So Long, Marianne

I have just returned from a long awaited pilgrimage to Hydra to follow the footsteps of Leonard, Marianne, Charmian, George etc. We were not disappointed as, despite the large tourist numbers, the island still maintains its charm and authenticity. The series captures the island's beauty & mystique almost perfectly. Unfortunately, the casting of the male leads is responsible for its downfall. Alex Wolff is no doubt an accomplished actor & musician, but he lacks the aura and charm of the man he is portraying. The same can be said of Axel senior. His ability to charm and bed any female of his choosing is hard to comprehend when watching the portrayal by the young Danish actor. Likewise, fellow Aussie Noah Taylor is a much lauded actor, but he neither resembles or conveys the character of author George Johnston which I perceived from my own research. I know at least two other LC fans who stopped watching the series because of the lack of beleivability of the male leads. I've been fortunate enough to attend three live performances by LC which I shall always cherish, but I leave this series with the thought that it was a missed opportunity.

Adore the music and poetry of Leonard Cohen, so this is a tainted bias review of the celebrated artist as a young man (amazing performance by Alex Wolff) and his devoted love to his muse, Marianne Ihlen (the brilliant Thea Sofie Loch Næss). It was this tumultuous relationship that inspired the classic song, and many others, as revealed in this superb international drama.

Their love was formed on the heavenly Greek Island of Hydra, where artists from all over the world hid to create and discover oneself (that also included Allen Ginsburg), but mostly became self-destructive in the process. These foreign artists on the island bonded and became a tight knit family that supported one another in the ensuring madness. Most prominent being the Australian writers (perfect casting of Noah Taylor and Anna Torv) who took Cohen in and showered him with love and care.

So Long, Marianne has the right tone and structure of a feature film, thanks to the limited directors (only two) and writers who had control in every aspect, delivering a heartfelt journey of the legendary artist, Leonard Cohen.

The ambiance and acting is just beautiful. Alex Wulff perfectly captures Cohens melancholy and quirky sense of humour while also looking exactly like him . Thea Sofie Loch Naess does a great job as his nordic muse and partner of nearly ten years. She might be the love of his life,but hopelessly lost in the waters behind a person on his way to legendary stardom. The settings and locations span from picturesque Hydra in Greece to cold and conformed Norway,where Leonard was the stranger,to even more conformed traditional Montreal where Marianne finds herself confronted and confused by the conservative Jewish values that have a tighter hold over Leonard than she previously could grasp back in the neutral free Hydra. I hope Cohen lovers find this.

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!

I'm a big Leonard Cohen fan and have seen lots of documentaries and footage about his career. When biographies are made, it can be jarring when you see someone known being played by an actor - there are plenty out there that just don't work because you can't suspend disbelief and forget you are watching an actor pretending to be someone you "know".

Full credit to Alex Wolff, about half way through the first episode I forgot I was watching someone trying to play Leonard Cohen and just got involved in the story and thought of him as Cohen. He's great. In the latter scenes in the series where Cohen is in the recording studio and singing on stage I couldn't actually tell if it was a recording of Cohen dubbed in or the actor singing.

Impressive!