Has anyone seen any Cohen videos?

andenord · Post by **andenord** » Thu Jun 16, 2005 2:55 pm

I once downloaded a whole bunch of them, from kaaza. I Must say that I didnt quite like them.

For example.. Suzanne is recorded in some sleezy hotel. The quality is really bad..

Dance me to the end of love video is kinda nice, thou. There is a very beautiful woman there, and they are in some kind of hospital...

greta · Post by **greta** » Thu Jun 16, 2005 7:23 pm

I also the same two you mentioned and also from kazaa. I love dance me to the end of love. It is so different from all these boring MTV style videos and i fell in love with Leonard in that video

Suzanne...is maybe a little less good but i still like it, especially the beginning with LC looking at the picture of train station and the scene with flying sheets of papers. If you want to discuss bad quality well then i have a really poor video with (i think) danish subtitles..they are a little bit disturbing.

Oh but if you go to LC's official web pagew you can also see a video for "Because of"

Teratogen · Post by **Teratogen** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 9:31 am

the video for "memories" is awesome, though. hahaha.

tomsakic · Post by **tomsakic** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 10:07 am

Those are not videos, Suzanne & Memories, but part of bigger, 30 minutes long video film I Am Hotel, in which Leonard has the role of narrator, performing five of his songs in a hotel, telling the story of lost love. So, the film is composed of five musical numbers:

1. The Guests (of course, opens the story about the hotel in which Leonard is common habitant)
2. Memories
3. The Gypsy's Wife
4. Chelsea Hotel #2 (of course, in film about the hotel!)
5. Suzanne

The concept of this 24 min video is based on the reminiscenses of a hotel - or some rooms of the hotel. Leonard Cohen plays a (long term) resident of the hotel. Each song is depicted by a little visual story involving some of the guests. There are no words other than those in the songs. "Memories" is set to a dance (like a prom) with Cohen up on stage leading the band. The two dancers that are featured in this vignette are very good (the bellboy and a hotel maid in the film). Choreography by Ann Ditchburn.

Written by Leonard Cohen and Mark Shekter, produced by Allan Nichols for Blue Memorial Video Ltd (the chairman of the company and one of the owners is Cohen). Filmed at the King Edward Hotel, Toronto.

The video won the Golden Rose international television award in Montreux, Switzerland.

The home video was released in 1996 in Canada.

http://www.leonardcohenfiles.com/hotel.html

tomsakic · Post by **tomsakic** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 10:24 am

I saw all Leonard's videos (Dance Me To The End Of Love, Take This Waltz, First We Take Manhattan, Closing Time, The Future, Dance Me To The End Of Love: Live, In My Secret Life, Because Of) and I like them all very much.

At least I like Closing Time, because other videos put very high standards for Cohen clips. This one has no much artistic integrity, but it's very pleasing sing-along video set in a bar, where Leonard sings Closing Time live with band and all visitors around, well, closing time. Very good and with commercial potential.

In terms of "art", the best video is, I presume, In My Secret Life. It's very arty, fancy piece of work, designed and done by Floria Sigismondi, who is pretty famous for her arty video clips for Marilyn Manson, Pink, Interpol, Sigur Ros and many others.

I like First We Take Manhattan the best. I think the pictures and dynamic direction fits very well with song, capturing every single line in great manner (high point for me being the moment when line "it's Father's Day & everybody wounded" merge with shot of little girl on a window of fast driving car). Then the fact that we wait the whole clip for Leonard to turn into camera, what he eventually does, and the scene when he turns for 360° around, with his typical ironic smile. The best short shot is when he laughs in camera after "for the items that you sent me". Also, gathering of all those people with suitcases around "unknown" man on beach, in black coat, and the shot when he first time says "Manhattan... the Berlin", turning a piece of paper around with the cities' names. Very creepy and unbelievable video. In my opinion, one of best ever made. I shudder everytime I watch it.
It's directed and shooted by Dominique Isserman, who did Leonard's first video, Dance Me To The End Of Love, in 1985 (the first, black&white version). That video is also done in similar great fashion: b/w shots, girl's dancing, Leonard's way of singing/non-singing/turning the head off camera...
I always thought how its' typical that in his first scene of his very first video Leonard appears dead on hospital bed

Isserman is great artists, I see her pics of people like Mila Jovovich or Natalie Portman in Elle magazine from time to time.

I also like the apocalyptic mood of the Future, Leonard in that hotel room in water going higher and higher, totally wet, and in suit with tie... If we ever saw real Doomsday on video clip, that was it.

