LEONARD COHEN: BIRD ON A WIRE

The film shows Cohen on a spring 1972 tour of Europe and Israel, accompanied by two guitarists; a bass and fiddle player, Bob Johnston – a record producer and backup singers Donna Washburn and Jennifer Warnes.

Considerable technical problems plagued Cohen throughout the tour, including constant audio difficulties that resulted in a tense confrontation with fans in Berlin who wanted a refund because the show ended early. The film also has backstage scenes of Cohen giving interviews and interacting with fans, including a female fan who "baldly propositions" him. It ends with Cohen's final stop on the tour, at Jerusalem's Yad Eliahu Sports Palace on April 21, 1972, in which Cohen has an emotional crisis and takes LSD backstage.

The film was released in 1974 but after that it disappeared and was considered for lost film. Its original version was restored from a raw footage by the director Tony Palmer.

“It may have taken four decades and more work than he could have ever imagined, but Palmer is thrilled his film is finally getting an audience. "It's not for me to say how good it is", he says. "But we've had screenings all over the world in the past three years, especially since he died. People are very, very moved. People cry at the end. It's astonishing, but they do."

RollingStone.com