Continuing our month-long Summer Music Festival, we present Nick Broomfield’s in-depth documentary about Leonard Cohen and his longtime partner, friend, and muse.

Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love details the lifelong love affair between the world-renowned musician and Marianne Ihlen, a Norwegian bohemian he met while living in the isle of Hydra, Greece. Made in loving honor of Marianne—whose generous spirit inspired many residents of Hydra to find themselves and create art—this documentary chronicles her relationship with Cohen in addition to highlighting a series of vivid anecdotes from a rich and unrepeatable moment in music history.

Near the end of her life, Cohen wrote Marianne a letter that read: “Know that I am so close behind you that if you stretch out your hand, I think you can reach mine.” This endnote, which distills the couple’s steadfast love and care for one another, opens the film. It is also a testament to Marianne’s unforgettable character—according to Broomfield, “she had a talent for spotting hidden strengths in people, and encouraging people to develop those strengths”—which is elaborated upon by the many interviewees who participated in the film, including everyone from the folk singer Julie Felix to Cohen’s longtime guitarist Ron Cornelius. 

“I was a rather lost 20-year-old looking for adventure and excitement when I visited the island of Hydra in Greece. I had the good fortune to meet Marianne, the lover of Leonard Cohen, who amongst other things convinced me to make my first film.” NICK BROOMFIELD

In much the same way Marianne inspired Cohen to write “So, Long Marianne,” Broomfield recalls how she awakened his interest in documentary filmmaking after showing him DA Pennebaker’s Bob Dylan: Don’t Look Back (1967). Broomfield eventually befriended Pennebaker, who had filmed Marianne with her son Axel during one of his stays in Hydra.

When it came to making Marianne & Leonard, Broomfield said he called the then-90-year-old documentarian until he agreed to share his footage of Marianne, leading to the discovery of 80-minutes worth of sun-soaked 16mm footage featuring her sailing about the Aegean Sea. This footage, which populates most of Broomfield’s film, perfectly compliments the many descriptions offered of her in the film. As she smiles atop a sailboat, her blonde locks carried by the wind, an extraordinary radiance makes itself known: it is the warmth of a generous soul basking beneath the Mediterranean Sun.

Nick Broomfield was born in London, UK, in 1948. Marianne Ihlen pushed him to make his first film, a documentary about slum clearance in Liverpool titled Who Cares? (1971), after a chance encounter in Hydra. Inspired by the likes of Frederick Wiseman and DA Pennebaker, his first films retained a vérité approach and tackled social issues such as police malfeasance, juvenile correction facilities, and rent strikes. Later on, he directed intimate portraits of musicians including Kurt & Courtney (1998), Biggie & Tupac (2002), and more recently The Stones and Brian Jones (2023). 

Text written by Nicolas Pedrero-Setzer.