blessed with amazing footage especially of Hydra in the early 60s. The film also joins many recent films in its depiction of the hedonism of the 60s and 70s ("Echo in the Canyon", "Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind", "Rocketman", "Bohemian Rhapsody"). At first, the drug scene and open marriage are exposed for their fun indulgence but the serious and devastating consequences are made very clear in the second half. Some editing might have improved in the film's second half which occasionally meanders. Also, while it genuinely expresses the consequences of the earlier indulgences (especially for how children were affected), there are insertions of inappropriate drunkalogues ("Man, we were SO stoned that night, ya just wouldn't BELIEVE it"). While much of the second half negates the beauty of the earlier half, it is saved by an emotional conclusion that is so deeply moving, it could make a stone weep - a perfect conclusion for film that is sometimes mixed but overall quite good. - dbamateurcritic

Seen at the Viennale 2019: Luckily, Cohen had such a strong personality. Even a mixed combination of pictures, film snippets and interviews is not too boring. The lengthy documentary tells a novice Cohen fan enough interesting stuff that overall a plus remains by watching this right straight forward told life of Cohen, with the excuse main theme of his eight year relationship with Marianne. At the end you know some new facts about Cohen. But it remains in the fog, what Marianne wanted from life, apart from wanting him as her partner for a conservative relationship that he was never ever to deliver.

Wish this documentary on the complicated life of Leonard Cohen and his lifelong relationship (in varying forms over the years) with Marianne Ihlen had delved a little deeper and wasn't so surfacy. I did get a sense of who Leonard Cohen was but not a sense of how he transferred his poetic genius from his mind into his music or poetry, and how exactly Ihlen inspired him for some of his most celebrated songs. Overall, I did learn quite a lot about Cohen's life here, but felt the documentary was too laid back, even lackluster at times, and failed to bring the vividness of it all together cohesively.