Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Leonard Cohen (1966)

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

This seemingly casual film set in Montreal in 1965 keeps us fixated on the character in the film, namely Leonard Cohen, a poet who came of age in the 1960's. A Donald Brittain documentary, it gives us a glimpse of Cohen going about his daily routine of rising from bed, reading before loving audiences, going to restaurants and bars, and even getting his hair done at a beauty salon. We see him on a broadcast show trading barbs with Pierre Berton and telling the viewers the importance of being in a state of grace. Interesting how this Jewish young man has an affection for Catholic metaphor,which he interprets in his own fashion but which he can explain in terms that make perfect sense.The camera is his friend. He looks good on camera and is relaxed and articulate. He looks like a sixties preppy with the fine-tailored look and the well-coiffed hair. He even jokes about ads in the paper for hair removal. The camera zooms in on him when he speaks. In this film, we see a series of portraits of the poet on film. We are treated to background scenes from his home town of Montreal...as he rises and looks out the window at the snow falling, or talks about Mount Royal where he played as a child. The winter background in Montreal is appropriate since Montreal is a city known for winter. It used to be the most Catholic winter city in the world, although hockey might have been the more dominant religion. He talks about hockey and how in public school, he was the ninth best defenceman in his class.He sees himself as a social critic and yet he comes from a well-heeled family and grew up in the once insular English enclave of Westmount in this predominantly French-Catholic city. This is not a pro-Cohen film but true to his talent for great documentary, Donald Brittain has delivered a film that could be of interest to all shades of opinion on Leonard Cohen.

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