Documentary from award-winning film-maker Nick Broomfield, charting the relationship between singer/songwriter Leonard Cohen and his Norwegian "muse" Marianne Ihlen. Beginning with the couple's first meeting in 1960 on the Greek island paradise of Hydra, the film chronicles Ihlen's part in the making of Cohen as an artist.
British documentary-maker Nick Broomfield brings genuine intimacy to an in-depth and moving look at the relationship between Canadian poet, songwriter and singer Leonard Cohen and his Norwegian "muse", Marianne Ihlen, inspiration for such Cohen classics as So Long, Marianne and Bird on the Wire. Turns out both Cohen and Broomfield were Marianne's lovers: Cohen for a decade, Broomfield only briefly during that mythic 1960s summer of "free love" (though he stayed in occasional touch with Ihlen until her death in 2016, only three months before Cohen's). Via his usual expert mix of archive and home-movie footage, and interview snippets with anyone and everyone relevant to the tale, Broomfield paints a picture of an unconventional but affectionate relationship between the infatuated Norwegian and the detached Cohen, whose bedsit ballads were soundtracks to the lives and loves of a generation. It's a superb documentary, and a great love story that will bring tears to the eyes of anyone ever touched by the man and his music. Keep your tissues handy.
| role | name |
|---|---|
| Leonard Cohen | Leonard Cohen |
| Marianne Ihlen | Marianne Ihlen |
| role | name |
|---|---|
| Director | Nick Broomfield |
