This Wednesday we'll be watching Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man. Follow the link above to find out more about it. If you would like to discuss the documentary, or post a review, please do so in the comments section.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man
This Wednesday we'll be watching Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man. Follow the link above to find out more about it. If you would like to discuss the documentary, or post a review, please do so in the comments section.
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I'm going to play by High School English Teacher card, and review these docs based on C.O.S.M. - Content, Organization, Style and Mechanics. May sound kind of lame, but I think it will help me think about these different elements as I'm watching, and perhaps someday, when I'm making documentaries.
The ratings will be out of Five Stars *****
Content ***
I was slightly disappointed in how little Leonard Cohen was actually in the documentary. I found his words profound and compelling, but his interviews were relegated to the short transition periods between his songs that other people were singing. If it was to be a primer on the life of Leonard Cohen, it was not. The doc gave a glimpse into different periods of his life, but for someone who is not really familiar with him, I came away from the documentary more intrigued than fulfilled.
ps. The musical guests were fantasticly strange. A number of them I'd never heard of, and now I have and I'll check them out.
Organization ***
The doc was organized very simply - the songs were sung based loosely on the chronology of his life, and there were short anecdotal stories to intro the songs. By the end I felt like there had been a build up to Leonard's performance with U2; enough of all of the other people singing Leonard's songs - let's hear HIM do one!
Style ***
I liked the old film footage, as well as the new footage that was probably shot with old film stock. It gave the film a reminiscent feel, even though at the beginning, Leonard says he's not very reminiscent. I felt like some of the stylistic elements were overused - the out of focus red glows used for too many transitions. The last scene with U2 was really beautiful and there were a couple of other moments that stood out stylistically - one specifically was a cu of Leonard, that's exposure was being toyed with to create a blown out look.
Mechanics **
I heard that the filmmaker was a first-time documentary maker, and it showed a bit. Some of the concert footage was choppy, and if it had all been choppy I would have figured it was what he was going for, but since only a couple of shots were jerky, I'm guessing it wasn't planned. There were also some interview jump cuts, that I'm not used to seeing in polished documentaries - I guess it's refreshing to see the transparent editing process, when so much of it is usually hidden behind other footage.
Overall Rating ***
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