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Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man

Cohen talks without revealing anything

By GARY SUSMAN | July 12, 2006

2.5 Stars

BONO'S MAN: Leonard Cohen

If you’re already a Leonard Cohen fan, this documentary/concert film is a must; if you’re not, you may not understand his music any better after watching it. Testimonials from Bono and the Edge don’t illuminate much, and neither do snippets from the bard himself. Like Bob Dylan, he’s mastered the art of talking about himself without revealing anything. (It’s fun to learn, though, that there was a Suzanne, and she did serve tea and oranges.) Most eloquent is Cohen’s music, with its erotic air of gloom and wistfulness. Much of Liam Lunson’s film is culled from a 2005 tribute concert in Sydney featuring grand Cohen covers by such usual suspects as Nick Cave and Rufus Wainwright. Nothing substitutes, however, for a performance by the man himself; alas, he sings just one tune (filmed in a studio elsewhere), “Tower of Song.” And then the film is over, and Cohen disappears back into the shadowy embrace of his cryptic muse.

Topics: Reviews , Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, Rufus Wainwright, More

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