Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love

This documentary features a rather no-nonsense, apathetic style of narration. Its somewhat traditional in style, with lots of photos of the Greek scenery, where most of the time covered in this film centered on. It has a wistful, nostalgic sense to itself - of course it does, its looking back at around 1960. I admit I'm not especially familiar with Leonard Cohen, so the story was new to me but I watched it, as I saw it recommended elsewhere and the idea of seeing a documentary set in Greece at that time appealed to me. Its a somewhat calm and sedate watch, which may mean that you'd find it boring but personally, I quite liked the sort of hazy, wistful sense the floaty music in the background emphasised. I watched it at night and I wouldn't say it was the sort of film that I had to be constantly concentrating on the whole time, in order to (if roughly) follow it, so thats a definite plus. I did feel it slightly lost its way, so to speak, in the 2nd half, in as much as the timeline became a little unclear but for what it is, its not a bad watch - its a reasonable one, although of course to get the most from it then it helps if your familiar with Leonard Cohen's music etc. I would recommend this, to anyone who finds the subject matter intriguing. Its not exactly a greatly engrossing watch for the duration but its certainly interesting enough and is an ok watch.

I never got Leonard Cohen. He and his music, with its monotonous dirge-like rhythms and lugubrious self-pitying lyrics never appealed to me. He always seemed transfixed and delighted by himself and presents few insights or epiphanies beyond himself. That's a boring human being to me--and boring craft (not really art, certainly not transcendent art). However, people's experiences and takes on Leonard Cohen differ radically, and I don't claim to hold the truth of him. Given a general lack of interest/esteem for Leonard Cohen I put off watching Marianne and Leonard for a good year, but--because I was interested in their relationship and had run out of anything else to watch--I checked in out tonight. The Island of Hydra I knew nothing about prior to this film. It is fascinating to see yet another community of people in the 1960s and '70s indulging in mind-expansion, free-love, spirituality, and creative living--this time in Greece--but basically the usual suspects of upper middle class North American and Northern European quasi-bohemians. Two of whom were Leonard Cohen and his muse/companion Marianne. The film starts off interestingly enough but probably due to lack of material about their relationship it thins out quickly. The focus is then mainly on Leonard Cohen, but it's incredibly superficial--which, as alluded to before, I'm not surprised, given that the man and his writing have always struck me as pretty shallow. And the film progresses with some rather interesting talking heads, and some less so. I'm not one to rant about The Patriarchy, but seeing all these old guys from back in the day talk about bagging chicks themselves on the road touring with Leonard Cohen, or Leonard Cohen's self-described pathological obsession with seducing or being seduced by women, having sex with them, and then bidding casual adieu, or sneaking out of hotels rooms, or leaving out the back door "to preserve himself" moved my lack of admiration for Leonard Cohen to actual dislike. It seemed like a film made 15 years ago, in terms of its tone deafness about sex, relationships between men and women, etc. I felt sick for Marianne for being with him--always on his own terms, and never hers (which is explained must be the case for real artist men)--for decades. It definitely was her choice, and only she knows fully what she got out of it, but their arrangement (his, really) seemed bleak to me. And the ending scene, which some audience reviews say brought them to tears, seemed tepid and generic on Cohen's part rather than deeply heartfelt romantic outpouring of love and poetry. I gave it 3 stars because I'm glad the film was made and someone attempted to tell the story of the relationship and the historical/cultural context around it--even if it failed, and was as ultimately distasteful as Leonard Cohen the man seems to be.

If you like his music you will love this film. Very interesting how others live their lives.

What a love story, really.

'Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love' is a documentary film about the relationship between writer and singer Leonard Cohen and his "muse" Marianne Ihlen so what better way to watch than hubby and wife date isolation morning? Well, hubby and wife had different thoughts and came at the doc from different perspectives. Wife: It's a nice story but it's boring and there wasn't enough that made me interested in either one of their lives. I'm a big fan of Cohen, but not as big of a fan of this film. 6.4/10. Hubby: Nick Broomfield has a way of telling a fairly interesting story at his own pace and that's very slow. If you can muster the energy to stay engaged and you'll need to as there are tidbits that tie the story together, you're going to be left in pieces. I challenge anyone with a heart who's into the movie to not have it destroy you in the end. Whether your tears are happy or sad is up to you. This is a tough watch early, but hang in there. 8.2/10 Average: 7.3/10

this is essential viewing for anyone who considers themselves a fan of Leonard Cohen's work

Great doc. A real fan of Leonard Cohen. Loved hearing new info I didn't know about his life.

....made me want to go to Grease

Very good indeed. Especially when you enjoy Leonard Cohen as much as I do!

SO LONG ... With his original muse on her death bed, Leonard Cohen penned her a lovely letter, closing a full circle for both. Yet besides her song, and a stark photo on the back of an album cover, Marianne remains a mystery to most. Until now. As with other Cohen docs, there is more than enough juicy material to choose from. We receive a nice historic overview, but it is with the early idyllic, bohemian life on hippie isle Hydra, that "Marianne & Leonard" works best. The Canuck poet of the day escapes to fantasy island to soak in the ocean, the weather, the wine, the women. The woman. Norwegian Marianne Ihlen becomes his muse, and Cohen's wet dream becomes dry reality. With shaky super 8 footage and grainy photographs (there's some great shots of Lenny with a cheesy moustache), their little odyssey is perfect documentary fodder, augmented nicely with vivid recollections from the scenesters of the day. Cohen's subsequent return to Montreal and transition into music, closed the chapter on Hydra, but his complex connection with Marianne remained a constant, and a story well worth telling. - hipCRANK