Leonard Cohen, I'm Your Man

This film is a documentary about an historic tribute to Leonard Cohen, one of modern culture’s greatest poets and humanists. The tribute, organized by music producer Hal Willner, was performed at the Sydney Opera House. The performers who gathered to pay homage to Mr. Cohen are featured in behind-the-scenes interviews and in performance of their favorite Cohen songs.

You’ll enjoy this mostly musical documentary if you know and love Leonard Cohen’s work, especially his songs—by heart. His lyrics are thoughtful and deep. Unfortunately the singers are unable to clearly enunciate more than a few of them. Because I had never heard of Leonard Cohen or his music, I struggled to understand a lot of the lyrics. While the music itself is arranged and performed most admirably by an accomplished back up band, I think the performance took place after the ‘after’ party. The singers appeared to be inebriated. The film’s music is a tiresome form of manipulation, overly schmaltzy and sappy. Now I remember why I never liked folk music. Leonard Cohen, go back on tour! With U2!

Nonetheless, Leonard Cohen is among the rarest of poets, a self-effacing and humble guy who just happens to be able to speak simply and clearly—contrary to folk singers—yet profoundly about life. Artists from U2 to Mel Gibson talk almost reverently about him. Mr. Cohen, of course, in his self-deprecating way, is surprised by his celebrity. As a poet he has few peers. His keen sense of self is what makes him so popular, I believe. He is aware of his foibles and faults. He is just so damn good at writing about them that his devotees soak up every word. They think him a sage and a sort of Rabbi.

But he makes an honest comparison between himself and his American counterparts from the 60s Beat / hippie generation. He said these Americans had a sense of destiny, that they could change the world. They knew there was money to be made if one were the right kind of radical. But Leonard Cohen did not share such ambitions or grandiose self-centeredness. He says: “You are not the hero of your own drama. It’s not your work.� He ascribes to us all a mission, a calling.

Be faithful.

All the artists called him a truth seeker, a sage, even a prophet. Bono loves him, so he must be great. But I have never heard someone so universally revered say so many non-committal statements about eternal things. Mr. Cohen is very observant of human frailty and one of the best I’ve heard in describing it. But when it comes to eternal truth, he has no comment. Or more precisely he seems to know but doesn’t say. The bulk of his work suggests God is there. “That’s what the cracks [of life] are for, to let the light in� (from “Anthem�). I get the impression that, for Cohen, seeking the truth is the end game. Finding it would ruin the ride.

Perhaps his observations regarding this life, rather than the next, are the most important to his fans anyway. Leonard Cohen’s tour de force is describing how miserable and comical life can be. No one I have heard or read can paint a picture of our human tendency to vacuity better than he. That’s probably why he appeals to materialistic hippie holdovers and cultural mavens. But life isn’t meaningless and Mr. Cohen gives us a glimpse of that fact. His is not a life of strict self-loathing. He is a very spiritual man.

He has hope. There is no question he enjoys Scripture (he’s Jewish) and the Torah makes his “spine tingle.� No doubt the truth of Scripture informs his art. He speaks truth. His credentials as a searcher are impeccable. He’s an insightful and refreshingly humble man. Perhaps I would have liked him even more had I been able to hear more from him, instead of his disciples. But seeing his wide appeal makes him a bigger man. The impression Cohen made on the musicians and poets who put this tribute together is as eloquent as Leonard Cohen himself. He moves them to contemplate God.

So Leonard Cohen, I’m Your Man is the best and most ancient form of biography—I was introduced to a man worth knowing!