Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Leonard Cohen

A must for those who want to know more about the man, his personality and his early work.

His poetry, read by himself is something you cant get from a book; something of a revelation. The laughter is an unexpected discovery, Cohen as a stand up comic is unexpected, as is the fact that he lived in Greece for some years.

Someone called this DVD "pretentious". A complete irrelevancy, as pretentiousness is by definition, self promotion, which cant happen in a documentary by another.

There is one special feature, a performance of I'm Your Man, with an animated background.

A must for those who are genuinely interested in,_ Leonard Cohen, the Man, the Artist

From what I gather in this documentary he was not even a renowned singer and musician yet by which the world knows him today and yet he was already a star. Here we got Cohen the novelist and poet and ever wanderer like a little boy, although he already had his share of admirers. I love this guy very much. He is a living genius. The soul can always relate to Cohen. He is fit enough to write an extension to the Bible. Cohen is my guardian angel and teacher, guru and mentor, there is something of an oracle in his voice. What makes him so great is his honesty. That is also what drives the ladies mad about him too. cohen's work however is not just simply romantic. It reaches certain depths which in the modern day love song is nowhere to be found.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Leonard Cohen (1965)

*** (out of 4)

This early documentary on Leonard Cohen is quite interesting to watch today because it takes a look at the now legendary musician before he was a musician. The documentary basically captures Cohen as a poet and we get to see his stand-up act, which is a little better than you might expect as well as several other moments where he just rambles about various thoughts he has.

I'm not going to call this film a masterpiece because it's certainly not but at the same time it's a fairly fascinating look at Cohen that fans of his will probably love. I thought the film was certainly influenced by DON'T LOOK BACK but it doesn't have the same great filmmaking that the Dylan documentary did. With that said, there's no question that Cohen manages to grab your attention and hold it throughout the short 45-minute running time.

Leonard can write lyrics, but he sure can't sing. Nor has he had an original idea in his life, just a floater. From the looks of this nasty little puff piece (note that his publishers, McClelland and Stewart were involved in the production), he didn't know how to live, either. The woman he loves is only mentioned in passing and no woman is allowed to speak in this nonsensical advertisement. While Irving Layton was given a credit, the other poet interviewed, Earle Birney, was to remain nameless. I come from the generation just after Cohen, where all the boys seemed to idolize him. His lack of commitment was probably just calling to them. I hadn't realized what a disappointing poseur he was back then. I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt because of his age.

Whiny, little rich prince, and not one memorable line in his oeuvre. No dedication to social change, outside of the sexual arena.

You don't speak for my generation, Lennie, and not for my gender. Go back to the monastery and stay off the screen.

As for my local public broadcaster, I will let them know what I think of them wasting my time on this guy. Not a has-been, a never was...

This documentary is somewhat lame. It is very worshipful towards Leonard Cohen. There are scenes in Canadian lecture halls where people laugh at his every word, and I wasn't even sure half the time that he was joking. You can tell Cohen doesn't really care. In fact, he speaks in silly little poetic quips that become awfully annoying very quickly. In fact, after the documentary part of the movie is done, there is an interview with Cohen after he has just watched the film. A piece of film that was recorded and not included in the actual documentary is very telling: it shows Cohen writing "CAVEAT EMPTOR" on the wall above a bathtub while he is bathing. Yes, the buyer should beware in this case.

Oh, and speaking of buying, you can buy this on VHS or DVD if you really want it. Just go to Amazon.com and search for it. The DVD has a few supplemental short films which are actually more interesting than the feature. There is a goofy music video for "I'm Your Man," and a couple of really marvelous video montages coupled with Cohen's poetry.

6/10