TV Series – ‘So Long, Marianne’ (2024) – SBS

[SPOILER ALERT]

This excellent 8 episode series bears the title of an early song in the repertoire of Leonard Cohen (1934-2016), the Canadian singer, songwriter and poet.

Opening in 1960 in Hydra in Greece, Marianne Ihlen (Thea Sophie Loch Naess) and Cohen (Alex Wolff) are two lonely young people coping with the slings and arrows of  life.  She is pregnant by her husband, who has abandoned her.  He is depressed, struggling with his creativity. 

They meet and fall in love and remain together for a decade, living also in Norway, Canada and United States.  Their relationship falls apart as Cohen’s career blossoms, while Ihlen – who is Norwegian – pines to return to her home country.

They remained friends.  Both died in 2016.

There is an Australian connection, as Cohen interacts, in Hydra, with George Johnston (Noah Taylor) and Charmain Clift (Anna Torv).  Taylor and Torv – as always – are impressive.

The first episode begins, and the final episode closes, with Ihlen at the end of her life receiving a touching letter from Cohen.  He then appears as a young man – in her imagination – bidding her goodbye.

Screened free on SBS, the series is well worth watching.  The writer found the performances of the lead actors compelling.  The scenes in Hydra, and across the world, are evocative.

Scott Roxborough of ‘The Hollywood Reporter’ reviewed the series favourably, remarking that it entailed:

… treating its subjects not as great artists in the making, but as ordinary messed-up 20-somethings … [Wolff] wears his Leonard like a crumpled raincoat.  The series truly comes alive in the moments when Wolff sings, as Cohen, on camera.

The link to an early – easier listening – version of Cohen singing the title song is here.

The link to the series on SBS is here.