Although it can be difficult to detect the influences in the work of
Leonard Cohen, as with all significant artists he was informed by a
far-reaching list of performers, musicians, writers, poets and
philosophies. And, when we look in the right places, his sources reveal
themselves in the songs often considered to have emerged fully formed from
their composer’s pen.

In Leonard Cohen’s Lonesome Heroes, the scope and detail of his
artistic inspirations are put under the microscope to quite fascinating
result. Cohen’s first love was poetry and in both the works of his fellow
Canadian Irving Layton, and the Spanish bard Federico Garcia Lorca, he
found the words that moved him to create his own verse. The beat writers
too hit a positive note with Cohen and their work has lived with him
throughout his career. While it may come as no surprise to find Bob Dylan
and Judy Collins included in this film, a less acknowledged genre of
interest to Leonard is country music - but he was deeply affected by
performers such as Hank Williams, Hank Snow and the country recordings of
Ray Charles. And the fact his records have always achieved greater success
in Europe than in North America may be due in part to his love of the
Belgian chansonnier Jacques Brel. These and many others artists
are here shown to have played a crucial role in the formation of Leonard
Cohen’s muse. But religion and spirituality too have contributed
enormously to Leonard’s life and music, particularly the faith into which
he was born, Judaism, and his more recent study of Buddhism, which drove
him to spend several years in a monastery meditating for hours every day.


With the aid of rare and classic performance footage of both Cohen and
those he has been influenced by most, archive interview and film of
Leonard, seldom seen photographs, plus exclusive contributions from those
who have worked closely with him, this fascinating and wholly unique film
is all at once informative, inspiring and eminently watchable, and is
bound to delight everyone with even a hint of interest in the man.

The film features new interviews with Judy Collins; his biographer Ira
Nadel; poet and Cohen academic Stephen Scobie; the man who guided Leonard
through the rituals at the Mount Baldy Buddhist Monastery, Kigen; former
Rolling Stone magazine editor, Anthony De Curtis and many other notable
colleagues, friends and experts.



EXTRAS: Special Feature ‘Cohen by Collins’ – Judy Collins speaks about her
love for the music of Leonard Cohen; Contributor Biographies; Beyond DVD
section.