Chichester Cinema at New Park
Bird on a Wire
- Leonard Cohen
We are proud to present the UK Premiere of the restored version of Tony Palmer’s classic 1974 concert documentary of Leonard Cohen.
It was thought that the original film had been lost until more than 290 rolls of film in rusted cans were discovered in late 2009. The cans contained much of the original 'rushes' of the film, and especially most if not all of the original soundtrack.
In 1972 Leonard Cohen was considered to be one of the major singer song writers and poets of our time. It was decided by Cohen's then manager, Marty Machat, to make a film about Leonard at work, on tour and 'Off Duty'. The film was entitled ‘Bird on a Wire’ and featured some fantastic performance footage. It contains songs from albums as well as concerts, including those of Berlin, Vienna, Copenhagen, and Israel in March and April 1972. After screening a rough copy, the BBC immediately bought the UK TV rights. The world premiere of this feature film by Tony Palmer was at the Rainbow Theatre on July 5, 1974, in London. So, in 2010 with Leonard Cohen once again at the forefront of popular music, Tony Palmer has lovingly restored the film to much of its original glory.
Music includes performances of: ‘Avalanche’, ‘Suzanne’, ‘Tonight Will Be Fine’, ‘Passing Through’, ‘Sisters of Mercy’, ‘Who By Fire?’, ‘Story of Isaac’, ‘One Of Us Can’t Be Wrong’, ‘The Partisan Sisters of Mercy Chelsea Hotel’, ‘Nancy’, ‘One Of Us Can’t Be Wrong’, ‘Famous Blue Raincoat’, ‘Hey That’s No Way To Say Goodbye’, ‘So Long’, ‘Marianne’, and ‘Bird On A Wire’.
UK · 1974/2010 · Tony Palmer · 107min
