4 reviews
A Poetic and Intimate Exploration of Love and Art in Leonard Cohen's Life
Leonard Cohen and Marianne Ihlen's famous and intensely emotional love story is expertly explored in "So Long, Marianne" (2024), which sensitively and truly captures their nuanced bond. Øystein Karlsen's series masterfully manages to strike a balance between Cohen and Ihlen's entwined lives, showing them as equals who are each other's creators, lovers, and saviors. The production provides an aesthetically striking and historically accurate depiction of their voyage, set against the lively backdrop of the 1960s bohemian artist scene in Hydra, Montreal, Oslo, and New York.
The way that Alex Wolff captures Leonard Cohen's inner turmoil, vulnerability, and quest for meaning in his work is really moving. While Thea Sofie Loch Naess portrays Marianne as an equal partner in their love story rather than merely a muse.
The series' artistic decisions, such as its sumptuous soundtrack and lyrical contributions from musicians like Patrick Watson, transport viewers to Cohen's early emotional life. The program offers a potent reflection on love, fame, and self-identity by capturing the essence of their mutual creative influence and the sacrifices they made.
"So Long, Marianne" stands out as a poignant and personal examination of two well-known characters, highlighting their development as individuals as well as their strong relationship. For lovers of Cohen, it is a must-watch because is masterfully made and focuses on both his early life and his enduring love for Marianne.
The way that Alex Wolff captures Leonard Cohen's inner turmoil, vulnerability, and quest for meaning in his work is really moving. While Thea Sofie Loch Naess portrays Marianne as an equal partner in their love story rather than merely a muse.
The series' artistic decisions, such as its sumptuous soundtrack and lyrical contributions from musicians like Patrick Watson, transport viewers to Cohen's early emotional life. The program offers a potent reflection on love, fame, and self-identity by capturing the essence of their mutual creative influence and the sacrifices they made.
"So Long, Marianne" stands out as a poignant and personal examination of two well-known characters, highlighting their development as individuals as well as their strong relationship. For lovers of Cohen, it is a must-watch because is masterfully made and focuses on both his early life and his enduring love for Marianne.
Beautiful love story.
We Norwegians who love arts have read about the love story between Marianne Ihlen and Leonard Cohen. And it made us proud that a song is about her. This movie is beautifully made, it is in beautiful settings with much deeper emotional flavour. I would say that his music and the characters and their feelings are so skillfully interwoven to a beautiful love story. I really hope that this series shall be bought by good streaming Chanel so many more people could enjoy it. I just have to say that this may be the most sincere and magical movie of love and it shadows I have seen for long time. I do recommend it a lot. But I have a bias since I love his music, I am from Norway and I enjoy psychological romances.
- kjellstromka
- Oct 6, 2024
- Permalink
First we take Manhattan...
"So Long Marianne" comes across as a Promo for traveling to Greece, especially Hydra - maybe even time traveling to the times of Allen Ginsberg (disclaimer, our reviewer Alex von Roon is a big fan of Leonard Cohen and the Beat Generation in General). Currently Cohen's Nachlass is everywhere. Maybe due to the fact that the late poet left his scrapbook ("Book of Longing") for us to be finished. Therefore this mini series is traveling on safe waters. Thea Sofie Loch Næss & Noah Taylor deliver great performances. As does the Greek backdrop. One gets some of Leonard's music & maybe Thinking, which is fun. However watching "Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a Journey, a Song (2021)" might grant better access to Cohen (although they do use the famous song quite a bit during this production). The reviewer had the honor of meeting Leonard Cohen twice in person & it actually reminded Alex von Roon ("Manhattan Dating Project", "Agent X", "Chuck vs the Goodbye") of meeting Richard Gere, the Dalai Lama or Pelé in reality. Do we call it Aura? It feels like Leonard Cohens Spirit is still at large as is David Bowie's & some of this is missing in this "mini series" despite the amount of Retsina being consumed. Fun fact. In a Parc in Beverly Hills, where many celebrities are in plain hiding there is an ice cream vendor playing "First We Take Manhattan" on repeat. One can only thank the fact that Cohen had to create again after having been scammed off most of his fortune by a former flame & business manager. His music is timeless & ahead of the times. Consume any of his work. If you want to "feel" (Depeche Mode style) Leonard Cohen, then buy any CD, Vinyl, Cassette, Songbook and skip this production.
Slow, sloth like, and dreadfully dull.
It seems wrongheaded that a TV series would focus more on an unknown Norwegian woman than a legendary but largely forgotten (for anyone under 40) Canadian singer/songwriter/poet - Leonard Cohen.
The series fails to explore Cohen's creative development as a folk singer icon of his time and prefers to devote attention to a love story that ultimately saw Cohen abandon Marianne Ihlen for life as a celebrity singer in New York. Cohen even installed his new girlfriend in his house on Hydra and prevented Ihlen and her son from staying there.
This series is a failure on many levels. Alex Wolff as Cohen is another instance of an actor who utterly fails to capture the underlying flaws of a real-life cultural icon and the level of cruel selfishness that was the hallmark of his attitude towards women. Cohen even admitted later in life that he had treated Ihlen badly and effectively abandoned the only "true love" of his life.
The series fails to explore Cohen's creative development as a folk singer icon of his time and prefers to devote attention to a love story that ultimately saw Cohen abandon Marianne Ihlen for life as a celebrity singer in New York. Cohen even installed his new girlfriend in his house on Hydra and prevented Ihlen and her son from staying there.
This series is a failure on many levels. Alex Wolff as Cohen is another instance of an actor who utterly fails to capture the underlying flaws of a real-life cultural icon and the level of cruel selfishness that was the hallmark of his attitude towards women. Cohen even admitted later in life that he had treated Ihlen badly and effectively abandoned the only "true love" of his life.