Leonard Cohen: Under Review 1934-1977

As the title indicates, this DVD covers Leonard Cohen’s life from his birth in 1934 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada to 1977 when he recorded the album with Phil Spector, “Death of a Ladies’ Man.” It is also labeled “an independent critical analysis” and we are further told that the film was neither authorized by Cohen, his record label or management. Cohen’s biographer Ira Nadel’s critique is included, along with that of John Simon who produced Cohen’s first album, other producers, “Rolling Stone” magazine writers, and an assortment of other talking heads. For the most part, Cohen has nothing to worry about as practically everyone praises this man, his novels, his poems and his music. Nadel’s commentary was most helpful. He describes Cohen as an artist who engages rather than entertains the listener. Ronee Blakley’s comments– she sang backup on “Death of a Ladies’s Man”–were beautifully spoken and rang with sincerity. The different speakers discuss Cohen’s early books of poetry, his two novels but concentrate for the most part on his singing career and the albums he released through 1977. There is a difference of opinion by this folks as to which one is his best one. Although more critics vote for his first released in 1967, “Songs of Leonard Cohen,” “Songs of Love and Hate” gets high marks as well.

There is not a lot of new information on this DVD for those of us who are besotted with the man Leonard Cohen. I must be the only fan alive who didn’t know who the woman in the Chelsea Hotel was; so now I know, not that it matters. By far the best part of this production is the actual footage of Cohen when he is interviewed (”everyone lives the life of the heart”) and/or the snatches of his or Judy Collins’ singing. We can all be thankful that she introduced Cohen’s work to the U. S. when she recorded what was to become his most popular song “Suzanne” on her fantastic album “In My Life.”

This DVD would have been much better if we had seen more of Cohen and less of the reviewers. (The film is almost 90 minutes long.) I’m reminded once again that Archibald MacLeish said that a poem (all the reviewers are in agreement what Cohen did not write songs but rather poems set to music) should not mean but be. Sometimes less is more; the less said of Cohen’s fine poetry, the better. Watching this sometimes tedious film, did, however, make me want to listen to more of this great artist’s music, certainly a good thing.