Leonard Cohen: Bird on a Wire

Tony Palmer's documentary, billed as an impressionistic account of Montreal poet/singer Leonard Cohen's 1972 European tour, is a wonderful film—albeit one very long in the making. After Palmer completed initial filming, he was removed from the editing process, and the so-called finished film disappeared after a few theatrical showings, circulating later only in pirated videos. Recently, however, nearly 300 canisters of original film stock, along with audio tracks, were discovered, allowing Palmer to painstakingly create the movie he originally envisaged, and it's little short of miraculous. The beautifully rendered musical segments (including “Suzanne,” “Who by Fire,” “Chelsea Hotel,” “Sisters of Mercy,” and “Famous Blue Raincoat,” as well as the title track) offer remarkable testimony to the soft-spoken Cohen's onstage power and close rapport with his audience, while the image quality and sound are surprisingly good overall. Palmer gives equal attention to behind-the-scenes material, showing how much trouble a persistent audio malfunction caused throughout the trip, for example. The focus throughout is on Cohen, however, who emerges as an almost ethereal presence, if also extremely demanding—of himself as well as others. Dissatisfied during one performance, Cohen actually stops and insists that refunds be made before he's persuaded to return to the stage. Offering an incredibly revealing and engaging portrait of the artist on one memorable tour, Bird on a Wire is highly recommended. (F. Swietek)