Title: Words of Love (2019)
Year: 2019
Director: Nick Broomfeld
Country: US
Language: English
In high school I had a hippie English/Philosophy teacher named Barb Huband. She was in her 50's, usually had bare feet, and would constantly play folk music in the background of her classes. It was here I first heard of Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen. Infact, many English lectures consisted around dissecting the words to Cohen's music. Over the years I've developed a great admiration for his life and music; I wish I could write as poetically as he could.
This documentary is an in-depth look at the relationship between the late musician Leonard Cohen and his Norwegian muse Marianne Ihlen.
The latest documentary by Nick Broomfeld, best known for Kurt & Courtney, Words of Love is a deep dive into the often forgotten muse of Cohen's life, Marianne. It is quite a revealing picture, digging up a tremendous amount of archive footage from the 60's & 70's, which creates an eye-opening vision of that era. In addition, the extensive interviews, many of which include Cohen & Marianne themselves bring great context to such a fascinating period.
The inspiration for "So Long, Marianne," "Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye," "Bird on the Wire," and "Moving On", Marianne was certainly an extraordinary creative force, which leads to my negative criticism of this film; why didn't the filmmaker explore more of Marrianne's pre & post Cohen life? This film paints her as "Cohen's muse" when she was so much more. She had her own success. We also don't see much of how Cohen was a creative inspiration on HER work.
Broomfeld's documentary doesn't shy away from exposing the negative side of Leonard Cohen. Dubbed "The Ladies Man" Cohen appears very self-destructive in his womanizing ways, dropping them before they can break his heart. I think the documentary can be too forgiving of Cohen; sometimes portraying him as a genius because he's troubled (and/or vice versa) but overall I enjoyed the film. The last 10 minutes were tear-jerking & bittersweet.
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