EPIC LOVE POEM

POETS AND THEIR LOVERS BECOME POPULAR CULTURE DYNAMOS

By PETER THOMAS BUSCH

The bits and pieces of creative genius gathered from all around the world on the beautiful Greek Island of Hydra just as popular culture transformed forever all around the world.

Leonard Cohen defined himself there in Hydra from 1960 until he hit a rhythm and touched enough soles with his lyrics to become known in the right circles as a poet and songwriter.

So Long, Marianne (Series 2014) is an 8 part streaming series, directed by Bronwen Hughes and Oystein Karlsen (creator with three others), about that time Leonard searched his soul and found love, and searched longer and deeper into his own soul because he found love.

Tom Wolff plays Leonard transitioning through various phases from an isolated poet without many publishable poems in Hydra to a successful recording artist hanging out with such notables as Lou Reed, Nico and Andy Warhol in New York City.

Marianne Ihlen, the title character played by Thea Sofie Loch Naess, had been in Hydra already after traveling with her husband, Alex, from Norway in a VW Beatle. But Alex was not faithful, and not really connected in any meaningful way to her, and him finding fame as a novelist only made him less loyal and more distant.

Leonard had seen Marianne’s beauty from the corner of his eye spending some time in an island pub where all the other working novelists and poets would gather at the end of a long hard day of writing under the Mediterranean sun.

Wolff shows how determined Leonard was, although deeply struggling while creating just a few lyrics in solitude for the first few episodes, almost in the backstory as the directors focus the camera on Marianne and her new born son and on how her relationship with Alex deconstructs rather quickly.

Directors Hughes and Karlsen let the narrative come together rather poetically, as if keeping tune to Leonard’s developing style. The camera catches the picturesque landscapes as well as the tone and atmosphere of Hydra and the writers’ colony having developed there.

When Leonard and Marianne take a trip to Norway to visit Marianne’s mother, the directors notably shift the tone and atmosphere to adjust to the new landscape and a different set of circumstances. This occurs even more so when the love birds head to Leonard’s parent’s place in Montreal.

The narrative continues to be rather linear, even with these various trips away, only to return to Hydra. Leonard must also promote his book of poems, which eventually finds him diverted to New York City, alone again, where he gets caught up with that group of creatives mingling ideas at the Hotel Chelsea and Andy Warhol’s Factory.

The directors gradually make Leonard the main narrative as he becomes more and more popular with his published material. But Marianne, who finds herself back in Hydra with her son from her marriage with Alex, is not forgotten in the now backstory.

The streaming series is an interesting romantic love story that does not really get into how the lyrics are developed other than Leonard finding inspiration from the love he shares with Marianne.

Ultimately, Leonard is shown to have been a thinker who created lyrics inside an envelope of solitude until he found it time to send them to his literary agent for possible publishing.

Wolff shows Leonard to have turned himself inside out during the writing process, with Marianne getting credited for providing Leonard a bit of extra energy in that respect, here and there. Wolff and Loch Naess are cast well together, showing at times the contrasting characters performing that dance that lovers like to dance.

This story is not just about a poet and his muse on a Greek Island. The series also encapsulates the era of cultural change and the unique characters who shaped their talents during those early formative years.

The script reflects this rich tapestry of ideas and inspirations that changed more than the songs being played on the radio.

So Long, Marianne is streaming on Crave in Canada.