-------------------------------------------------
I wondered now: are locations only hotels & hospitals... They're not:

Hotel: I Am a Hotel (but five songs!), The Future
Hospital: Dance Me To The End Of Love (1)
Bar/Live Band: Closing Time, Dance Me To The End Of Love (2)
Secret Room: In My Secret Life, Because Of
Lorca's House: Take This Waltz
Beach: First We Take Manhattan

andenord · Post by **andenord** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 1:38 pm

ya, I like the dance me to the end of love video. The video gives you a certain feeling, like if the hospital, place he sings in is some kind of hidden place, if you know what I mean.

Wish I was there. I also downloaded the future, live. Pretty good.

Anne · Post by **Anne** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 1:49 pm

My friend is in the Closing Time video. It was filmed at the Matador. He says LC was very nice during the making of the video, but he didn't get to talk to him.

I know, I think it is very cool!

Teratogen · Post by **Teratogen** » Sat Jun 18, 2005 9:37 am

well the video i saw for "memories" wasn't any kind of performance thing. it was a video of this guy and girl doing ballet like in a restaurant kitchen and then in a gymnasium or something, and i think there was even nudity in it, and it would show leonard singing the song onstage a few times. but it was no performance, it was all overdubbed with the song over the image, like most music videos are.

tomsakic · Post by **tomsakic** » Mon Jun 20, 2005 10:52 am

Teratogen wrote:well the video i saw for "memories" wasn't any kind of performance thing. it was a video of this guy and girl doing ballet like in a restaurant kitchen and then in a gymnasium or something, and i think there was even nudity in it, and it would show leonard singing the song onstage a few times. but it was no performance, it was all overdubbed with the song over the image, like most music videos are.

As I said, that's only a part of I Am A Hotel video film. You described it well, those dancers appears in other tracks also (in Suzanne i.e.), as lift boy & room maid. In Memories-part, LC appears as singer with a band, on stage.

linda_lakeside · Post by **linda_lakeside** » Mon Jun 20, 2005 3:46 pm

Hi Tom,

How does a person, such as myself, get a copy of I Am a Hotel? Any ideas?

Linda.

tomsakic · Post by **tomsakic** » Mon Jun 20, 2005 4:36 pm

By buying the official release available only in Canada, and then sending me a copy to replace by bad bad fuzzy VCD circulaitg in Europe for more than ten years

linda_lakeside · Post by **linda_lakeside** » Mon Jun 20, 2005 5:24 pm

No kidding? I'll look around.

Linda

tomsakic · Post by **tomsakic** » Tue Jun 21, 2005 11:10 am

Leonard Cohen: I Am A Hotel

Out of Print--Limited Availability

Unrated

Edition Details:
• Language: English
• Release Date: October 15, 1996
• NTSC
• Catalog Number:
• ASIN: B000065IHX

That's amazon.ca ~ maybe you could check used stores etc. But that doesn't mean tha you have to go tomorow; in such things you have to have your eyes open all the time wherever you go - i.e. I found rare 1976 Croatian 7" single of Suzanne two weeks ago, after 2 years of searching (on curious place like online catalogue from obscure vinyl shop in Central Serbia - I sent the money in a letter!).

Search for Leonard Cohen items is life-long quest. I think you're lucky, there are many rare Canadian singles (like Canada-only Boogie Street from 2002, with Nova's picture on it - I'd give very very much for having this one!). I tried all kind of online search, without any success.
Also, you're on very scene, like fans in France or UK or New York - what can I have in Croatia and this part of Europe. I am not even able to find promos pressed by Sony Austria, as they're distributed only for radio stations. But I guess - if I'd live in Canada for some time - I'd go browse thru used CDs shops, music shops and marketplaces everytime when I'd be in bigger city...

linda_lakeside · Post by **linda_lakeside** » Tue Jun 21, 2005 4:50 pm

Hi Tom,

I do try to keep my eyes open (esp. when I go to Vancouver) but sometimes time is limited. I figure if you can find something in Central Siberia (eeek!!), then I can probably find something in Canada.

Naturally, if I do find something of extreme interest, I would let you know. I would probably ask you about any purchase, just to find out if it is of extreme interest. Great covers! At least I can now see what I might be looking for, as Leonard's name does not always figure prominenty when one is searching through the bins (eg. I would see the dog, and that's about all - if I wasn't aware that it was a Leonard Cd, I'd walk right on by). For the most part though, LCs name is very hard to miss.

Linda.

linda_lakeside · Post by **linda_lakeside** » Tue Jun 21, 2005 4:54 pm

Tom,

Ha! You said Serbia, didn't you? I said Siberia, didn't I?

. I'm sure you can see the resemblance (in type).

Linda.

Has anyone seen any Cohen videos?

Has anyone seen any Cohen videos?

Everybody knows