Leonard and Marianne

Leonard and Marianne is the story of Leonard Cohen and his early love affair with Marianne.

While Leonard believed in free love and open marriage, he wrote music for and loved Marianne all his life.  She went on to marry someone else, but she was given a front-row seat to his "Live in London" concert in 2007, and she was there.

Shortly before her death, Leonard wrote her this letter--then he himself died three months later:

"Well Marianne it’s come to this time when we are really so old and our bodies are falling apart and I think I will follow you very soon. Know that I am so close behind you that if you stretch out your hand, I think you can reach mine,   And you know that I’ve always loved you for your beauty and your wisdom, but I don’t need to say anything more about that because you know all about that. But now, I just want to wish you a very good journey. Goodbye old friend. Endless love, see you down the road."

If you are a Leonard Cohen fan, as I am, this documentary is worth seeing.  He wrote a poorly-received novel when he and Marianne lived in Greece (Hydra) in the late Sixties, then he began writing poetry.  But we wouldn't know Leonard unless he had (with the encouragement of Judy Collins)  turned to music instead.  His best music was, I think, during his last decade--after he had given up a conventional family life and fidelity to any one woman, taken massive drugs, and then lived in a Buddhist monastery for seven years.

After he left the monastery, he discovered that a trusted woman friend had embezzled all his money, and he was left virtually penniless, but he re-started his career.

At the end of the film, he said something to this effect regarding Marianne and her son:"I left precious people for my education in the world."