So Long, Marianne

- October 13, 2019

I finally got up the strength or whatever to watch Marianne and Leonard, Words of Love knowing it would do me in for a couple of days after. And, I was right. 'So Long, Marianne' is and has always been my favorite Leonard Cohen song. And, I could never tell you why. It just hit all the right notes. The perfect score for lovers who've lost at love.
I love the man. I spent a whole year of my life lying on a friend's couch and drinking tequila while listening to Leonard. That's when I first heard the song and would play it over and over on lonely long Sundays. And, I couldn't tell you why, but it resonated with something deep inside that was doomed to be doomed. I was only seventeen.

What's important about the film is the filmmaker, Nick Broomfield's own relationship with Marianne Ihlen. Broomfield has made over 30 films including some of my favorites, Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer and Kurt and Courtney. He goes deep where many fear to tread. Namely, the supporting weirdo characters in Aileen, who paint a much more morbid picture than Aileen Wuornos, the woman who murdered seven men in Florida during the late 80's and 90's. The weird singing lawyer who made up his own lyrics to cheesy rock songs is a filmic vision you just can't un-see. In other words, good old-fashioned priceless filmmaking. And the scene at the awards banquet where Broomfield and his camera guy are literally shaking, shaking while the tuxedo-ed staffers are trying to hustle him off the dais when he's basically calling Courtney a murderer is terrifyingly uncomfortable. More good filmmaking.

Broomfield met Marianne when he was a film student and she inspired his first work on slum clearing. So, who better to tell this heartbreaking story and tell it true?
Some of the things that resonated with me in the story, and it's a story. The documentary stays true to
telling a story rather than fall into weird ass Behind the Music pitfalls. The backdrop uses amazing and gorgeous D. A. Pennebaker footage shot on the island of Hydra where Leonard and Marianne first met. You get a sense of how ethereal that world must have been. One of Marianne's friends talks about the sea spray that dried on the rocks and covered your bare feet as you walked the island.
From the early years when Leonard was writing his book Beautiful Losers and eating the island lunches Marianne would carry to him in a basket to the upstairs room at the 'Chelsea Hotel No. 2.' You get that Marianne was a very strong person. You'd have to be to live through those times. From a perfect sailboat ride to a weird session with Phil Spector putting a loaded revolver in your neck and telling you he loves you.
One viewing is enough. I can't imagine being able to watch this film again. The images and the story will haunt me for a long, long time. I will say this, though. The film lives up to the song.

Your letters, they all say that you're beside me now
Then why do I feel alone?
I'm standing on a ledge and your fine spider web
Is fastening my ankle to a stone

Now so long, Marianne
It's time that we began to laugh
And cry and cry and laugh about it all again

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