Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Leonard Cohen
1966·Documentary·44m
7.1
★
A 1964 documentary portrait of Cohen in his pre-musician days as a poet and stand-up comedian.
Directed by Donald Brittain and Don Owen
canada
poetry reading
IMDB
N/A
Where to Watch
Cast
Leonard Cohen
Self
Donald Brittain
Narrator
Crew
Donald Brittain
Director
Donald Brittain
Screenplay
Barrie Howells
Editor
Popular Reviews
4 reviews
Valeri
10.0★ · 02/08/26
My goat leonard cohen
My goat leonard cohen
jamblo
10.0★ · 10/26/22
“In his senility there were great lapses of poetry”
I think there are two ways to look at this: first as a documentary about Leonard Cohen which includes some, for want of a better word, ‘performance’ footage, and second as a commentary about the nature of documentaries, specifically one about Leonard Cohen.
Regarding the first, I think (though I’ve no actual evidence of this) that the live stuff was probably directed by Brittain and shows Cohen at the cusp of moving from part-time stand-up comedian to serious poet (at least in front of an audience). He’s funny, pleasant to listen to, and knows how to structure his public persona. It also includes footage of Cohen wandering about wintery Montreal (I’m pretty sure that this stuff was shot by Owen) meeting people, hanging out, and musing on the nature of things intercut with a few home movies from his childhood, and featuring audio clips of him reading several of him poems and a narrator filling in some nuts and bolts about his life. All this stuff is well-done, entertaining, and completely charming.
The other, which only obviously rears it head at the end, explores the inherent falsehood of a document like this, as Cohen watches some of the rushes in a screening room and comments on himself in the movie—based on his other work, I’m pretty certain that this idea was strictly Owen’s baby. The appearance of this meta-narrative serves to call into question nearly everything that’s happened previously, from an early scene of Cohen ‘waking up in bed’ to scenes cut from the film and Cohen wondering about the kind of man he is. It’s conceptually kind of extraordinary—this was 1965, remember—and it is worth remembering that the 30-year-old Cohen seen in this film is still several years away from becoming a musician (though there is one shot of him playing guitar and singing a verse from one his poems).
It’s fascinating stuff and the restored version available on Blu-ray is a significant improvement both visually and aurally to the old VHS I’d seen previously.
I think there are two ways to look at this: first as a documentary about Leonard Cohen which includes some, for want of a better word, ‘performance’ footage, and second as a commentary about the nature of documentaries, specifically one about Leonard Cohen.
Regarding the first, I think (though I’ve no actual evidence of this) that the live stuff was probably directed by Brittain and shows Cohen at the cusp of moving from part-time stand-up comedian to serious poet (at least in front of an audience). He’s funny, pleasant to listen to, and knows how to structure his public persona. It also includes footage of Cohen wandering about wintery Montreal (I’m pretty sure that this stuff was shot by Owen) meeting people, hanging out, and musing on the nature of things intercut with a few home movies from his childhood, and featuring audio clips of him reading several of him poems and a narrator filling in some nuts and bolts about his life. All this stuff is well-done, entertaining, and completely charming.
The other, which only obviously rears it head at the end, explores the inherent falsehood of a document like this, as Cohen watches some of the rushes in a screening room and comments on himself in the movie—based on his other work, I’m pretty certain that this idea was strictly Owen’s baby. The appearance of this meta-narrative serves to call into question nearly everything that’s happened previously, from an early scene of Cohen ‘waking up in bed’ to scenes cut from the film and Cohen wondering about the kind of man he is. It’s conceptually kind of extraordinary—this was 1965, remember—and it is worth remembering that the 30-year-old Cohen seen in this film is still several years away from becoming a musician (though there is one shot of him playing guitar and singing a verse from one his poems).
It’s fascinating stuff and the restored version available on Blu-ray is a significant improvement both visually and aurally to the old VHS I’d seen previously.
“In his senility there were great lapses of poetry”
I think there are two ways to look at this: first as a documentary about Leonard Cohen which includes some, for want of a better word, ‘performance’ footage, and second as a commentary about the nature of documentaries, specifically one about Leonard Cohen.
Regarding the first, I think (though I’ve no actual evidence of this) that the live stuff was probably directed by Brittain and shows Cohen at the cusp of moving from part-time stand-up comedian to serious poet (at least in front of an audience). He’s funny, pleasant to listen to, and knows how to structure his public persona. It also includes footage of Cohen wandering about wintery Montreal (I’m pretty sure that this stuff was shot by Owen) meeting people, hanging out, and musing on the nature of things intercut with a few home movies from his childhood, and featuring audio clips of him reading several of him poems and a narrator filling in some nuts and bolts about his life. All this stuff is well-done, entertaining, and completely charming.
The other, which only obviously rears it head at the end, explores the inherent falsehood of a document like this, as Cohen watches some of the rushes in a screening room and comments on himself in the movie—based on his other work, I’m pretty certain that this idea was strictly Owen’s baby. The appearance of this meta-narrative serves to call into question nearly everything that’s happened previously, from an early scene of Cohen ‘waking up in bed’ to scenes cut from the film and Cohen wondering about the kind of man he is. It’s conceptually kind of extraordinary—this was 1965, remember—and it is worth remembering that the 30-year-old Cohen seen in this film is still several years away from becoming a musician (though there is one shot of him playing guitar and singing a verse from one his poems).
It’s fascinating stuff and the restored version available on Blu-ray is a significant improvement both visually and aurally to the old VHS I’d seen previously.
I think there are two ways to look at this: first as a documentary about Leonard Cohen which includes some, for want of a better word, ‘performance’ footage, and second as a commentary about the nature of documentaries, specifically one about Leonard Cohen.
Regarding the first, I think (though I’ve no actual evidence of this) that the live stuff was probably directed by Brittain and shows Cohen at the cusp of moving from part-time stand-up comedian to serious poet (at least in front of an audience). He’s funny, pleasant to listen to, and knows how to structure his public persona. It also includes footage of Cohen wandering about wintery Montreal (I’m pretty sure that this stuff was shot by Owen) meeting people, hanging out, and musing on the nature of things intercut with a few home movies from his childhood, and featuring audio clips of him reading several of him poems and a narrator filling in some nuts and bolts about his life. All this stuff is well-done, entertaining, and completely charming.
The other, which only obviously rears it head at the end, explores the inherent falsehood of a document like this, as Cohen watches some of the rushes in a screening room and comments on himself in the movie—based on his other work, I’m pretty certain that this idea was strictly Owen’s baby. The appearance of this meta-narrative serves to call into question nearly everything that’s happened previously, from an early scene of Cohen ‘waking up in bed’ to scenes cut from the film and Cohen wondering about the kind of man he is. It’s conceptually kind of extraordinary—this was 1965, remember—and it is worth remembering that the 30-year-old Cohen seen in this film is still several years away from becoming a musician (though there is one shot of him playing guitar and singing a verse from one his poems).
It’s fascinating stuff and the restored version available on Blu-ray is a significant improvement both visually and aurally to the old VHS I’d seen previously.
Elouise
7.3★ · 12/26/24
rebecca
9.3★ · 10/04/17