Poorly written and directed, "So Long, Marianne" lacks the narrative strength to explore the journey of Leonard Cohen and Marianne Ihlen on Hydra. The story is repetitive and poorly inserted flashbacks slow the pacing to a miserable crawl.
In the role of Cohen, Alex Wolff is too meek and uncertain to grasp the drive and inspiration that the Canadian poet and writer would later bring to his music in the course of his time on Hydra and evolving romance with Ihlen. He conveys nothing of Cohen's charisma and artistry and instead turns him into a lonely puppy dog.
Further, given the fact the series is based on a biography of Ihlen, the story is skewed too much in the first few episodes towards her life with her husband, the brutal and cruel Axel Jensen. Though there is nothing wrong in this per se, audiences will be naturally inclined to focus on Cohen and balancing the series between two main characters is a difficult task and ultimately fractures the plotting.
One bright spot is Thea Sofie Loch Naess's (I suppose her Scandinavian agent could manage to convince her to shorten her name to some reasonable length!!!??????) performance as Marianne Ihlen is outstanding and she ought to be able to take her career to the next level on the basis of her work in So Long, Marianne.
Most of my Canadian friends were deeply disappointed in Wolff's sluggish and pained attempt to capture Cohen's insecurities. One could never image a man with so little drive and creative spirit would be able to go on to enjoy the highly successful music career that was his destiny!
Another problem is that the series seems to be trying to stretch the drama beyond its limits and it would have been wise to compress events onto 5 or 6 episodes rather than 8. This is why I love the title of another reviewer's post: "Too Long, Marianne." Very apropos, indeed.
Finally, there is the distinct feeling that this is a second-rate Canadian production where the casting, writing, and overall "look" of the series pales in comparison with American, Spanish, or UK series that do a much better job of creating strong characters and giving the narrative greater urgency. Peter Stormare, as Irving Layton, is almost too good of an actor and too powerful a presence to belong in this series.
Another serious flaw is the annoying presence of the Charmian Clift character who takes up too much space and is constantly lusting after Leonard.
Overall, this is a rather sloppy and schmaltzy tribute to Leonard and Marianne which suffers from a lack of narrative focus and very slow pacing. Ultimately there is little in Wolff's performance as Cohen that draws us towards him. Cohen, however mild-mannered and reserved he could be, had an aura about him and was a very charismatic man and a skilled womanizer. Wolff, however, has zero charisma in the role and is definitely not a natural born seducer!
