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by John Etherington » Wed Jul 24, 2019 3:21 am
I saw the film in Richmond tonight. Overall, I found it to be well-structured and generally engaging. Most pleasing was the footage of Hydra and especially that which featured the young Marianne. I also appreciated the somewhat outspoken contribution by Aviva Cantor (Irving Layton’s one-time partner). It was also good to hear contributions from other lesser-known figures.
I would say the film treated Leonard and Marianne’s relationship honestly, though it could perhaps have had a little more focus on Marianne herself, and the qualities that Leonard so admired in her. Julie Felix made a fine contribution, but no mention was made of her song “Beside the Still Fjord” (from her "Clotho's Web" album), which reveals her sympathies with her friend Marianne and criticizes Leonard’s behaviour towards her.
If my memory serves me well, the only other famous Leonard ladies that got a mention were Janis Joplin, Suzanne (the mother of Adam and Lorca) and briefly Kelley Lynch. With a view to putting the story into a wider perspective I can think of at least half a dozen other major ”Leonard ladies” who might have at least got a name-check.
I found the use of some of the film footage a bit uneven, since that which was shown didn’t always match the chronology. Quite a bit of the footage was familiar, and previously seen in films such as “Ladies and Gentleman Mr Leonard Cohen”, “Bird on a Wire”, and “Leonard at the Isle of Wight”. Furthermore the clips of songs were mostly very brief. I can't remember hearing “So Long Marianne” played in full (this would have been good for those who are new to the story). It it was, my focus may have been distracted by the shots of Marianne in the audience.
I’m being deliberately critical here, but overall the film was well-presented and addressed both the joy of Leonard and Marianne’s life together, as well as the pain and “fall-out” that followed that idealistic era of the Sixties; leaving consequences that time alone might help to heal.
Finally, it was good to see Albert Noonan and Jim Devlin both get name checks in the credits.
Last edited by
John Etherington on Wed Jul 24, 2019 2:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.