The premiere of Leonard Cohen I'm Your Man

[tomsakic]

From Canadian Jewish News, by SHELDON KIRSHNER

http://www.cjnews.com/viewarticle.asp?id=7402

This year’s edition of the Toronto International Film Festival, the 30th, was one of the best, although not all the movies could be described as impressive.

Leonard Cohen, the Canadian poet, songwriter and novelist, is the subject of Lian Lunson’s Leonard Cohen I’m Your Man, a 98-minute tribute to an international acclaimed cultural icon. The engaging documentary is a hybrid, unfolding through the medium of a rock concert, readings from Cohen’s poems, interviews and personal photographs of his Montreal youth.

Singers ranging from Rufus and Martha Wainwright to Nick Cave and Beth Orton belt out his haunting, soulful songs, filling the night air with renditions of Everybody Knows, If It Be Your Will, Suzanne and so on. Cohen’s vivid songs are instantly recognizable, being infused with an unmistakable poetic sensibility. As Cohen rightly observes, he has the advantage of actually being a published writer.

Bono, a concert participant, hails him as a craftsman. Perhaps too charitably, he compares Cohen to Keats and Byron and refers to the “otherness” of his language. Edge, Bono’s U2 partner, pays Cohen the ultimate compliment by commenting that his songs are tinged with biblical resonance.

Cohen – whose gravelly voice bespeaks world-weary sophistication – discloses that stories from the Bible prompted him to embark on the path to poetry. Recalling Montreal friends such as Frank Scott, Irving Layton and Louis Dudek, Cohen remarks, “We really wanted to be great poets.”

Talented as Cohen is, the task of coaxing words to paper is never an easy enterprise. He writes at least 10 versions of a song before the result finally satisfies him.

Though Cohen is a spiritual person – he speaks fondly of his association with a wizened Zen master in Los Angeles – he is surprisingly flashy. Rufus Wainwright, reminiscing about his first meeting with Cohen, found him in his undergarments boiling soba noodles. Later that day, Cohen made a grand entrance, resplendent in an Armani suit. That was Wainwright’s “Leonard Cohen moment.”

[tomsakic]

This site claims to have the stills from the movie, but there's no any, except this picture...
http://movies.monstersandcritics.com/ne ... m_Your_Man

[dick]

The site does have 8 photos Tom, but they are hard to get to.. used photos link on left side of page - twice - and then had to click again on the movie title to get to them. Two with Martha, a couple with Lian that we have seen, and some Nick Cave......

[lizzytysh]

Just a couple comments on the review itself:

Perhaps too charitably, he compares Cohen to Keats and Byron and refers to the “otherness” of his language.

Is the italicized portion part of what the writer considers too charitable? Or, simply the Keats and Byron part only?

Edge, Bono’s U2 partner, pays Cohen the ultimate compliment by commenting that his songs are tinged with biblical resonance.

It seems that others could receive the ultimate compliment that their songs are "tinged," if they, too, permeated their songs with biblical references.

Talented as Cohen is, the task of coaxing words to paper is never an easy enterprise. He writes at least 10 versions of a song before the result finally satisfies him.

Does he mean to suggest that what precedes the comma and what follows the comma are somehow in conflict?

Though Cohen is a spiritual person – he speaks fondly of his association with a wizened Zen master in Los Angeles – he is surprisingly flashy. Rufus Wainwright, reminiscing about his first meeting with Cohen, found him in his undergarments boiling soba noodles. Later that day, Cohen made a grand entrance, resplendent in an Armani suit.

Boiling noodles in your underwear, and then dressing up for what is obviously some sort of occasion, that Rufus would even be there, regardless of the designer and maker of the well-made, quality suit ~ being worn by someone who knows and appreciates the difference when it comes to clothing quality, with his own father having been in the clothing industry ~ constitutes "surprisingly flashy"!?! Not exactly the images that align in my mind when I think of "flashy."

Other than those comments, I enjoyed the review and look forward to seeing the film.

~ Lizzy

[tomsakic]

The site does have 8 photos Tom, but they are hard to get to.. used photos link on left side of page - twice - and then had to click again on the movie title to get to them.

Jesus. That's the link? However made that site is actually a jerk. - I found it now on on the place where i didn't see them this morning: clicked "Access media from the movie" bellow the page, and then found film info with PR blurb I read already on dozen of pages... Then the link on bottom says "Stills from Leonard Cohen I'm Your Man", and that links lead you BACK to the first page! Anyhow, now I see "Images" on top of the page, right, between Info and Articles.

http://movies.monstersandcritics.com/ar ... 522/images

Actually, both Leonard's pics we saw before, others are from Willner's show.

[tomsakic]

Lizzy, you're right about this article, and I think this notion that LC isn't worth enough to be compared to Keats and Byron is pretty wrong and un-charitably.

