Leonard Cohen: Portrait. Spring 1996, a film by Armelle Brusq (available on DVD as Leonard Cohen: Portrait Intime, in English with subtitles in French). YouTube video in English with subtitles in German (via Dangerous Minds)
Armelle Brusq is a young French artist living in Paris. She filmed this 52 min documentary in Spring 1996 on Mt. Baldy and in Los Angeles using a customized camera. The Norwegian television was the first to show it (on March 15, 1997), and later many other TV channels followed.
Leonard Cohen commented from the Mt Baldy Zen Center, his home at that time: “The monks up here think it’s pretty good.” Roshi said to her: “You great artist”
The film describes the daily routines of the Zen monks at the Zen Center of Mt. Baldy: waking up early (2:30 or 3:00 am), marching together to the ceremonies, meditating, making food and eating. We see Cohen working in the kitchen and helping his dear friend and teacher Joshu Sasaki-roshi (90 years at the time of shooting); later he drives with Roshi to another Zen Center (Rinzai Ji) in Los Angeles.
Cohen’s cabin with his Technics KN 3000 synthesizer and computers are shown, and he sings his new song “A thousand kisses deep”. He also recites three unpublished poems, two telling about Roshi (one titled “Roshi at 89”) . The third was titled “Too old”.
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In this documentary Cohen tells about his life, his memories, why he lives at the Zen Center. He suggests that some kind of a circle has been closed and now he can do something else [...]
“Roshi’s very tired” (“Roshi at 89”), by Leonard Cohen and Philip Glass (from Book of Longing)
Roshi’s very tired he’s lying on his bed He’s been living with the living and dying with the dead But now he wants another drink (will wonders never cease?) He’s making war on war and he’s making war on peace He’s sitting in the throne-room on his great Original Face and he’s making war on Nothing that has something in its place His stomach’s very happy the prunes are working well There’s no one going to Heaven and there’s no one left in Hell
