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312:'s former manager, telling him that he had located dozens of boxes labelled "Bird on a Wire." Machat had died in 1988, but his son Steven obtained and delivered all 296 film canisters to Palmer. Since the negative was not available, Palmer used the soundtrack to reconstruct the film to its original form.
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The film stock was in fragile condition, some disintegrating to the touch. Restoring the film required piecing together the film from 3,000 fragments. The film was then sent to Cohen, who wrote back that he was "glad the problem has been resolved." The restored version was premiered at the Green Man
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Considerable technical problems plagued Cohen throughout the tour, including constant audio difficulties that resulted in a tense confrontation with fans in
Copenhagen who wanted a refund because the show ended early. The film also has backstage scenes of Cohen giving interviews and interacting with
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Cohen was unenthusiastic about the tour and about being filmed, but Palmer won him over by bringing a copy of one of his books of poetry to a meeting. Palmer was granted total access to Cohen during the tour, with the filmmaker even showing Cohen showering with male band members.
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The revised film had its World premiere at The
Rainbow Theatre in London on 5 July 1974 but received only limited release. The BBC had by then decided not to broadcast it, and except for a showing on German television it disappeared from circulation for nearly four decades.
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that Cohen "didn't like it or dislike it. I think he was very surprised by the intimacy of it. The word he kept using was he was 'confrontational,' which I never understood. He was also worried it started with the riot."
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interview that the film was "totally unacceptable," that he was paying out of his own pocket to remake it, and that once it was finished he would "get out of the scene" and "return to another rhythm."
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A week after seeing the film, Cohen's lawyer and manager Marty Machat called Palmer and said that there was a "problem", that Cohen believed that the film was "too confrontational". Palmer told
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said that Palmer captured the tour with a "keen eye". The film was described as "a worthy time capsule and a must for Cohen devotees," with "occasional meanderings into artiness."
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The film, after extensive re-editing from its initial version, opened in London in 1974. It was shown on German television, but it disappeared for decades and was considered a
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Before the tour began, Palmer and Cohen agreed that he would film only one out of every five concerts, on the grounds that he would be doing the same songs in every one.
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festival in 2012. A DVD release followed, coinciding with a world tour, and then the film was released theatrically in 2017, premiering in New York City.
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Palmer had failed to keep a copy of his original edit and over time he thought the film had been lost. In 2009, he received a phone call from
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The film chronicles a difficult period in Cohen's life, a time he later described as “confused and directionless.” His most recent album,
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The film shows Cohen on a spring 1972 tour of Europe and Israel, accompanied by two guitarists; a bass and fiddle player;
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fans, including a female fan who "baldly propositions" him. It ends with Cohen's final stop on the tour, at
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to work with Dixon on the editing. The re-editing process cost was costly, coming to about $ 500,000. Cohen said in a
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was ready to drop him from the label, and his career "was on the verge of complete disaster" according to
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Palmer edited the 40 hours of raw footage into a two-hour documentary with the title
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on April 21, 1972, in which Cohen has an emotional crisis and takes
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bought the film, covering three-quarters of production costs.
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of Europe and Israel by the
Canadian singer and songwriter
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1125:Film and television
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1059:The Favourite Game
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696:You Want It Darker
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320:Critical reception
18:1974 American film
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111:Running time
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1168:Night Magic
985:Joan of Arc
713:Live albums
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310:Frank Zappa
284:Henry Zemel
232:CBS Records
216:backstage.
165:Tony Palmer
150:documentary
115:106 minutes
72:Tony Palmer
47:Produced by
42:Tony Palmer
33:Tony Palmer
29:Directed by
1315:1974 films
1309:Categories
1268:Alan Light
1262:Blue Alert
957:Hallelujah
728:Cohen Live
721:Live Songs
661:The Future
511:5 February
506:Metacritic
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355:References
326:Metacritic
306:Herb Cohen
220:Production
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202:Tel Aviv
184:Synopsis
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131:English
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