[lizzytysh]

Well, Tom, thanks for saving us the trip through all of that !?!


And, they were only placed there yesterday!

[lizzytysh]

Instinctively, I agree with your comment on Keats and Byron, too, Tom. But, singling out that comment, without my being truly familiar with their work [other than a few poems], I thought would be better left to someone else. Thanks for being that someone else .

~ Lizzy

[Tchocolatl]

LEONARD COHEN I'M YOUR MAN
by Mark Bell
(2006-01-25)
I want to get this out at the beginning: if you are a fan of Leonard Cohen's music, and a film about Cohen contains said music, it's really hard to screw it up. Meaning, going into the film, I was biased to believe that even if it was 90 minutes of dogs humping pinecones, as long as the soundtrack was comprised entirely of Leonard Cohen's songs, I wouldn't be too upset.

"Leonard Cohen I'm Your Man" is an autobiography / concert film of incredible ambition. While performers like Nick Cave, Rufus and Martha Wainwright, Antony, and Beth Orton offer their live renditions of Cohen's music (filmed during the "Came So Far for Beauty" tribute shows), Cohen himself reflects on his life and the songs that grew out if it. Stating that he has never been one for regret or self-praise, Cohen assures that those elements are happily missing from the film. Of course, he can't stop others from praising him, and the film offers us the perspective of the varied performers as they state how Leonard began a part of their lives, musically or otherwise.

And luckily, there were no dogs humping pinecones. Instead we get an intimate (though paradoxically vague) portrait of a man who has been many things in his life, not the least have been his accomplishments as a poet and songwriter. As the film unfolds, we are greeted with not only the beauty of his music, but his own philosophical beliefs and ideals that lead him to craft such amazing songs.

That's what I mean by the film being intimate, though paradoxically vague. You feel like you know Leonard so well by following the artful honesty of his songs, and when you couple that with his own commentary (as skillful in the English language and as well-crafted as anything the man has ever laid to professional paper), it seems to paint a full picture. But in reflection, it's only the broad strokes, only the bits he wants you to know, keeping the mystery, as well as the seduction, alive.

On a technical level, the film has a few flaws, most obvious the use of transitional elements that should help the film have a constant current but instead offer a distraction. Red-sequins slowly fading in and out during songs, a low rumble of sound before Cohen starts to speak, the constant use of slow motion for the end of performances... as I first began watching it, I thought it had a bit of the Academy Awards obituary clip feel to it. Especially when the beginning involves "Waiting for the Miracle" playing as the performers are introduced in slow-motion black and white.

The performances in the film are soul-saving. Rufus Wainwright carries the heaviest load, appearing on more than one song, most notably his cabaret-style rendition of "Everybody Knows" and his, admitted, consistently performed "Hallelujah." But the true revelation in the film is Antony from Antony and Johnsons performing "If It Be Your Will." Standing awkwardly on stage, dressed in a kind of ripped fish-net shirt, face contorting uncomfortably, Antony at once owns and elevates the song to a new level. Add to that the reflections of Cohen concerning his own dealings and feelings on the definition of beauty, and you have this moment in the film that is philosophically explosive, consoling and personal-perspective challenging. Sadly the only performance that feels out of place is Cohen's own, backed by U2. Filmed in a cramped set, sound mastered so well that it's obvious Cohen is lip-syncing (taking away from the rawness of the rest of the film's live acts) and including a background sound that is, yes, very-much U2... it feels wrong, like it would be a great DVD extra, but in the context of the film, though as it unfolds you want to see Leonard perform a song or five, it's an awkward pit-stop.

In the end, where the film succeeds the most is that it doesn't just ride on the laurels of Cohen's work, it doesn't go the lazy route.

Cohen's songs have always had a epic quality ("Anthem" for the most obvious), and going in I couldn't imagine there being any way to elevate them higher... but the film does. As the performers unload into the songs and Cohen book-ends the performances with his thoughts, the epics become even more epic. There's more legend to follow now. And I'm still not sure if half the legend that has been created by this film is real, or just Cohen seducing me all over again.

If you're not a fan of Cohen's work, as I know many folks can't seem to get into his voice (despite it being so soulful that he could read a phone book and I'd find a reason to live in it, but I digress) this film is the perfect way to introduce yourself to the music again. This film is an opportunity, period.

http://www.filmthreat.com/index.php?sec ... ws&Id=8454

[Tchocolatl]

2006-01-20

Leonard Cohen Film Toasts Songwriter

by Steven Rosen, Contributing Writer

“He’s the man who comes down from the mountaintop with tablets of stone,” says U2’s guitarist, The Edge, in “Leonard Cohen I’m Your Man,” a documentary on Cohen, one of the greatest living songwriters, that is screening at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.

