FILMS
MARIANNE & LEONARD: WORDS OF LOVE In 1968, Nick Broomfield, holidaying on the Greek island of Hydra, met Marianne Ihlen – the on-off lover of Leonard Cohen and the subject of his then-recent song “So Long Marianne”. The pair kept in touch – she encouraged his attempts at documentary-making – and it is this long-distance friendship that forms the basis for the director’s latest project.
As anyone who’s seen Broomfield’s films on, say, Kurt Cobain or serial killer Aileen Wuornos will know, this kind of poignant story is not normally Broomfield’s joint. As a consequence, Marianne & Leonard: Words Of Love feels like a very different film. Most evidently, Broomfield does not himself appear, as is customary in his films, with a boom mic and a set of headphones round his neck, acting the idiot savant. Instead, he acts as narrator, offering fond reminiscences about Ihlen and their friendship.
