Leonard Cohen: Bird on a Wire

Tony Palmer’s famous film of Leonard Cohen’s 1972 tour of Europe, long thought lost and only available on very poor quality bootlegs, has been digitally and painstakingly restored to its original glory, thanks to the discovery in 2009 of 296 cans of rusted-up material in a warehouse in Hollywood. Containing 17 of Cohen’s greatest songs, emotionally delivered when he was at the height of his powers, this is an unforgettable record of a poet and singer on the brink of worldwide fame. On March 18th 1972, Leonard Cohen began a 20-city European tour, beginning in Dublin and ending in Jerusalem on April 21st. Other cities included London at the Royal Albert Hall, Stockholm, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Vienna, Berlin, Paris and Tel Aviv. This film is an impression of what happened during that tour.