Comments on Cohen’s many biblical references in his songs and his almost mystical authority are sprinkled through out the film, which is slated for a May theatrical release from Lionsgate, even as the many interviewees also point out that Cohen can also be droll and erotic in his work.

The film’s director, Australian-born and L.A.-based Lian Lunson, expanded upon The Edge’s comments in a telephone interview:

“I think with great writers like Leonard Cohen, the gift they have has so much weight behind it, that even if the lyric isn’t religious, it takes on a religious aspect because of the great amount of contemplation that has gone into it.”

The film interweaves interviews with various subjects with a wry, introspective 71-year-old Cohen — his face creased and hair gray but both his mind and his wardrobe sharp. Interspersed, too, are performances at the “Came So Far for Beauty” concert tribute to Cohen at the Sydney Opera House.

At that show, produced by American Hal Willner (who also produced UCLA Live’s Randy Newman tribute), such musicians as the McGarrigle Sisters, Rufus Wainwright, Beth Orton, Nick Cave, Linda Thompson and Antony (of Antony & the Johnsons) perform versions of songs from throughout Cohen’s career. Eventually, late in the film, Cohen sings — in his gravely rumble of a voice — “Tower of Song,” in a surprising special performance staged just for the film by Lunson, a longtime music video director.

As Cohen and others recall, his youthful influences included the Jewish liturgy he heard in synagogue. Cohen was born in 1934 in Montreal to an influential English-speaking family. His father was a clothing manufacturer, his paternal grandfather helped lead numerous Jewish civic and religious institutions and his maternal grandfather was a rabbi and Talmudic scholar.

Cohen became first an accomplished poet and then, starting with 1967’s “Songs of Leonard Cohen” (which contained the oft-recorded “Suzanne”) a singer-songwriter. According to Ira Nader’s Cohen biography, “Various Positions,” Cohen’s Judaism has influenced his songs greatly — “Who By Fire” is based on the melody of a Yom Kippur prayer, “Mi Bamayim, Mi Ba Esh,” and “If It Be Your Will” is derived from a “Kol Nidre” phrase.

Cohen talks movingly in the film about how his father’s death — when he was just 9 — galvanized in him a compassionate but unsentimentally mature view about the limitations of life on earth.

“It was in the realm of things that couldn’t be disputed or even judged,” he tells Lunson.

And he explains he’s been searching for other such things to give his life structure and discipline — truth — ever since. He describes himself as drawn to “the military and the monastery.”

While remaining Jewish, he has pursued an interest in Zen Buddhism for some 30 years at the Mt. Baldy Zen Center with a Japanese master, Joshu Sasaki Roshi.

“He was someone who deeply didn’t care about who I was, and the less I cared about who I was the better I felt,” Cohen tells Lunson.

Speaking quietly but unguardedly, Cohen appears amused when discussing his lifelong dislike for blue jeans, his following among young “punksters” and his regrets about once revealing that “Chelsea Hotel” was written about a sexual encounter with Janis Joplin. “She wouldn’t have minded, but my mother would have minded,” he says of his indiscretion.

“Leonard Cohen: I’m Your Man” was produced by Mel Gibson’s Icon Productions, which arranged distribution with Lionsgate. Lunson and Gibson are longtime friends, and she helped him put together the album, “Songs Inspired by ‘The Passion of the Christ,’” which included Cohen’s “By the Rivers Dark.”

“I took the idea of the film to Mel because he’s a huge Leonard Cohen fan, always has been, and he said, ‘Let me put it out there and see,’” Lunson said. “He loves Leonard Cohen.”

http://www.jewishjournal.com/home/preview.php?id=15274

[jarkko]

According to this page: http://entertainment.lycos.com/movies/m ... p?id=35568
the premiere of the documentary will be JUNE 21, 2006, in New York and selected cinemas.

(Thanks to Dave for the link!)

[Bobbie]

Produced by Mel Gibson........ ???? What the... ??

[Anne]

At the Toronto Premiere Lian explained that Mel has been a fan of Leonard's music for a very long time as well as a long time friend of hers. Because of this she was able to turn to him to help get the cameras and equipment she needed in order to film the Hal Willner Show in Sydney. And that is why he is a producer. It made sense to me.

[tomsakic]

Lian Lunson was involved in Mel Gibson's production of the Passion soundtrack. I am not quite sure how, but there is a connection - Gibson included Leonard's TNS song By The Rivers Dark.
I am speaking of soundtrack "inspiration for Passion", released by Sony, not "music from..."

[tomsakic]

Songs Inspired by The Passion of Christ

http://www.thepassionofthechrist.com/un ... /main.html

Songs were personally compiled by Mel Gibson. Musical producer: Lian Lunson.

http://music.thoughtquotient.com/lunson/lunson.htm