This documentary focuses on the relationship between Leonard Cohen and Marianne Ihlen, the Danish woman who was the inspiration for "So Long, Marianne" and "Bird on the Wire."
The film concentrates initially on their time together on Hydra, a Saronic Greek island located in the Aegean Sea that in the 1950s and 1960s attracted many writers and artists. Marianne was on the island because of her first husband, Axel Jensen, a writer. Their marriage was failing when Cohen came to the island to write in 1960. Their on-again, off-again relationship continued until the early 1970s.
The interviews especially feature Ron Cornelius, a musician who often worked with Cohen, Helle Goldman, a long-time friend of Marianne, John Lissauer who produced a number of Cohen's albums, and Richard Vick, a friend of Nick Broomfield's.
This documentary is more focused but less insightful than "Hallelujah." "Marianne & Leonard," says very little about Leonard Cohen's spiritual journey, focusing more on his relationships with women and drug use, especially in the 1960s and 1970s. It is more focused by using less rapid cuts and more extended interview clips. In my view, Leonard Cohen is a less attractive person in this documentary, though this is partly because Nick Broomfield had special sympathy and his own separate relationship with Marianne Ihlen. "Marianne & Leonard" gets a higher rating because of its greater coherence.
The film concentrates initially on their time together on Hydra, a Saronic Greek island located in the Aegean Sea that in the 1950s and 1960s attracted many writers and artists. Marianne was on the island because of her first husband, Axel Jensen, a writer. Their marriage was failing when Cohen came to the island to write in 1960. Their on-again, off-again relationship continued until the early 1970s.
The interviews especially feature Ron Cornelius, a musician who often worked with Cohen, Helle Goldman, a long-time friend of Marianne, John Lissauer who produced a number of Cohen's albums, and Richard Vick, a friend of Nick Broomfield's.
This documentary is more focused but less insightful than "Hallelujah." "Marianne & Leonard," says very little about Leonard Cohen's spiritual journey, focusing more on his relationships with women and drug use, especially in the 1960s and 1970s. It is more focused by using less rapid cuts and more extended interview clips. In my view, Leonard Cohen is a less attractive person in this documentary, though this is partly because Nick Broomfield had special sympathy and his own separate relationship with Marianne Ihlen. "Marianne & Leonard" gets a higher rating because of its greater coherence.