Marianne & Leonard: Words Of Love Movie Review

Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love is a documentary movie of late musician Leonard Cohen Nick Broomfield, produced by Nick Broomfield, Kyle Gibbon, Shani Hinton, and Marc Hoeferlin. Starring Leonard Cohen, Judy Collins, Ron Cornelius, Helle Goldman, Marianne Ihlen, John Lissauer, Don Lowe, John Simon, Richard Vick, Aviva Layton, and Jan Christian Mollestad. Music was given by Nick Laird-Clowes.

Plot

Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love is a documentary movie that mainly focuses on the relationship between Leonard Cohen and Marianne Ihlen during his ten years stay on the island Hydra. Though she is known to be just another muse among many of the famous singer, she is the inspiration behind many of his well-known songs such as "So Long, Marianne", "Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye," and "Bird on the Wire." The documentary shows the early stages of their relationship, his rise in fame, and how their relationship evolves during all those times.

Star Performance

The movie mainly has archived footage of Leonard Cohen and Marianne Ihlen and interviews of the people who were close to them. The whole movie is narrated by Nick Broomfield.

Analysis

Before watching this movie, viewers need to keep this thing in mind that this is not a biopic; this is a documentary that depicts the relationship between Leonard Cohen and Marianne Ihlen. There are clips of concerts and his fame, but the sole focus of the movie is the long relationship those two people shared. The movie is a beautiful depiction of the connection they had. It gives a deep dive into the reality of their bond and tells the viewers about the inspiration behind those breathtaking lyrics.

But as this documentary is from the perspective of Nick Broomfield, who knew Leonard Cohen better, the movie seems one-sided and gives it more of a celebrity point of view, and falls short on Marianne Ihlen’s part.

What is there?

• Poetic
• Discerning

What is not there?

• Lackluster

Verdict

This movie gives a good insight into the relationship between Marianne & Leonard. You need to keep a tissue box with you while watching this movie because it can bring tears out of a stone towards the end.