Cohen but not forgotten

In Hollywood people seem to drift in and out of each other’s lives. They connect momentarily then move right on to the next thing, leaving not the slightest indentation or unfortunate smear.

Frequently, you’ll ask an actor or director about someone you presume they know only to elicit a response along the lines of - “Oh, well we’ve worked together 27 bizillion times, but I’ve never actually had a drink with them”.
This is certainly not true of director Lian Lunson. A striking blonde hailing originally from the Australian outback, since moving to LA two decades ago, she seems to have become firm friends with just about anyone you care to mention.
A Melbourne scenester back in the punk era, she was already acquainted with Nick Cave before travelling to America at the invitation of Michael Hutchence and her good buddies from INXS.
In her current address book you’ll find an entry for Mel Gibson (“an old friend and a complex, lovely man”) who drafted Lian in to produce the album Songs Inspired By The Passion Of The Christ featuring tracks from Bob Dylan, Ricky Scaggs and Holly Williams. She’s close to Willie Nelson having directed the film Willie Nelson; Down Home. And, of course, she knows U2. Indeed, when I catch up with Lian at the Stranger Than Fiction Documentary Festival in the Irish Film Institute, we’re awaiting the arrival of Ali Hewson and The Edge at a screening of her latest film.
“Oh we’ve been friends for ages”, she tells me. “Ever since they came to LA for Rattle And Hum”.
If more evidence of Ms. Lunson’s personal charm were required, she recently coaxed Leonard Cohen back into the limelight for her documentary tribute Leonard Cohen; I’m Your Man. Cutting between Hall Willner’s Came So Far For Beauty; An Evening Of Leonard Cohen Songs and recollections from Cohen himself, the film forms an intriguing portrait of the artist as an old man.
“I sent him a couple of letters but he did not reply”, recalls Lian. “He had not done anything for 14 years and he certainly was not interested in doing a movie. When I finally met up with him I spent six hours talking to him, and I thought if he chooses not to be involved its okay. He has spent enough time with me. I was always banking on him doing it but I knew I had to leave it in God’s hands. But the friendship continued and we became very good friends. As the film evolved from our friendship, I asked him if I could I bring my camera tomorrow and he said ‘sure’. It just took a while to find our comfort level.”
Featuring Cohen’s poetry, artwork and songs as performed by Beth Orton, Nick Cave and Rufus and Martha Wainwright, for Lian, the film was nothing less than evangelism.
”It was a chance to showcase on film the songs and highlight to fans what he means”, she says. “A lot of young people don’t know what he means .I did not want to do an invasive film. He’s very giving but he’s also very private. I just wanted people to come away saying ‘wow, what a man’.”
Wisely eschewing high-profile love affairs and tales of rock excess in favour of small, biographical details as recounted by Cohen himself, Leonard Cohen; I’m Your Man provides some unique insights into the man and his work.
“He is a great man”, says Lian. “He’s very kind and well mannered. He’s an old world gentleman - so well read and funny. He is as good as people get in that realm, a very giving person. I was far more interesting in capturing how beautiful he is rather than who he has slept with or what he did yesterday. And he says some extraordinary things in the film. The story about his father dying when he was five or six is remarkable. He wrote a poem and buried it with his father’s bowtie in the snow. I think that says a lot about the kind of man he would become. That’s far more interesting than the shallow celebrity stuff.”
Having filmed the concert in Montreal and spent every night listening to conversations with Leonard on her ipod, Lian suddenly realised that something was missing from the film.
U2 have been friends for 20 years and I called Bono first as for years I have heard him talk about Leonard and he can say things like no one else I rang and he said of course I will appear, I asked Edge too, they were on tour and they have a hectic schedule one day
“I was sitting having coffee with Leonard one day thinking aloud”, she explains. “And I said ‘you know, it’s strange you don’t do any of your own songs in the movie’. And he said ‘darling, I don’t have a band any more’. So I suddenly thought ‘I know a band’. U2 were already involved at this stage because Bono was the first person I called. I’ve heard him talk about Leonard over the years and he can say things like nobody else. So I rang Bono and asked him and Edge picked up the ball. He had them rehearse ‘Tower Of Song’ in every sound check across America before we all met up in New York to do the song.”
It has certainly proved useful, but I wonder how on earth Lian has managed to hook up with so many musicians down the years?
“I guess I’m attracted to spiritual warriors”, she smiles. “It’s more about artists than musicians. People like U2 are so culturally well read. But I’m also drawn to them because they’re searching. U2, Elvis, Nick Cave, Leonard Cohen and also Mel Gibson are all out in the desert in a spiritual sense. They don’t pretend to have answers but they’ll take you on the journey.”