So long, Marianne - a miniseries with eight episodes - is a historical drama (based on a
true story) which premiered on Norwegian television (NRK) in 2024.
This is about the Canadian artist Leonard Cohen and his Norwegian muse Marianne Ihlen.
Here is some basic information about this drama:
** Created by Ingeborg Klyve and Tony Wood
** Written by Øystein Karlsen and Jo Nesbø
** Directed by Øystein Karlsen and Bronwen Hughes
** Languages: English and Norwegian
** Subtitles: Norwegian
** Run time: 8 x 45 minutes = 360 minutes
The cast includes the following
** Alex Wolff as Leonard Cohen (1934-2016)
** Thea Sofie Loch Næss as Marianne Ihlen (1935-2016)
** Anna Torv as Charmian Clift (1923-1969)
** Noah Taylor as George Johnston (1912-1970)
** Peter Stormare as Irving Layton (1912-2006)
** Jonas Strand Gravli as Axel Jensen (1932-2003)
** Simon Lööf as Goran Tunström (1937-2000)
A Canadian man and a Norwegian woman are not very likely to meet each other.
But the Canadian man Leonard Cohen and the Norwegian woman Marianne Ihlen meet each other on the Greek island of Hydra in 1960.
How and why does this happen?
Because both of them have left their home. Because both of them are searching for something else. Because both of them are looking for an adventure far from home.
Marianne and her husband Axel Jensen travel from Norway to Hydra in 1958.
Leonard arrives two years later, when Marianne and Axel’s marriage is falling apart.
Leonard is a poet and a writer. Marianne becomes his muse. They become friends and lovers and they are together for several years.
Leonard becomes a stepfather for Marianne’s son Little Axel, whose father Axel is disappearing with another woman.
The relationship begins in 1960 and lasts for ten years. Around 1970, they separate, but they never forget each other. They are still in contact and they remain friends during the following years.
In 2016, when Marianne is in Norway and close to the end of her life, she asks a friend to contact Leonard and tell him what is happening.
Her friend sends a message to Leonard who is in the US. He responds at once. He sends a message to tell her that he is not far behind her. He is also close to the end.
In this way, they are able to say goodbye to each other in a peaceful way. He dies in November 2016, only three months after she dies.
This drama covers their lives and the story of their relationship from the beginning in 1960 until it comes to an end around 1970.
In the drama, we can also meet some of the people around them, including the following:
** Leonard’s friend and mentor Irving Layton
** The Australian couple Charmian Clift and George Johnston
** Marianne’s Norwegian husband Axel, who is a writer
** The Swedish author Göran Tunström
** The American musician Lou Reed (1942- 2013)
** The American musician Judy Collins (born 1939)
** Marianne’s mother
** Leonard’s mother
As stated above, the drama is divided into eight episodes. Here are the headlines:
# 1. Hydra
# 2. In Love
# 3. The First Kiss
# 4. Oslo
# 5. The Cohen Family
# 6. On Hydra Again
# 7. The Chelsea Hotel
# 8. So long, Leonard
Most of the story is set in one of the following three locations:
** Oslo – Norway
** Montreal – Quebec, Canada
** Hydra – an island in Greece
Leonard is a poet and a writer. He is a published author. But he does not make much money.
He cannot make a living writing poems and books. What can he do? He has to try something else. Perhaps he can write poems and turn them into songs?
In this drama, we can follow the gradual transformation of Leonard from an unknown poet to a famous singer and songwriter.
The first time he stands in front of a large audience is difficult for him. He is shy. He is so shy, that he has to leave the stage.
But his friend Judy Collins is patient. She waits for him and after a while, he finds the courage to return to the stage and they sing a song together.
What is the song? What is his first song on a stage? The song is Suzanne. This is his first hit.
In the following years, many other hits will follow, but this part of his life is not covered here, because it lies beyond the scope of this drama.
The title of the drama is borrowed from another famous song: So long, Marianne, which is inspired by his muse.
The original title of this song is Come on, Marianne, but his producer tells him that he has to change it, because Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons have just released a song with a similar title: C’mon Marianne.
This is why Leonard changes the title of the song to So long, Marianne.
With the benefit of hindsight, we can see that this change was a good idea, because the relationship with Marianne was close to the end when this song was released.
What do reviewers say about this drama?
On IMDb it has a rating of 69 percent
Three user reviews are posted on IMDb
The first review does not offer a specific rating, but it is very positive. Perhaps indicating a rating of 80 percent. The second review offers a rating of 100 percent, while the third review offers a rating of only 40 percent.
As you can see, a mixed response.
In my opinion, the 69 percent offered on IMDb is too low. On the other hand, I cannot go all the way to the top. This drama is good but not great. I think it deserves a rating of four stars (80 percent).
PS. This drama includes a brief scene where Marianne is sitting in the house on Hydra. Looking out of the window, she says she can see a bird on a wire.
Leonard is inspired. He begins to compose a song based on this observation. The lyrics begin like this:
Like a bird on the wire
Like a drunk in a midnight choir
I have tried in my way to be free
When Leonard Cohen met the American singer and songwriter Kris Kristofferson, Kris told Leonard that he wanted to have the opening lines of this song written on his tombstone. Kris Kristofferson, who was born in 1936, died in 2024.
REFERENCES
# 1. Books
Various Positions:
A Life of Leonard Cohen
By Ira B. Nadel
(2010)
Leonard Cohen:
The Music and the Mystique
By Maurice Ratliff
(2012)
The Holy or the Broken
By Alan Light
(2012)
I’m Your Man:
The Life of Leonard Cohen
By Sylvie Simmons
(2012 = hardcover)
(2021 = paperback)
# 2. Film and video
Leonard Cohen: I’m Your Man
A documentary film
(2005)
Leonard Cohen: Live in London
A concert
(2009)
Leonard Cohen: Live in Dublin, 2013
A concert
(2014)
Tower of Song:
A Memorial Tribute to Leonard Cohen
This concert was held in Montreal (Quebec) in November 2017, one year after his death in November 2016
(2018)
Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love
A documentary film
(2019)
Hallelujah:
Leonard Cohen, a Journey, a Song
A documentary film
(2021)
*****
So long, Marianne
A historical drama
(based on a true story)
which premiered in 2024
*****
The Canadian poet,
singer and songwriter
Leonard Cohen
(1934-2016)
*****
Marianne Ihlen and Leonard Cohen
on the Greek island of Hydra
sometime in the 1960s
*****
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