Tony Palmer presents "Bird on a wire"

[Puddingdale]

It's true those quotes could lead you into the wrong direction, but Cohen's politics are more sublime.

but there is an awful truth hiding behind what we get to see these days

Well said! What an interesting discussion this has become...

[lightning]

If you need to see more of it, as it is happening now, check out wikileaks:

http://wikileaks.org/

[John Etherington]

Puddingdale - a one-time friend of mind had a stranger take on "First We Take Manhattan". When I tried to play the album to her soon after its release, she heard the opening lines and then said "what is this shit?". She then paused and said..."I'll tell you where this comes from - scientology!". I snatched the needle off, and told her she didn't understand it (even though I wasn't too clear myself). Later in "Songs From a Life", Jennifer Warnes helped to clarify the matter.

Before "There is a War" was released, I remember Leonard saying in an interview that he would never write a song as obvious as "Give Peace a Chance" and that he could write a song about war and that it would be saying the same thing. Then there was the element of surprise when Leonard joined the Israeli army as an entertainer...

I found the image of the child in the new "Bird on a Wire" quite startling when I saw it, and wondered why Tony Palmer felt the need to present such a graphic image at this stage. I guess he may have intended to include such an image when he first made the movie, and decided to do it now, to make his point. Clearly the message is still relevant.

All good things, John E

[sirius]

Before "There is a War" was released, I remember Leonard saying in an interview that he would never write a song as obvious as "Give Peace a Chance" and that he could write a song about war and that it would be saying the same thing. Then there was the element of surprise when Leonard joined the Israeli army as an entertainer...

I found the image of the child in the new "Bird on a Wire" quite startling when I saw it, and wondered why Tony Palmer felt the need to present such a graphic image at this stage. I guess he may have intended to include such an image when he first made the movie, and decided to do it now, to make his point. Clearly the message is still relevant.

All good things, John E

The graphic images of the burnt dead child on the stretcher and grieving relatives look very much middle eastern to me and of a more recent origin, Iraq or Gaza ? Anyway they look very different from the Vietnam images which preceded them. Maybe Tony Palmer included them to send us a more contemporary image of war and grief and the message that we are still committing atrocities, still sacrificing children, and we should be doing a lot more to stop this slaughter of the innocents.

Peter

[Phantom Stranger]

Watching Tony Palmer's film for the first time last week was akin to a religious experience for me. A simply stunning documentary that encapsulates the magic of Leonard Cohen and his music. My only regret is that the film was not released on Blu-ray to afford a better audio option. The soundtrack was in shockingly good quality, limiting it to a Dolby Digital stereo track at 256 kbps on the DVD though was the only mistake on the entire project. Kudos to whoever designed the packaging and layout, it truly was lovely. I would have loved to see it in PCM on a Blu-ray release. Perhaps in the future for a deluxe edition...

[Puddingdale]

Puddingdale - a one-time friend of mind had a stranger take on "First We Take Manhattan". When I tried to play the album to her soon after its release, she heard the opening lines and then said "what is this shit?". She then paused and said..."I'll tell you where this comes from - scientology!". I snatched the needle off, and told her she didn't understand it (even though I wasn't too clear myself). Later in "Songs From a Life", Jennifer Warnes helped to clarify the matter.

Well, I am not too "clear" myself either - clever choice of words when talking about Scientology
I do not recall what Warnes said about the song but it surely works on many levels - as usual. Yet, no matter how surprising LC's choices and opinions on war might be at times, I find it hard to picture him as a promoter of terrorism.
Funny enough, this song was a major success for Joe Cocker and I do not recall him being called a terrorist or Scientologist...

[John Etherington]

Hi Puddingdale,

Jennifer Warnes said that when Leonard sang "guided by the beauty of our weapons" he was referring to musical "weapons". This makes perfect sense, because with "First We Take Take Manhattan" (and the rest of the of the "I'm Your Man" album), he was reaffirming his role as a major force in the world of contemporary music. In more recent times, I've seen a speculative suggestion that Leonard was acting as a visionary, and prophesying the attack on Twin Towers!

All the best, John E

[Puddingdale]

Jennifer Warnes said that when Leonard sang "guided by the beauty of our weapons" he was referring to musical "weapons".

Thanks for the reminder

In more recent times, I've seen a speculative suggestion that Leonard was acting as a visionary, and prophesying the attack on Twin Towers!

Very speculative. However, it proves the point that the song works on many levels.

Anyhow, maybe we should return this "arena" to the actual topic Bird On A Wire...

[Hal E. Lujah]

Excuse me if I am a bit off. Is the Bird on a Wire DVD released as yet? I have been out of the country for awhile and I see that Amazon says it's not out yet. thanks, all.
Hal E.

[neo]

Amazon.com does not ship the DVD, but it can be ordered from Amazon.co.uk., Voiceprint http://www.voiceprint.co.uk/web/Release/TPDVD166/ or you can get a signed copy from Leonardcohencafe http://www.leonardcohencafe.co.uk/useri ... ocart2.htm . People were also telling that they got their copies from Barnes and Noble and CDUniverse.

Check back to page 6 of this thread to get the story...

[jerry]

You can order the dvd from CD Universe.

http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.a ... tyle=movie

[Phantom Stranger]

As a large retailer that has many deals in place with Sony, Amazon pulled the DVD from sale at Sony's request. I doubt it shows up there anytime soon. Here is the Google shopping price comparison, with many links to retailers who are still selling it.

http://www.google.com/products/catalog? ... #scoring=p

[elcord]

Apparently it's appears that it is not set for release in Australia until November! Can anyone tell me if the UK version is 'all regions' or Region 2 only?

[LisaLCFan]

Apparently it's appears that it is not set for release in Australia until November! Can anyone tell me if the UK version is 'all regions' or Region 2 only?

I had the same question (I'm in Canada), and I was told (on good authority) that it is "all regions" and thus it should work for you.

[Shockvalue]

Apparently it's appears that it is not set for release in Australia until November! Can anyone tell me if the UK version is 'all regions' or Region 2 only?

Just looked on the package. It is ALL regions. But it is NTSC , so if you are in Aussie(PAL) you'll need to check that your DVD player/TV can play this(most modern ones will). Bought mine from Leonardcohencafe(UK).