LAFF 2006: On Inspiration and the Old Men

Saturday night I went to Lian Lunson’s poetic documentary Leonard Cohen: I’m Your Man.

The evening started with musical performances from Perla Batalla and Julie Christensen, Cohen’s backup singers since the beginning of time, and four Cohen covers by the witty and talented Martha Wainwright. The documentary itself focuses more on brief but insightful interviews with established singer/songwriters and Cohen himself, layered between truly moving musical performances by said interviewees. It seemed as though this was a live show, and I know I wasn’t the only one in attendance who felt this way.

I’d like to extend a plea to anyone (all seven of you) reading this: see this film. It doesn’t matter if you’re not a fan of Leonard Cohen, after this film you will be. (And if you still don’t like him, then you probably don’t like yourself and you need a good, hard look in the mirror.) As evidenced in the interviews with some of his more notable fans (Nick Cave, Martha and Rufus Wainwright, Bono), Cohen is one of the most remarkable and talented artists around. Any good filmmaker, budding or established, knows that inspiration comes from whatever stimulates you, be it any kind of art, conflict, nature, or current events. I feel confident that anyone who sees this will walk away with something, and hopefully go out and create something of their own.

Tonight, Scott and I will shoot back over to Westwood for Austin Film Society’s party celebrating Austin’s finest. Tomorrow Paul will attend Undoing, while I am at The Boys’ and Girls’ Guide to Getting Down, both of which were made with one of our very own Low Budget Agreements (!!!) Hey, if you can’t shamelessly plug yourself in your own blog, where can you?